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yard, part 2:
building the wall
all we are is just another brick in the wall
When last you left us, we
had a big pile of dirt, an even bigger hole, and the start of an
impressive retaining wall. But time and money being what they are, which
is to say, in short supply, the project was on hold until we could swing
them both. Well, after our much-needed vacation, we came back energized
and ready to get the thing done. So we ordered the blocks we needed for
the rest of the project. Four pallets of bricks, 112 per pallet, 448
bricks total. Each and every one carried up by Sal and stacked by me. At
35 pounds apiece, that's nigh on 8 tons of bricks up the stairs and around
the house. Crazy? Why yes, yes we are. Below...about half of what we
carried up.
We gave ourselves a week
to recover from the Great Stacking Event, then started relatively early on
a crisp Saturday morning to build the main retaining wall of our patio
area. Since we already had the first few courses down, placing and packing
the following layers was much easier than the first layers had been. It
was still a long project -- the wall is five feet tall at its highest point --
but we managed to finish it just before the sun set that day.
Not bad, eh? Of course, we
still have the upper terrace to build (back along the fence), but it's
only going to be three or four courses high and won't have the frustrating
curves of the lower wall. Oh, the original design had several, but we
learned our lesson with the first wall: straight lines are your friends.
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