Home Improvement Today?

Another one that depends on your layout, think about where your sprinkler pipes and wires for the valves will need to run before it's poured. Especially if you have more than one crew. I learned from my back yard to lay down extra PVC where you might need it just in case you might need it later. I did it with my font yard. The sprinkler wires had not been used in a few years and after the back was poured we were only able to get a connection on 4 of the 7 and no way to run new wires back there.

 

I moved in to an older home with this system: It was bypassed when I moved in, filters are old and being the age of it I bought a single tank filtration system that regularly backwashes itself which I still need to install and clean up all the old piping. I'll see how well the one tank works before moving to a water softener or RO. Chemically the water is fine as far as being safe to drink, iron in the water has stained the toilets, shower, etc. I installed just a small 2 filter system for drinking water which those clean up nicely. So the new system shouldn't have an issue.
(BTW this picture I took shortly after moving in, that's how the previous people left it, amongst other things that were left. They were long gone to Florida before I moved in)

 

Not exactly my “home” but a house that was built in 1907 that we are renovating.

 

This week I’m having my bathroom redone - removing the shower and tub, installing a new shower, a new floor and new toilet.

 

coming out good!

 

I’d like a flat back yard, stupid Microsoft paint doesn’t help. Paint is all I have access to, but now I have 3 contractors coming out to give estimates.

 

Today will be floating in the grout and clean up. All that’s left is getting the plumber back out, and ordering the glass for the half wall and the door. I’ll be scrambling to paint the beadboard before the toilet goes in.

 

That would be really nice. Are your contractors providing an engineered wall? (Like a reviewed and stamped design by a structural engineer?) Retaining walls aren’t something I’d skimp on, especially with what looks like a road or neighbors driveway up top.

It won’t be as pretty as a stone wall, but if you’re looking to cut cost look into precast concrete block walls as well. They can do a lot with patterns and staining the face to make it look like stone.

 

I think the retaining wall would make the yard much more friendly to use and maintain. I have to agree that a retaining wall of the size you are showing needs to be engineered (granted your graphic is not a true representation of the project). My experience in the Maryland/ Virginia area is that your project will most likely require a building permit and engineering. Good luck moving forward.

 

be at least worth looking into the cost of the filters to bring that system back online. Luckily those setups dont really go back outside of the actual filters. Did you get a thorough water test? Or just one of the basic ones? Seems like that setup is a bit much if all thats really wrong is iron. But im no expert or even close to it other than having to deal with our water lol

 

2 of the contractors specialize in retaining walls. I think anything over 4’ tall has to be engineered. I’d like one big wall, but it may have to be 2 or 3 shorter walls. I’ll find out next Tuesday, and will probably shit my pants when I hear the quotes!

 

You will. It's a lot of dirt work to even get started. Then the geo grid and blocks. It's not a 2 day job unless your running a 20 man crew. lol

 

This is exactly why I never look for houses that are on any type of hill. I like nice flat ground. Easy to work and nothing slides. Only downside is parking on flat ground is lame, hills make the truck look cool

 

I oversaw a wall built using this precast system on a commercial project that turned out great. It was turnkey engineering, fabrication and construction...we supplied existing conditions survey, wall alignment and height. Looks like they have a dealer in East Tennessee. https://www.stonestrong.com/galleries/view/112-residential

 

That wall looks amazing!

 

I'm not an expert, but I did do a bunch of research about retaining walls for one of my properties; specifically because there was a load on the top/back side because of the neighbors driveway. I remember reading about anything over 4' needing to be engineered and use geogrid etc. And also read about contractors that thought they'd beat the system by putting in multiple smaller walls so they didn't need an engineer. There can actually be MORE load when you terrace like that vs one taller wall. I ended up using versalok blocks for my project, very high quality, and they have a huge install manual with everything you need to do to properly install their product for every situation. So, even if you aren't doing it yourself you can be sure the contractor knows what they're doing.

 

Any pics of it?

 

Can I ask what the cost was on this one?

 

that’s just from the residential gallery of their website. No idea what the cost would be. The one we built was 40 ft tall and 1200ft long with stringent safety, labor and schedule requirements, so it wouldn’t be a good cost comparison.

 

Holy shit.