Landscaping Project Update
Let me start this post off by saying that it is a really good thing that I went to college. The reason? Well, if I wasn't a computer programmer and had to do a job that required a good deal of physical labor...I would probably not be good at it. How do I know this? Our landscaping project is not going very well.
That last statement isn't entirely true, the first retaining wall that we started looks great so far. The problem is that it is taking a lot longer than we originally planned and costing a lot more that we originally planned. The original plan was that this wall would cost about $3000-$4000 and that my neighbor and I would take off 1 day of work. So, we took off of work last Wedensday and thought that we could finish most of the wall. We then thought that it might take a little longer to finish some parts, but that it could be done in a few hours after work on Thursday and Friday. Boy were we totally wrong on all accounts.
Timewise, we have now spent 24 hours on the project...not including the 20 hours that it took to dig the hole for the wall. So, 44 hours and we are still not done yet. We are figuring that we will still need another whole day (12-14 hours) to finish it up. That is quite a bit of time spent on this (and this does not include the many, many hours spent planning it, getting materials, and going to Home Dept for tools either).
Moneywise, this project originally was going to cost around $3000. Now it is up closer to $8000. My thought is that we didn't originally take into account all the new tools that we would need and we also didn't have enough materials planned originally. We also ended up hiring some laborers for 2 days to help dig the trenches for the wall (my neighbor originally planned to have us doing this work ourselves, but it was way too much for us to handle).
One additional cost that is not in any of these numbers is the cost that we will have to landscape this area when we are done building it. Flowers, shrubs, and trees can add up quickly even though we are going to be doing this ourselves.
Overall, I am happy with the look of the wall, but I am very unhappy about the cost of it. I just have to keep telling myself that it is an investment in my house. Someday when I sell it, I should be able to recoup all this cost and more.
Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like so far.
That last statement isn't entirely true, the first retaining wall that we started looks great so far. The problem is that it is taking a lot longer than we originally planned and costing a lot more that we originally planned. The original plan was that this wall would cost about $3000-$4000 and that my neighbor and I would take off 1 day of work. So, we took off of work last Wedensday and thought that we could finish most of the wall. We then thought that it might take a little longer to finish some parts, but that it could be done in a few hours after work on Thursday and Friday. Boy were we totally wrong on all accounts.
Timewise, we have now spent 24 hours on the project...not including the 20 hours that it took to dig the hole for the wall. So, 44 hours and we are still not done yet. We are figuring that we will still need another whole day (12-14 hours) to finish it up. That is quite a bit of time spent on this (and this does not include the many, many hours spent planning it, getting materials, and going to Home Dept for tools either).
Moneywise, this project originally was going to cost around $3000. Now it is up closer to $8000. My thought is that we didn't originally take into account all the new tools that we would need and we also didn't have enough materials planned originally. We also ended up hiring some laborers for 2 days to help dig the trenches for the wall (my neighbor originally planned to have us doing this work ourselves, but it was way too much for us to handle).
One additional cost that is not in any of these numbers is the cost that we will have to landscape this area when we are done building it. Flowers, shrubs, and trees can add up quickly even though we are going to be doing this ourselves.
Overall, I am happy with the look of the wall, but I am very unhappy about the cost of it. I just have to keep telling myself that it is an investment in my house. Someday when I sell it, I should be able to recoup all this cost and more.
Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like so far.
posted by RS at 1:29 PM
4 Comments:
Looks like you're getting a good workout. (Nice pipes in pic#2)
Looks really great so far.
Sorry to hear that the project faced a lot of cost overruns but it looks good. =)
We have not even considered the actual plants, bushes, and trees that will be in there. That will be just another cost for me to try to find some money for.
Great pictures
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