It has to make you ask yourself why??
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
You *could* pay someone to do it for you, you know. Sure, it's more expensive, but you don't have to suffer from the heat. In fact, you can sip on a lemonade while watch the thing being built. ;) -- Ich bin Joachim von Hassel, und ich bin Pilot der Bundeswehr. Welle: Erdball - F104-G Starfighter
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
Sounds familiar. Being snowbound does something to the mind, I'm convinced. It took me several years of living on a mountaintop to adopt the locals' sensible attitude. Snow is best viewed from behind glass, in front of a warm fire, with no thoughts of hard, sweaty labor to clutter one's appreciation of the scene. Of course, I never got over the gardening urge that comes up at the first sign of Spring, usually heralded by the arrival of piles of seed catalogs. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
There is this season in between summer and winter where it typically does not hit temperatures like you mention. I also built a retaining wall this year and we have 500+ bricks at 70lbs a piece (It's a 4.5 ft wall that's 80 ft long). However, I made it a point that this was going to be built in March and maybe extend into the first week of April for the very reason you're mentioning. I'm enjoying my AC right now :-D Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
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You *could* pay someone to do it for you, you know. Sure, it's more expensive, but you don't have to suffer from the heat. In fact, you can sip on a lemonade while watch the thing being built. ;) -- Ich bin Joachim von Hassel, und ich bin Pilot der Bundeswehr. Welle: Erdball - F104-G Starfighter
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
Why does someone live in a climate that is too damn cold to go out during winter and too damn hot (and/or humid) to go out in the summer? My advice; sell the place and move! Let the new owner sweat out how they are going to complete the retaining wall! Where I live, the only ice I ever see threw glass is in my drinks… and if you ever need to see snow, you can grind your ice up really fine.
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
In the winter I plan work for others to do :-D The tigress is here :-D
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I like your style however I am way to broke to actually pay for the work. I may video tape the process though so I have something to use to keep me from this again. :)
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
At last the day is done. Opening a cold beer, kicking back and reading the CP all in all it has been a good day. All I have left now is back filling the yard with dirt. It looks like it will take 8 cubic yards so I think I am going to hire some cheap labor to move it in I have had all of the physical labor I can stand for a while.
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At last the day is done. Opening a cold beer, kicking back and reading the CP all in all it has been a good day. All I have left now is back filling the yard with dirt. It looks like it will take 8 cubic yards so I think I am going to hire some cheap labor to move it in I have had all of the physical labor I can stand for a while.
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Hire a Bobcat. You can either do it yourself, or I know some folks in my town that will move dirt in one of those things for $50/hr. Well worth it if you ask me. Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
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Sometime in December ground covered in snow I looked at the backyard and decided it needed a retaining wall so the yard could be leveled off. Sounded good a the time. Then I decided that a brick wall with a flower garden in front of it some steps oh yeah lets plumb and wire it to that would be cool. I started it in May. 640 bricks, 14 bags of cement and 12 bags of mortar later I am still working on the thing. It is suppose to hit 94 degrees today and I haven't had a weekend off in a month. Why is it that in the dead of winter we plan hard physical work for the heat of summer? New rule from now on when I am looking out the window I am only allowed to plan "inside" work. Well hope everyone is sitting in the AC I have to go finish the steps.
I built a brick wall once. Only 150 bricks and it took me 2 weeks of evenings as well as the weekends. Never again. And because it was at the front of the house, all the neighbours kept walking past and giving "helpful" advice. The only truly helpful advice I did get was to lay the bricks frog down - makes it easier to get them level and uses less mortar. Sadly that was given after I'd finished the last but one layer! Tip: Buy some old railway sleepers instead (if you can get them). They're cheaper, you can achieve the same results in much less time and you get to make lots of noise with a chainsaw :)
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I built a brick wall once. Only 150 bricks and it took me 2 weeks of evenings as well as the weekends. Never again. And because it was at the front of the house, all the neighbours kept walking past and giving "helpful" advice. The only truly helpful advice I did get was to lay the bricks frog down - makes it easier to get them level and uses less mortar. Sadly that was given after I'd finished the last but one layer! Tip: Buy some old railway sleepers instead (if you can get them). They're cheaper, you can achieve the same results in much less time and you get to make lots of noise with a chainsaw :)
But there are a couple of problems there ... first, it must be at least 5 feet (or more like 8 to 10 feet) away from any obstruction since you have to drive the braces in. Second, I think we all agree that the job of building a retaining wall just plain sucks. With railroad ties, while they're guaranteed for 50 years or whatever, I can guarantee they will start falling apart within 10 and they'll be pretty much rotted to hell at 25. Would you want to do this job again in 10-15 years? I sure as hell don't ... heh. Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
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But there are a couple of problems there ... first, it must be at least 5 feet (or more like 8 to 10 feet) away from any obstruction since you have to drive the braces in. Second, I think we all agree that the job of building a retaining wall just plain sucks. With railroad ties, while they're guaranteed for 50 years or whatever, I can guarantee they will start falling apart within 10 and they'll be pretty much rotted to hell at 25. Would you want to do this job again in 10-15 years? I sure as hell don't ... heh. Give me one more medicated peaceful moment
Braces? Ties? I just screwed them together with galvanised brackets. They're only 3 high anyway and the weight alone was enough to make them stay put unless you decide to do some disco dancing on them :). With the quality of my brick wall, it's likely I'll have to rebuild it within 10 years anyway :(
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Braces? Ties? I just screwed them together with galvanised brackets. They're only 3 high anyway and the weight alone was enough to make them stay put unless you decide to do some disco dancing on them :). With the quality of my brick wall, it's likely I'll have to rebuild it within 10 years anyway :(
Sorry, I misunderstood. For some reason I read that as railroad ties (have not finished first cup of coffee yet). Thought you were suggesting to not use brick and use those treated railroad ties and make a wall that way. Ya, I don't think your brick is going anywhere. :-D Give me one more medicated peaceful moment