Christmas Canon with Lyrics
This is one of my very favorite Christmas songs.
Everything about Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major is gorgeous.
Maine Wildlife Christmas Video
Maine Wildlife Christmas Video
Paul Cyr, a gifted photographer, captured all of the images you see in this short peaceful video.
These photos transformed into a video display much of what's good in our nation. Go to northern Maine if you want to experience much of what's best in life.
Pre-Christmas 2021 Humor
I know, it's a Wednesday. Normally, you find me in your Inbox early on Sunday morning.
The needle on your stress meter might be pinning. What you're about to read can change that.
Today's goal is twofold:
- make you smile, maybe even laugh out loud
- let you shake the box of my Christmas gifts I'm giving you
Was it TA-DA or Not?
I was so fortunate to attend a Catholic grade and high school. Maybe you did too. Those of us who attended these schools in the 1950s through the early 1970s will tell you it was a character-building experience. A fantastic one.
Each of us has stories to tell about the nuns and priests. I've got countless ones.
About seven years ago, my youngest daughter asked me to write all of them down as well as all the other stories about me growing up. This project is ongoing and I'm about to finish Volume Two of her four-volume Adventures & Advice book set.
Most of the stories are private and the book is only being shared with family and a few very close friends.
That said, Donna reached out to me on Sunday morning because my quotation of Scripture at the bottom of the last newsletter (linked to the left) produced a humorous flashback for her. It's just below.
After reading Donna's true tale, I decided that I'd share one of my grade school stories with you.
CLICK or TAP HERE to read it. It's one of the upcoming chapters in Volume Two of my daughter's Adventures & Advice book.
Now for Donna's story. To get the full effect of Donna's hilarious anecdote, allow me to share one other Christmas Catholic grade-school conundrum.
Realize there was no sex education back when I was in school. You either got the awkward talk from your parents - I didn't - or you got bits and pieces from the older kids and what you could glean from glossy pictures in certain magazines.
One thing that really confused me was the Immaculate Conception feast day. What the heck was THAT all about?
Using a bunch of confusing words like womb, virgin, and "with child" the priests and nuns were trying to explain how in the world Mary got pregnant. Believe me, it's a lot to comprehend for an 8-year-old! I have to tell you it took me years to figure it out.
Go nine months down Mary's timeline and you get to Donna's moment in the classroom. Here it is:
I was in 3rd grade, and it was right before Christmas vacation. The parish priest would visit each classroom and give us the pep talk about being good, thanking our family for the gifts we receive at Christmas, go to Mass, don't fight with our brothers and sisters, etc. And then he asked us if we had any questions. So I, the PITA kid who ALWAYS had questions, asked "When Jesus was born, was it like when we were born, or was it like "TA-DA" and he was in the manger?"
Father looked like he swallowed a fish - whole - and said he needed to consult with Sister. They both turned their backs on us, and there was a lot of shoulder shaking and eye wiping. Father turned back to the class and solemnly announced "There was no TA-DA!" and left very quickly.
When I got home that day, my mother wanted to kill me. Wonder why?
Thanks, Donna for sharing that. It made me laugh out loud!
Shake Time
Did you used to do what I did? My Mom and Dad would put presents under our Christmas tree days before they were to be opened. Looking back, I think it was a form of torture.
I'd often shake the wrapped boxes and sometimes I'd even carefully try to peek under the seam of the overlapping paper for a clue. When Mom saw that, she started fully taping the seams. Drat!
Now it's your turn. Here's a clue about what I've got in store for you days from now:
I hope you have a very very Merry Christmas.
It's going to be a white one here as we got lots of snow days ago and more is on the way.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Do It Right, Not Over!
Install A New Concrete Foundation
Install a New Concrete Foundation | This house was temporarily lifted up about 8 feet in the air allowing a new concrete foundation to be poured. A new dry crawlspace is in the owner’s future. Copyright 2021 Tim Carter
Install a New Concrete Foundation - Going Up!
Recently my daughter purchased an old camp summer house on a lake. The house is about eighty years old and was built on crude cinder blocks that just rested on stony soil. Frost heave over the years has caused the doors and windows to not fit well. Otherwise, the house, because it was built using old-growth timber, is in remarkable shape.
She wondered, “Dad, can a house like this be salvaged? Can a new poured concrete foundation be poured under it? Can a full basement be put under the house? Will the doors and windows work well again? How’s that accomplished?” These are all great questions and the answers vary depending on where the house is located and what lies just inches below the soil.
New Concrete Foundation in Meredith, NH
Just months before she made this new real estate investment, I saw in my own town in central New Hampshire an owner do the same thing. Based on what I witnessed, the house was about the same age as my daughter’s. It’s possible the house in my town was well over 100 years old based on its location and proximity to the town center and railroad tracks. The style and frame construction of the two houses were almost identical.
If you’ve never seen a house moved before, you might think it’s impossible to install a new concrete foundation under an existing house. Not only is it possible, but it’s probably more common than you might think. This process happens out of sight and often on back roads that you might not travel.
New Concrete Foundation in Sanbornton, NH
Two years ago, another house near me got a new concrete foundation. The house movers had to dig pits in the existing crawlspace to place their cribbing. You can tell they did this looking just to the left and down of the white window to the left of the red front door in the photo below. It's not easy to see because it's in the shadows but you can see the old concrete slab the water heaters used to sit on. Look at how the slab is 4 feet in the air now. It's amazing what house movers can do.
This house on Lower Bay Road in Sanbornton, NH looks to be in bad shape, but it's now got a new lease on life. With that metal roof and its soon-to-be new foundation, it can last another 100 years.
Who Installs a New Concrete Foundation on an Existing Home?
The companies that specialize in constructing a new foundation under an existing house are house movers. The process of lifting a house up to move it is the first step in building a new foundation. If the house is not moving off the lot, it’s just a matter of lifting it up high enough so the foundation crew can work comfortably and safely. This often means the house might be lifted 6, 8, or 10 feet in the air.
Do You Need Cribbing?
Yes, you need cribbing to support the house. Each moving company might tackle the job differently. The first step I’ve witnessed is the placement of four or more, concrete footing pads under the house where cribbing will be placed. Cribbing is comprised of giant square 6x6 pieces of oak timbers typically about 42 inches long. Two pieces are placed parallel with one another on the smooth and level concrete and then two more pieces are placed at a 90-degree angle on top of the ends of the first two. This process is repeated until the house is lifted to the desired height.
This is an excellent photo of the cribbing used to support a house while the new concrete foundation is being constructed. Note the steel I-beams that support the house and then rest on the cribbing. The giant jacks are hidden inside the cribbing.
The top of these concrete footings is normally placed at the future top of the concrete slab that will be poured in the new crawlspace or basement. It’s critical these footings are at the same height and perfectly level. This makes it easy to place the cribbing with a minimum of shimming.
How Many I-beams are Required?
Two, or more, steel I-beams are then slid under the house and centered on the cribbing. Giant house-lifting jacks are placed inside the cribbing. The jack pistons are centered under the I-beams. The professionals start to lift the house making sure to keep it as level as possible. As it goes up in the air, more cribbing is stacked to support the house.
Once the house is high enough in the air, the foundation crews start to work. If the soil is deep enough, they can dig it out using small machinery that can get under the house. Skilled operators are required so they don’t touch the cribbing.
Will Bedrock Limit the Crawlspace Height?
If bedrock is close to the surface, it may not be possible to place a tall crawlspace or full basement under the house. The house movers in the area almost always know the soil conditions and can manage this expectation before they start to work. You can also dig test pits around the outside of the house to determine the depth of bedrock prior to the house movers showing up.
It doesn’t matter if the house was built square as the foundation crews use plumb bobs and other tools to ensure the new foundation will match the exact shape of the outer walls of the house that’s suspended above them.
How are the I-beams Removed?
The foundation crews have to install U-shaped notches at the top of at least one wall of the new foundation. These notches are aligned with the steel I-beams that the house floor joists are resting on. Once the new foundation is complete and the house can be lowered onto the new poured concrete foundation, the I-beams need to be pulled out from under the house through these notches.
The notches can then be filled in with concrete blocks or new windows might be placed in these locations. Discuss your options with the house-moving company.
Don’t forget to install excellent foundation waterproofing and drain tile on the outside of the new foundation. It’s also wise to consider radon collection piping. This needs to be placed under the new slab below the house. Consult one, or more, of the radon maps that can be found with ease on the Internet to see if radon is an issue in your area.
Related Column:
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Land Buying Checklist
Land Buying Checklist | This lot in central New Hampshire might be appealing. The truth is it may have two or three deal-breaker flaws.
Land Buying Checklist - Use My Checklist to Save You Lots of Money
Are you one of many who are thinking of fleeing bigger cities to get away from crime, pollution, higher taxes, never-ending traffic jams, and a laundry list of other pesky problems? You’re not alone.
You might be one of the millions like my son-in-law and my own son who now can work from anywhere there’s an Internet connection. The paradigm of having to drive to work or take public transportation has shifted farther than the ground does in an 8.0 earthquake. That dream you’ve nurtured for decades about living in the countryside is within your grasp.
How Many Things Might Be on a Land Buying Checklist?
That said, you need to proceed slowly when buying raw land or a developed vacant building lot. I maintain there are no less than 20, maybe 30, important things you need to consider. In the limited space I have here, I’m going to share some of the major dealbreakers that would make me walk away from what appears to be a dream lot. The other checklist items are in a document I created years ago. The link for that is at the end of this column.
CLICK or TAP HERE to download my Land Buying Checklist
Just a few years ago, I helped my daughter make a decision about buying a vacant lot in a small subdivision on Mt. Desert Island (MDI). My daughter unknowingly enlisted a realtor who had virtually no clue about the pros and cons of vacant land. Don’t ever do this. We looked at no less than fifteen lots. At least five hours and gallons of gasoline were wasted looking at lots that should have never been considered.
What are Your Personal Deal Breakers?
The first thing you need to do when considering a building lot is to make your own personal list of deal-breakers. In my daughter’s case, she wanted privacy and quiet. This means you don’t want to have a lot that’s on a main road where giant trucks with diesel engines pass by every three minutes. The same goes for tourist locations like MDI that are overrun in good weather with tourists riding loud motorcycles. The wet-behind-the-ears realtor should have never even considered five of the lots she took us to.
What About Zoning Set Back Lines?
The size of a lot is much more important than you might think. If you’ve never built before, you may not be aware of zoning laws that create an unbuildable border of land within your lot. This no-build zone is created by the front, rear, and side-yard setback lines. They differ widely from town to town and neighborhood. For example, a vacant urban lot may have setback distances of just a few feet. A rural lot may have a front and rear-yard setback of 60, or more, feet. In my daughter’s case, the modest home she ended up building had to be shoehorned into the leftover buildable area within her lot. The house had to be built at an angle to the road and even then two small wetland areas were dangerously close to the house.
Wetlands you say? Imagine looking at my daughter’s lot in the dead of winter when you can’t even see them because they’re frozen and under a foot or two of snow! You’d hope all the wetlands are clearly marked on the plat map, but my suggestion is for you to only hope for things you can’t control like the weather and international conflict.
Is Compass Direction Important?
What about something as simple as compass direction? You might not think it matters much. Are you excited about the prospect of installing solar panels on your roof? Will the largest part of your roof that you can’t see from the road face south? That’s what you want to happen if you live in the northern hemisphere.
Take my house for example. I happen to thoroughly enjoy sunrises. I wanted the rear of my home to face east so I could enjoy them sitting out on my deck. The other advantage of this orientation is when I’m on the deck on a hot summer’s day, my deck is in the shade. Other neighbors of mine are sweltering in direct sunlight on their decks that face west.
What About Garbage Pickup or Snow Plowing?
What about city or town services? When I moved to rural New Hampshire thirteen years ago, I didn’t much think about trash pickup. After all, for five decades I just rolled my cans to the curb and the refuse magically disappeared. You can pay extra for that service in my town or you can drive your own stinking and leaking plastic trash bags to the town dump yourself. It’s a good thing I can hose out my pickup truck bed each time I get back home in the summer.
Is Mud Season an Issue?
Have you heard about mud season? It’s the harbinger of black flies. I’ll never forget my first spring in New Hampshire. Fortunately, my house and the roads leading to my house from at least one direction are all paved. One early spring day, I went for a walk to the end of my street. When you turned south on the intersecting road, it was paved for about 100 feet. Then it turned to gravel.
There in the middle of the road was a warning sign: ROAD IMPASSABLE. The ruts in the road were about 12 inches deep. My beefy Super Duty 3/4-ton 4x4 truck has only 8 inches of clearance. All the locals knew that if you were to venture onto the road and get stuck, only a farm tractor might get you out. No tow-truck company would ever venture into mud that deep. If you lived on that road, how would you get food for weeks at a time during mud season?
You’ll discover all sorts of other things to consider when you peruse my Land Buying Checklist.
Column 1434
AsktheBuilder Christmas 2021
'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the land every creature was astir doing its best to spread peace, joy, and maybe a few dark chocolate pecandes.
Last-minute shopping trips, baking, cooking, and wrapping gifts might have you scurrying and skittering about marking each passing minute as we march towards Christmas morning.
I was busy this past week on a number of things. I had to put the finishing touches on a pink unicorn barn for my granddaughter and I was hard at work on your Christmas gift too.
I still have more to do. Thank goodness there are still a few more days before Christmas.
If you subscribed after 5:00 AM last Sunday, I urge you to look over last week's issue. Without this context, what you're about to read will make little sense.
I was able to decide exactly what to give you and am working diligently to get it all wrapped up. I even intend to put red and green grosgrain ribbon on the box.
However, it's looking like my gift to you might not be under your Christmas tree, but instead covered with New Year's confetti.
Two Thumbs Up
When I was in the shower ten days or so ago pondering the idea for your prizes, I decided to pass the concept by two of my friends.
I trust my judgment, but as you'll soon discover I only get one chance with this.
There are no do-overs.
Both of my friends were enthusiastic about what I have in store. One said, "I think it's a great idea! And very generous, really."
That said, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. If you celebrate some other holiday at this time of year, I wish you the best.
"...So they went with haste, and they found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger. And when they had seen, they understood what had been told them concerning this Child."
Just like the humble shepherds that night who were the first to see Jesus, the Christ Child, you'll soon be the first to behold something I've never done before.
It's my hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying creating it for you.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Do It Right, Not Over!
December 12, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
Christmas is now less than two weeks away. It's hard to believe 2021 vaporized as quickly as it did.
Two mornings ago, I woke up at 5:00 am thinking of you. You may find this really hard to believe, but it's true. It was pitch black here in New Hampshire as we're so very close to the winter solstice.
There are now less than 9 hours of daylight each day here in the great Northeast Kingdom.
All this past week, I was struggling with my own feelings about a laundry list of items. As each day passed, I was becoming more and more disturbed. I know these tiresome and troubling thoughts were gnawing away at me during the night.
In the pre-dawn darkness, I was gazing through the glass door next to my bed. The lake water was as black as the ink in my fountain pens but I could clearly see the twinkling lights on the distant shore.
I thought, "I'm sure many others, including my newsletter subscribers, are feeling similar pressure and stress - especially around Christmas. What in the world can I do to help?"
Many Many Sunrises
Many years ago when I was in my 30s and even in my 40s, I was asleep. By that I mean I was not aware, nor interested, in all the external forces that had a direct impact on my life. I was crazy busy trying to scratch out a living for myself, my lovely wife Kathy, and my three wonderful children that depended on me.
Having not witnessed enough sunrises yet, I was hyper-focused on my current jobs and what jobs I would get in the future that would allow me to put food on the table. Maybe you used to be like me.
My dear father-in-law and a handful of others I knew had seen enough sunrises and were awake. So was my best friend Richard, who we had to send back to Heaven fourteen months ago.
I distinctly remember Richard coming to the job site on many a day and he'd share what he had seen on C-Span the evening before. He was passionate about this new cable-TV channel.
I tried to look interested but I wasn't. All I could think about while he talked was if I was going to finish that job on time and not encounter problems that would gobble up the profit.
I don't know if Richard was also tuned into national financial news, as I have no memory of him sharing that with me.
I'm now wide awake and realize what's happening. Perhaps you are too.
No doubt you've seen food, fuel, and other prices rise 20, 30, and even 40 percent in the past twelve months. Inflation is just one of the things that's bothering me and it's my opinion that it's going to get far worse.
Along the way in the past twenty years, I've also become a student of history. Just seventy-seven years ago, world leaders met at the Mt. Washington Hotel a mere 68 miles from my house for the historic Bretton Woods Conference.
If you want to see where you're going, it's easy. Turn around and see where you've been. History is a mirror-image road map.
If you don't know what happened at the conference and WHY it happened, I suggest you get up to speed.
Too Late to Start Over
Back in the late 1970s, I was trying to help my father-in-law cobble together a big business deal. We were trying to put together a limited partnership to develop a 240-acre tract of land he owned with another man.
I was so wet behind the ears that my shirt collar was soaking wet. One day, we were driving to meet with some attorneys. While my father-in-law was a super-smart man, he often posed riddles instead of just saying what he meant to say.
For example, two of his favorite sayings/riddles were:
Success breeds success.
A tiger hunts best when it's hungry.
On this particular day, I asked him why he just didn't fund most of the deal with his own money. He responded, "It's too late in the game for me to start over."
That was all he said. I understood it, but it took years to fully grasp the meaning.
My Life-Preserver Business
Each day, I receive incoming emails generated by a form on the Ask Tim page on my website. Well over ninety-five percent of the messages are folks flailing in the deep frigid water of failure screeching at me to fling them a life preserver.
The most common causes of their misery are:
- They failed to research a project before starting
- They failed to read the product installation or label instructions
- They placed far far too much trust in a contractor
I've also started to notice a few very disturbing trends in many of the messages. For starters, I'm seeing more people stating that they're on fixed incomes. That relates to what my father-in-law was talking about.
You might be on a fixed income. For a host of reasons, it's no doubt too late for you to start over and make more and more money each week.
I get it. I really do.
Another trend I see is both fear and frustration. You may be a homeowner not able to find really good contractors to do work for you.
Just over a week ago, I did a consult call with a young woman in upstate New York that had this problem. She has to have a dormer put on her house and no one will bid the job. She's decided to do it herself and she will succeed with my help.
The other big trend in my incoming emails is anxiety. It doesn't matter if you're on a fixed income or not, you might be anxious that the contractor you hire might not do the job right.
Nothing but bad happens when bad workmanship and/or the wrong products are used on one of your jobs.
The work might have to be ripped out and you have to start over. Imagine what the final bill might be. In many cases, it's well over $10,000.00.
My New Neighbor
Here's one final example of what I witness each day. Just a week ago, I was driving back from getting two smaller Christmas trees to decorate our front porch.
I was traveling on a back road that parallels the lake shore near my house. Lo and behold, I saw the gate guarding a private road was wide open. The narrow gravel road leads to a new house that's being built just above mine. No doubt the homeowner was there checking on the progress.
As the afternoon light was beginning to fade, I drove down the half-mile-long driveway. The husband/wife owners were inside the recently framed house. We said hellos, he helped me up onto the front porch, and I marveled at the recently completed roof framing.
"When does the roof go on?" I inquired.
"Hah, they were supposed to start today. With snow in the forecast on Monday, it might not happen now until spring." The husband let out a heavy sigh and shrugged his shoulders.
As I walked up to the front porch, I had spied the bundles of shingles on the pallets. The brand was a popular regional one. It was the same brand that was on my own home until I ripped each wretched crumbling shingle off five years ago drenched in sweat and fuming with frustration.
A few years tends to temper one's emotions.
"I see you're using the same brand I had on my home. How would you like this roof to be the last one you ever put on your home?"
"Tim, I thought you have a metal roof on your home, right? Those are asphalt shingles on the pallets, not metal." He has seen my house by looking at it from up in the cul-de-sac and in the right light my roof might look metal shingles although it's synthetic slate.
"No, I've got DaVinci Roofscapes synthetic slate on my house. There was no way I was going to put asphalt shingles back on my house again after my 30-year shingles went bad in nine years."
I then shared with my new neighbors what they could do to make their new shingles last for 40 or 50 years.
As you might expect their eyes lit up at this good news. The wind was pouring through the squares and rectangles in the walls where windows will soon be. It was biting us like the black flies in the spring telling us it was time to get home and warm.
We took one last look down at Lake Winnisquam and peered across the distant shore to see the Ossipee Mountains. This unusual circular feature on NH topo maps is a rare fully preserved ring dike.
Here's a photo I took of the Ossippee Mountains from the new home site on a warm June day when blasting was underway.
Realize the ring dike is the basement of a huge volcano that got uplifted from under the surface of the Earth Ball many years ago.
The three of us carefully walked up the crusty snow cover to our vehicles, shared our goodbyes and Merry Christmas salutations and drove away.
The Fuzzy Idea
So what's all of this have to do with you?
I'm sure you've got a clue, but here's another one.
Hours before I went to bed just two days ago, I was in the middle of one of my new LIVE stream videos.
For just a brief moment in the LIVE stream, I mentioned that I had sent my son one of my PDF documents that would help him save spending $750 on a house inspector.
One viewer immediately typed into the chat window that's part of the stream, "I WISH I would have known about this document before we bought our house last year!!!"
As I lay in bed two mornings ago I pondered, "What magic Christmas or New Year's prize could I give to all my subscribers that could save them thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of dollars?"
I'm positive that simple comment made by the viewer helped trigger the thought tsunami that washed over me at that moment as I lay in bed.
In that place between sleep and awake, a fuzzy idea started to take form in my tiny gray cells. I crawled out from under the warm covers to jump into the shower to see if I couldn't refine the notion.
I don't know about you, but over the years, I've had some great shower moments where I think through an idea or two.
I'll share more with you next Sunday. I've still got to put some things in the box and wrap it before it's ready for you.
I hope your week goes well and that you can manage any and all stress.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Do It Right - Not Over
December 9, 2021 Live Stream
Gravity Retaining Walls - Can Be Tall
LIVE Stream 12-09-2021 Ask the Builder
Gravity Retaining Wall Systems
Gravity Retaining Wall Systems | This is a gravity retaining wall that’s ten feet tall. While not normal, it looks fantastic after twenty years of service. Copyright 2021 Tim Carter
Gravity Retaining Wall Systems - There are Quite a Few
You might have a retaining wall in your near future. I can understand why as man has used them for thousands of years to create flat, or gently sloping, terraces on hillsides. Retaining walls, though, are far more complex than you might imagine. Tall retaining walls that don’t tumble over or lean might have been a stroke of luck on the builder’s part, but most likely they involved some serious engineering.
What is the Easiest Retaining Wall to Build?
I suggest we just discuss simple gravity retaining walls for now. This wall is the easiest to build, materials are plentiful and often free, and you can achieve success in almost all cases. A gravity retaining wall is made using any solid material that you can stack on top of one another. This wall relies on its own mass to hold up the earth that’s pushing against it. It’s a simple battle of gravity and you can win as you’re about to discover.
Watch this video to see the size of blocks being used to build a gravity retaining wall just seven houses away from mine:
Did You Make Any Retaining Wall Mistakes?
There’s an old saying: You don’t know what you don’t know. I can attest to this. Looking back at my building career, I often get a grin on my face. I was so ambitious and I had no fear. I jumped into projects like a small child into a blow-up swimming pool on a hot August day. I had lots of early success, and I also had a few dustups. Dustups are great learning experiences.
I was quite wet behind the ears, just about 26-years-old, when my lovely wife asked me to build a retaining wall for her at our second home. The wall would serve two purposes. First, it would allow us to put a 6-foot-tall fence up in the dirt behind the wall that would give us lots of privacy from the apartment building parking lot that abutted our back yard. The 3-foot-wide strip of fill dirt behind the wall would also give her a wonderful place to plant shade plants and flowers.
This wall was about 50 feet long and started out up near the detached garage. There is extended up just 1 foot tall. By the time it got to the far property line, it was 42 inches high. I thought all along this 8-inch-thick red-brick wall would do really well. I was wrong.
CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local Retaining Wall companies.
Did You Batter the Wall?
My first mistake was not battering the wall. Batter means to make it lean backwards out of plumb. Think about how you lean in to something when you push it. Retaining walls, especially simple stacked gravity walls, look better with a batter to them. The batter sends a subliminal message of strength. Usually, a batter of about 5 degrees out of plumb is plenty.
Within five years, I noticed the tall part of my wall started to lean. I had good drainage behind it, but the wall was lacking in mass. the base of the wall was as thick as the top. The base of the wall at that end should have been at least 20 inches wide and taper to 8 inches as it got to the top.
Are Retaining Walls Like Levers?
Keep in mind that retaining walls are simple vertical levers. The weight of the ground above the wall and frost in cold climates pushes against the top of the wall trying to tip it over. You probably remember your high school physics class where Archimedes said, “Give me a lever long enough and I can lift the Earth!” He was right. The taller the wall, the longer the lever. This is why you need to make your gravity retaining wall look much like a pyramid that’s cut in half. Imagine how stable a pyramid is with its wide base!
The second retaining wall I built for my wife fared much better. I learned from my mistakes. It was a red-brick serpentine wall that she requested. It was stunning once complete and it’s still in perfect shape now 35 years later. A curved retaining wall works well for the same reason arches worked for the Romans to support their aqueducts. Imagine an arch laid on its side and built into the ground! It has enormous strength.
What is a Good Height for a Gravity Retaining Wall?
Most gravity retaining walls work well about 3 to 4 feet tall. It’s best to make the width of the base about half the height of the wall. You should also bury the first row of stones, blocks, or timbers about 6 to 8 inches into the soil. Don’t just lay the first row on the ground and definitely not on grass or other organic matter that will decay and become a slippery mass of goo.
The soil type at your home will make a difference. I’ve found that sandy soils are the ones that seem to play the best with gravity retaining walls. Dense clay soils that are slippery might put far more pressure against the top of your wall. The amount of hillside above your wall also comes into play. A slope that extends hundreds of feet uphill from your wall will place much more pressure against the wall than a much shorter slope.
Do some due diligence. Walk, bike, or drive around your neighborhood. Pay attention to other gravity retaining walls that you like and might have been in place for decades. Don’t be afraid of asking the homeowner or business owner about the wall. They may have built it and can share how it was done.
I’ve got five gravity retaining walls on my own property here in New Hampshire built with giant granite boulders. Next door to me, my neighbor has one that’s 10 feet tall. All of them have been in place for over twenty years and look as good as the day they were installed. Believe me, your new gravity wall is going to look fantastic. Send me a photo of it using the form on my Ask Tim page at www.AsktheBuilder.com!
Column 1433
December 5, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
Wait just a minute! Did I just overhear you whispering to Carol, Sean, Maryanne, Armando, Teresa, Vito and about 90 others who are part of your corner cabal about your plans to invade Cuba? I'm sure it was my tinnitus and you being a new subscriber, must have been asking if I played the tuba in my high school band, right?
That said, you might have been receiving these Ask the Builder newsletters for many many years. If so, I'll bet you remember the video I did showing you a secret way to hang things on walls with no visible screws and no hard-to-adjust wires for goodness sake. CLICK or TAP HERE and make room for new information in your tiny gray cells!
Ancient Chinese Proverb
The person who says it can't be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.
Christmas Shopping?
Are you shopping on Amazon.com for your Christmas gifts? I know, I know, you might be celebrating some other religious holiday this time of year. I respect that. We celebrate Christmas here at the Carter house.
You can ensure this newsletter keeps coming your way by using my affiliate link to do your shopping. It doesn't increase your price for items.
Jeff Bezos simply flips me a few pennies that he'd otherwise use to buy rocket fuel.
Cassette Tapes > MP3 Files
Last issue I asked for your help in identifying the best hardware to magically convert old cassette tapes into MP3 files.
I was not disappointed. You might have been one of the many that responded with fantastic ideas.
CLICK or TAP HERE to see what was sent to me!
Thank you for responding to my request for help. The valuable information you sent to me is going to help thousands save their recordings.
Strong Evidence - God is Indeed a Woman!
There are two videos you should watch that might convince you that God is a woman. The first one will absolutely put a HUGE grin on your face.
Don't get wrapped around the axle on this one because there's no doubt God has a sense of humor.
Who knows? You might need to have yours adjusted. These two SHORT videos will help for sure.
CLICK or TAP HERE and let me know if you're now a believer! I know I am!
Attack Squirrels or Laced Plastic?
For the second year in a row, new strands of my Christmas lights on my deck have been ruined by squirrels that CHEW through the wires.
When you've seen as many sunrises as I have, you might wonder if the manufacturer has added an animal attractant to the plastic insulation. This way they can SELL MORE lights to us unsuspecting consumers.
Have you had the bushy tree rats chew your lights too? I know one thing, the mills of the gods grind slowly but thoroughly...
What You've Been Missing
My new LIVE video streams are really going well. I'm so lucky to have made a new group of friends that show up on a regular basis and ask fantastic questions.
If you want to watch the most recent ones, here are the links:
Build a Dormer Over the Phone! She's Going to Do It!
Build a House Inside a Tent - Seriously!!!
Non-Toxic Paint for Kids - I'm Using It
That's enough for a December Sunday. It's time to throttle back.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
CLEAN FOOD STAINS - www.StainSolver.com
Fun Radio Tales - www.W3ATB.com
Do It Right, Not Over!
P.S. What about building under a tent? What about building in other tough conditions? CLICK or TAP HERE to see if you have a better method.
Find Homebuilding Issue 51 Rear Cover
(C) Taunton Press 2021 - Image republished under the auspice of the Fair Use Doctrine