Retaining Wall Project Days 1 to 4. Working Solo.

Lifting, Ripping, Moving, Shifting, Collapsing... The Wall Or Me?

There was no reason to wait any longer. The wall was getting worse every year and I've procrastinated long enough. I've never been afraid to confront a project but this one had a lot of "what ifs".

The wall is not supporting the deck. Its purpose is just to hold back the dirt and gravel under the deck, since whole back yard was "carved" out of a hillside.

In the foreground you can see the natural slope of the rock garden to the right. A few years ago I added the stone wall and flower bed beside the stairs. Actually it held up fairly well considering there was no mortar and the stones were "dry stacked".

What if when I remove the old ties, all the gravel runs out? What if the upright piers supporting the deck are as rotten as the wall?

A recent heat wave made the slugging pretty sweaty on day one and two.

The pictures tell the story. There is just hard labour and not much thinking involved so far.

Steamy hot and humid, the sweat gets in my eyes as I toil.

Using the old stones, I thought I had better add a temporary secondary wall just in case the gravel and dirt up higher decided to slide down. I don't know if it's doing much good though.

Just dig and dig and slug and  move. Fortunately by Tuesday a cold front brought much needed relief, but rain slowed me down.

Looking down from the deck you can see how far the wall has moved. It's bowed out about 5 or 6 inches. I wonder how this will impact the paving stones that were added later. I figure I might have to add more pavers once the new wall moves back in line with the deck.

I think if this wall had been in the Carolinas or some place that never freezes it likely wouldn't have moved out as much. What happens is, the water behind the wall (because of poor drainage) freezes and expands each winter and over many years of freeze/thaw cycles, forces the wall to creep outwards. Of course rot and insect damage exacerbates it all and that would even be worse in the Carolinas I guess.

By Wednesday I had a good go at it. I'm encouraged by what I see  and am glad I decided to get rid of this rotten mess.

What looked like a big pile of gravel is actually a layer of gravel over clay. It was likely the wet clay that did the damage to the timbers over 35 years or so.

Fortunately the deck's upright piers look to be in good condition. One of my "what if" worries was that there would be rot or insect damage to these important supports. That's a relief. I better make sure I get lots of gravel around them to encourage good drainage and  prevent excessive moisture and rot.

At least the clay is holding the bank while I remove the wall.

So far I've been able to do everything myself with no help. I know there will be a lot more slugging and shoveling to get all the wall stones into the back yard and get rid of all the construction debris I've created.

 I figured I'll go as far and fast as I can on my own, because soon enough, there will be lots more work to share with Tim jr.

As you can see, there's a lot more to do before I can say I'm winning, but stay tuned. I never give up without a fight. More to follow...
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The Mother's Day Bluebell Walk at Newport Forest.

Picture by Linda McDougall

Erin was the leader of the annual Bluebell Walk at Newport Forest. The weatherman had called for rain and thunderstorms but neither arrived so a handful of us enjoyed a walk-in-the-woods in spite of the 28C temperature and high humidity.

This picture shows Professor Kee Dewdney, previous owner and steward of the land at Newport Forest on a rare serious note. Kee is still recovering from a very life-threatening aorta operation fail.  They worried about brain damage as he was in a coma and spent 17 days in the ICU. I am so glad to see him looking so good after his terrible ordeal.

Kee appears to be completely back to his old, glib, self.

Dryad's Saddle mushrooms adorn a rotten tree stump.

You never know what you'll see on a stroll through the forest. Although I was sweating like a pig with the heat and humidity  I kept up with the group and quite enjoyed the walk.

 

The bluebells really stole the show as everything has sprouted and turned green. Who would believe the difference a week makes from our walk last week at Longwoods Conservation Area.

Erin's former boss Muriel (retired) looks at the amphipods Kee found at the vernal ponds.
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A Project Visualized and Dropped

Sometimes I'll do a quick visualization of a project but after discussion with the family decide to drop the idea, That's OK. That's why I make the mock up in the first place.  Just for fun I thought you might like to see another animation that will likely never come true.

Pool house addition - too weird; and more pressing projects prevailed.

The pool house needs a new roof; no question about that, but I wondered if an addition for Wendy's pots and garden stuff would work. The project is complicated by the considerable slope of the land so it would necessitate splitting the levels of the floor. Also, the existing structure is on a poured concrete slab and my proposal suggests the addition be resting on a free floating deck. Not a good idea to have two bases/levels and elevating the existing part with all its pool machinery was turning into something bigger than I wanted to tackle. The "wall project" in yesterday's post solves the pot storage problem and since the wall issue is more pressing, we decided to scrap the pool house addition and just re-shingle it for now. 

In 2010 we decided to get a quotation on having a door placed where the window was.

You may recall this visualization. It too was never done, but sometimes I wish we had gone ahead with it. It might have been nice to stroll right out on the deck from the bedroom. Digital visualization is something I started to do about 5 years ago so that we all can see what is in my head and evaluate the potential. It also gives me time to see problems as they might arise and get the project planned.
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My Concept For A Big Project.

As our house approaches 60 years old, a few things to which we never gave much thought, have started to fail due to old age.  One of the more major projects on my to-do-list is the retaining wall poolside under our patio. Many of the wall timbers are rotten, especially below the gravel back-fill below the dotted line shown. Fortunately there is nothing behind the wall above the dotted line in the illustration below, and the deck is suspended on sturdy piers so it is not dependent on the wall for support. The only use of the wall is to retain the gravel but all these many years of incessant exposure to moisture and wood eating insects has finally caused the "lifetime guaranteed" Wolmanized timbers to rot out. Unfortunately, as you might suspect, the "limited lifetime warranty" is not applicable since I am not the original owner, I'm not in the U.S. and I don't have receipts. To read the fantastic, lifetime warranty CLICK HERE. In all fairness though, the rotten beams are over 50 years old and in a worst-case application

Wall is bulging with the weight of the gravel behind.

Lower timbers are completely rotten.

 My plan is to replace the rotten timbers and utilize the space under the deck to winter-store flower pots and garden supplies that are now occupying the pool house shed and the garage. I thought I could re-use some of the good ties above the dotted line and re-build a new, much lower wall but I decided to go with a stone wall to avoid rot.The brick planter and bricks are easily moved so it doesn't look like too bad a project but I've got to do it this year because the bottom ties are starting to disintegrate and the whole wall could fall which would be a mess to deal with.

The hard part will be dealing with the tons of gravel behind the wall.

My concept plan shows the new, lower retaining wall, topped by removable lattice panels. Behind the lattice will be storage cubby holes for Wendy's numerous, heavy, flower pots and other items not affected by the cold and the dampness. Hopefully the openness and resultant ventilation will help prevent lingering dampness and mitigate against future fungus, and insect attacks. At least the area will be more accessible and useful too. My animated GIF makes the job look easy but I suspect there will be some heavy lifting and lots of shoveling. Check back as we proceed with this challenging project.

This is the look I'll be trying for in the upcoming wall project.

After a visit to the building yards this afternoon Wendy and I decided to go with stone half way up and trellis at the top. Pressure treated timbers of the right size are nearly impossible to find and stone will last longer and look better. It keeps the trellis up off the ground and we can still have the storage access.

The trellis look will tie in with my earlier 2010 deck project.You can read the blog entry HERE.

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Yup, I Built It Myself!

I was going to save this entry for one of my "Are You Stupid Or What?" posts but my sister Pat sent me a picture of her son Brandon's Mini that he is restoring in Scotland (where he is now living). She asked me to send Brandon a picture of my old modified Morris Minor 1000 from my teenage years. Well no actual snapshot exists of my finished creation so I though I would use the magic of Photoshop to come up with a reasonable facsimile as it still resides in my somewhat cloudy brain.

Internet file photo shows a 1958 Morris Minor 1000.

From about 1967 to 1969 I owned a very unique automobile. The car was a 1958 Morris Minor 1000. Hmm you say; "Many thousands were built, how can you call it unique?"
It wasn't unique when, in 1965, I bought it for $4 from a friend of a friend aptly named Arthur Britain. (I think he actually spelled it Britton or something) It was just an old, well-used English car. I drove it for quite a few miles before the engine finally wore out and the transmission seized. Being that I was only 17 years old and on the tightest of budgets, my remedy was to rebuild the car...

Now modified and quite unique. The "Mad Morris".

I bought a 1958 Ford sedan for $25 from the classified section of the Toronto Star. It was a V8 model; a 292 cu.in. with automatic transmission. I set upon stripping off the body right down to the chassis, engine and four wheels. My friend Eddy helped me take the Ford body to the scrap yard with his father's pick-up truck. Of course the Ford's wheelbase was too long so I had to cut the frame to shorten it and re-weld it together. (my first attempt at welding) Likewise the drive shaft had to be cut and re-balanced. The Morris body sat tall on the Ford chassis and, in fact, I don't recall ever actually fastening the new body to the frame. It just sort of sat there. A piece of curtain rod through the floor boards served as a gear selector/activator. I stored the strange machine unfinished for a while, finally moving it from Toronto to my parent's new home in London Ontario. I did once drive it all the way up to my friend Hammy's cottage at Waubaushene (over 200 miles) where we dubbed it the "Mad Morris".  I added an "Isky" cam shaft and 3 x 2 barrel "six pack" carburetor but luckily didn't kill myself.  In a future "Are You Stupid Or What?" post I will get into more detail about the lunacy of actually driving this monstrosity down the road at highway speed. By 1969 I was starting to realize that this car was not quite as awesome as it had seemed earlier in my mind and I unceremoniously gave it to a kid down the street. I'm sure his parents thanked me for that. Not!
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Longwoods and the Annual "War of 1812 Reenactment"

"Intense"

 We always enjoy attending the reenactment but part of the fun of visiting Longwoods Conservation Park this time of the year is the beautiful nature trails.

Spring is late this year so the trees are just budding and the foliage is just emerging from the long, cold winter.

The skunk cabbage is always the first to spring up..

The frogs were serenading us as we crossed the stream bed/wetland.

The trilliums are usually in full bloom this weekend but this year we are a day or two early to see the flowers.

The weather doesn't always cooperate but this year it was the perfect temperature with lots of sunshine. We always enjoy the smell of the smoke from the open fires at the encampment.

One of the highlights of our morning visits here is the hearty breakfast provided by the local Optimist Club. Eating pancakes and sausages with eggs in the outdoors is a special treat.

Lots of activity all around the campgrounds.

Next week (Mother's Day Sunday) we are planning on attending the Windflower Walk at Newport Forest which should be perfect timing for the spring blossoms.
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Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Dash Is Out.

Dash is a fine cat and loves to be outside. Unfortunately most of the neighbourhood cats have "disappeared"  and coyotes or coy-wolves are the reason. In this area, if you value your cats you must keep them from roaming.

May Day, May 1st and the weather is finally warming up. Dash knows it. He has been outside all morning but under the watchful eye of the wireless "Dash Cam". Fortunately Dash actually likes his coat and leash, (or at least tolerates it well) but the last thing we want to do is babysit him as he perches for hour, after boring hour, looking around the yard.

Tim rigged it up so we can see where he is, prominently displayed on our computer monitors.

You can even zoom in and out as he moves about. What a great way to keep an eye on
him to make sure he's not tangled up and away from harm.

Dash says "What are you looking at?"
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