• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money

Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money

Family, Marriage, Finances & Life

  • Toolkit
  • Contact
  • Lunch
  • Ways to Save Money
  • About the Clever Dude

Finances & Money

One retaining wall down, 5 more to go!

May 1, 2008
By Clever Dude
- Leave a Comment

I’m writing just because I want to show off the retaining wall I finished a few weeks ago. This wall was a practice run for the much longer and more complicated retaining wall that will stop the dirt and mulch from washing away from the pool landscaping. The wall is near the pool (as you can see, although the pool no longer has the cover as we opened it 3 weeks ago)

I still have to place capstones on it to make it look prettier, and probably push some dirt to cover the gravel in the front. I had to redo the wall once when I learned I should surround it with gravel rather than dirt to increase drainage. I’ll probably dig up the left-side once more to finish the wall the whole way to the patio (another 3 feet), but for now it does the job. Oh, and if you’re wondering, that’s only an ornamental water pump.

This wall took about 3 hours of digging, measuring and stacking the first time, and then another 2 hours when I redid it. That doesn’t count the time taken to get about 90 bricks, a 1/2 ton of gravel, or to recuperate from falling on the wheelbarrow.

I started on the larger wall last night, but it’s going to take me 2 nights of digging, at least, to get the ditch squared out and leveled. I honestly haven’t measured it yet, but I would guess it’s about 70 feet (the wall above is about 12.5 feet as each brick is a foot long). At 4 bricks high, that’s at least 280 bricks or about $600! At 22lbs per brick, that’s 6,160 lbs, or about 5.6 trips in my truck.

I believe each pallet has 144 bricks, and delivery is about $75, so I’m considering just buying 2 pallets (or more considering I have 1 more large wall and 3 small ones to do). It wouldn’t cost me $75 in gas for those 6 trips, but the time I’d save would be worth it.

Well, I’m sure that I’ll post the final pictures when I’m all finished, so look for them in oh, about a week or two.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Frugal Dad says

    May 1, 2008 at 8:39 am

    That looks beautiful! I’d like to do something similar in my backyard for some planting. Our soil is pretty bad below the surface, and I have a dog that likes to chew/dig up plantings. Maybe a raised bed with retainer such as your design would discourage her from digging.

    Reply
  2. Becca says

    May 1, 2008 at 1:09 pm

    It looks fantastic, you did a great job.

    Reply
  3. Myfinancebutler says

    May 2, 2008 at 12:34 am

    Looks great… really. Very well done.

    Even better that you know exactly how much money went into it. But you forgot to include a labor cost… at your price, I can imagine that it’s quite a bit!

    😉

    Reply
  4. Moneymonk says

    May 5, 2008 at 7:03 pm

    Wow, that looks very nice. Very good job

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Are you feeling the call to be a Clever Dude? Then, let's get down to brass tacks and explore what it takes to be one. Get ready for an in-depth look into the anatomy of someone who exudes cleverness!

There's nothing like hearing you're clever; it always hits the spot!

Best of Clever Dude

  • Our Journey to Debt Freedom
  • Ways to Save Money Series
  • Examine Your Motives Series
  • Frugal Lunch by Clever Dudette
  • An Illustrated Frugal Lunch
  • I'm Tired of Buying and Spending
  • 50 Tips for New PF Bloggers
  • Other Personal Finance Blogs

Build your SEO education and get a Web Development Certification at WTI today!

Check an easy essay service and find a professional online assistant to write your academic papers

United States Blogs Directory

Footer

Links From Our Partners

Free Coupon Codes: where you find the best discounts.

Compare business electricity prices with Utility Saving Expert

Copyright © 2006 - 2021 District Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy
Disclaimer: The Ads expressed herein are exclusively those of the Advertiser. They do not necessarily reflect our personal or professional beliefs.