Brisbane, QLD


Saturday, December 17, 2016

THE WALL DIDN'T FALL BUT NEARLY

Our house sits on a corner block and the corner road sweeps around to the back of our house so we have two entrances which is handy because the front has stairs but the back doesn't. It means that we have a front garden, a back garden and a side garden. The back garden slopes down towards the house as we are on a hill. Bill built a bridge to access the door many years ago. We also needed  retaining walls to hold the hill back from washing under the house in storms. One on the left of the bridge and one on the right of the bridge. We had the walls made from logs because I preferred natural materials but after 25 years the logs shrank and the uprights rotted so we needed to replace the walls.
The back entrance.

The wall on the left was bowing and ready to fall.

My trusty gardener, Jeff and his two nephews came to renew the walls. The blocks were delivered.

 The work started. The logs were removed and then sadly some plants had to be removed. However, the spring blooms had finished and the rest are suffering dry summer heat stress. These guys were amazing working in 35°C heat. But the afternoon shade was creeping over them.


Soil had to be removed to make way for the blocks to be embedded in crusher dust next to the concrete walkway. It took two days.

Once the bottom layer is secured the others lock into each other like lego. Looks a bit neater now.

The wall on the right was also falling down.

 Logs removed, dirt dug out and first layer settled. 

 At least the workers had a little shade on this side.

Its going to look great when we have the walkways repainted.
We are impressed with the work done by Jeff from Blue Skies Property Maintenance .

23 comments:

  1. Don't know how they can do such physical work in those temperatures. The walls look very attractive and it doen't look as though you lost too many plants

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  2. Such engineering always amazes me. How they get it straight and level. Looks very nice.

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  3. For sure, a great wall was built. I suppose outdoor workers get used to high temperatures. I think 36 in Melbourne is down tools for construction workers.

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  4. Hello, the new walls look great. The crew did nice work. You have pretty landscaping and a lovely property. Happy weekend to you! I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

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  5. It looks wonderful, so nice to have some professionals to do the heavy work.

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  6. That looks exactly like our house, only we had had built a wall right away ! We also have an entrance on the side with steps and one on street level !

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  7. that is a beautiful wall and it should last a lifetime. the logs were pretty but they do rot.. they did a fantastic job and in two days, which means they are super worker bees

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  8. I love the new walls - looks like lots of hard work went into it!

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  9. Hi Diane, what a neat wall. You have a beautiful property. Those maintenance men did well to work in such extreme heat. Greetings, Jo PS I was touched to see that you'd want to take all 17 dogs home shown on Sandra's blog!

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  10. Looks like the project will be lovely when it is all done.It's good to have work done by experienced craftsmen too.

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  11. It looks very nice and tidy now. I like the brick walkway.

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  12. That looks lovely and serve it's purpose for many years to come...things do want to fall after time has passed.

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  13. The did a fantastic job! It should last you at least 25 more years!

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  14. Wow, it is looking good. I love it now. Keep well, T'other Diane

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  15. Love the new retaining walls - job well done! :D)

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  16. Great job. Prevention is always best and the solution looks beautiful. It is wonderful to have fine craftspeople whom you know and trust.

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  17. Once you own property the maintenance is never-ending. That wall should last a while though!

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  18. I've been a poor blogging friend, but I've just spent time catching up on your posts. I love 'your story' and so glad you are putting it in book form. I absolutely loved reading about your PNG days as it was part of the South Pacific area and we knew lots of people and missionary activities that took place there during that time. Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. P.S. The new retaining walls look great!

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  19. Mmm this has me thinking. We put similar walls in our Brisbane property 35 years ago and I remember them telling us they would only last 20 years. I hope the agent is noticing if they are deteriorating.

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  20. That's a big job! It came out beautifully. I like the look of the block you used.

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  21. The brick retaining wall looks so beautiful, Diane! I have a large retaining wall in the back of my house as we are at the bottom of a hill. It is made up of wood and some of it rotting. I'd love to put in brick work like this--mayybe someday soon!

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  22. Whew glad the wall didnt fall! They did some pretty work with the stones!

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  23. That was a big job and I'm sure you are pleased to have it all finished - a big thumbs-up to those guys. Hoping you enjoyed a lovely Christmas and my best wishes to you & Bill for 2017

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