Well before I get into the rental story, I'd like to show you how nicely the boat fits in the back yard. As planned, I'll not have to back the trailer in, but can just drive through both (future) garage doors and do all the turning around behind the garage. I waited until this week for the concrete floor to cure hard enough to get a Bobcat across in order to grade the back yard flat and clean it up a bit. Then, 15 minutes after that was done, I pulled the boat out of our neighbor's driveway and put it away for the winter. Terry liked having the boat in her driveway as her friends would ask when she got the new boat, and when they would be going out to the reservoir. She totally played along. When she asked what she should tell her friends now, with the boat being gone, I suggested she make up a story that goes like this; "Just when we stopped, put out the anchor, opened a bottle of champagne, and set out hors d'oeuvre, the boat sank!" We're working on details to make it believable. Only you know the truth! The steel arrived the same day. This will be the retaining wall for each side of the driveway. Six sheets 4ft X 12ft and seven 3" X 3" angle, all 3/16" thick, aka HEAVY! This is actually CorTen steel, a particular steel used for architectural applications. CorTen stands for CORrosion resistant TENsile steel. We chose this because of it's look and because it uses less space compared to the retaining wall building blocks sold at home improvement stores. I knew they made a pneumatic tool to drive the posts into the ground and I wanted to rent one. So I called the rental place to verify that my shop compressor had enough power to run the tool. The answer was "No." But they would gladly rent the compressor, of course. I told the rental guy I wasn't sure if I had enough room in the Expedition to carry the compressor. He said don't worry it comes on it's own trailer!?! Seriously. It's 180 CFM (cubic feet per minute) my compressor is only 9 CFM. So, properly equipped, I prepped each post cutting as necessary with a SawsAll, and began putting all 25 posts in the ground. Each post is on 49" centers to accommodate the 48 1/2" sheet width. That little yellow post hammer weighs about 80 pounds. It kicked my butt - that's why I'm blogging today. I had to use a ladder to carry it up high enough for the 6ft tall posts. Today, about the only thing I can lift is the mouse for my computer. It was very efficient, however. Returned everything the next day for only a one day rental.
The posts will define the boundary for the concrete driveway. Then the concrete will define how low the sheet metal should be to the ground. Then I'll cut the sheet metal and fasten to the posts with self tapping stainless steel screws - with matching brown heads to go with the rusty look of the steel. Cheers!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSix years ago this blog began when I began building a detached garage with a rooftop deck connected to our house deck. I did everything then, but now the blog will show some recent projects. Archives
August 2024
Categories |