Thanks for the video. Can't wait for the next one. Have to do the exact same thing in our drive way plus pour new concrete $$$. I love those steps. Wasn't sure what we were gonna do for steps but those were beautiful.
I’m a 20 yr contractor in Calgary Canada love your content. I’m moving into privatized inspections. 10 yrs of fighting to correct bad contractors I’m gonna do it with proper inspections. Anything less then 4ft doesn’t require engineering so they put in 18” footings on disturbed soil so there wall is less then 48”. 80% fail rate here on residential construction due to oil booms and shitty builders. Love how you do it right and efficiently
20 year old me thought retaining walls were just a bunch of blocks and dirt. 50 year old me figured out it's an art and science. it's amazing how a well done one adds such awesome value to a property. i think i'm a wall snob now. i know what to look for now. so many little details i'd reject if not done as fabulous as these.
"i think i'm a wall snob now. i know what to look for now. so many little details i'd reject if not done as fabulous as these." Im the same- its hard to look at a wall without seeing issues BUT when I do find a good wall- man can you really appreciate it then.
So much pre work goes into making this wall what it is. The 1st course is gotta be spot on. Do you use any laser equipment? I didn't see any story poles. You guys are artists.
Ya got to get the base down to standard proctor for retaining and then divert the water flow to maintain the integrity of a structure. You guys do a great job demonstrating all of this! Pat your selves on the back for job well done.
Love the videos where the camera is on the ASV! Awesome job guys Wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with a u25-3 kubota? Thinking about getting one and wanted to know some real world opinions about them Thanks in advance
Unlike poured footings where adjustments can be made as you go with a block wall, the base for a retaining wall is the beginning and the end. I think that's what Stan was saying.
Hey Stan! I know you have probably answered this in the past, but where do you find your music? You have such an amazing collection. Is it your personal stuff, do you have an idea what you want, then searcha database that you have? When I started watching you, I would take screen prints of each song, but there are so many, it became quite the project. Love the music, your crew is amazing! Their professionalism and making sure that the job is done right is truly wonderful. When they placed the first block by that side door, it took perhaps 10-15 minutes. They measured many times, checked level, many times. Did things over and over to make sure it was spot on. I never tire of watching them work. You can see the passion they have and you can see the respect they have for you. You take the time to listen to what they offer without being the “I’m the boss, and you WILL do it my way”. Kudos to you and your team. I’d hire them in a second
The music is my own mixed with having an idea then searching for the right one. Glad you see the genuine respect in the team too. It’s not always easy to find those qualities in workers but when it happens and we got the right team going everything works out pretty smoothly 😊👍
Great vids, I’ve been watching you for months. I also do landscaping/ hardscapes mainly for 13+ years. All the Geogrid that I’ve used been a thin Plastic based grid. My honest opinion is that by you not putting the block dead level, but at an angle to compensate for the grid it’s overthinking it, and making it harder to install for the worker. My thinking is that when the blocks are in direct sun or even partial sun they are going to heat up and then all the weight on the grid is going to soften the plastic and make it thinner. So my opinion is start off with the wall dead level and if the grid would push it in the opposite direction ,the sun and heat in a long time make it lean towards the correct perfect level. Now I’m probably overthinking it. My mind just always on hardscapes, block or brick work. What’s your thoughts ?
"What’s your thoughts ?" The way you described is fine. You don't have to compensate for the thickness of the geogrid as long as the wall is under 10 feet tall. BUT we started to get into the habit of compensating the block on walls over ten to 20 feet tall and the habit just stuck. we know how to dial it in for whatever the height of the wall and so we do
Maybe you could show a process of measuring materials and how to find out how much you need? I don’t do construction, but I do landscaping. Sometimes getting started is more intimidating then doing the job. Love your videos! Thanks for all the content!
I love what you do. You do everything buy the box. Love you for that. Teach the boys what a 4/1 bucket can really do. God bless.. still love the cowboys hate.
That why Stan you have bigger machines to load trucks like that one. Without the bigger loader you still have the ramp to deal with. I learned in Chicago where we needed to load semi trailers, straight trucks where hard to come by and they got more per hour than semi's dumps. And Stan it's time to retire that mini excavator! Pourable setting beds (flowable fill is not one of them) do work if made of the proper material. Flowable fill behind a retaining wall does work but for really tall walls you still need a lot of compaction that flowable fill will not provide a proctor test of 95% or greater for the structure to become monolith for the H x D2,
That was nice dump truck, I've worked for both Detroit Diesel when I graduated, then Michigan Kenworth after I retired. At KW Cummins was my favorite engine. Cat was to picky on cores. Most guys ran Cat. Thanks for nice vids.
Man keep doing what you are doing! From one pollock to an other. Your content on you tube are much informative. Thanks for the information and entertainment! Salute.
That's why I LOVE watching you. Subscriber's learn from your video's. Dirt perfect 👍🏻 is a teacher To ❗ so is French drain man from Michigan 💪🏻👍🏻 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Awesome retaining wall video as always. I gotta ask though.. is there a CERTAIN type of fill dirt that needs to be used when backfilling these? Obviously clay is a big no no but was just curious what you guys look for in the fill dirt that makes it an acceptable fill dirt
Awesome wall design! Quick question. You put down your 3/4" gravel base then set your first course. After that base course is in why do you put dirt on top of the gravel? Shouldn't the gravel go all the way up almost to the top of the wall?
You might call that a “Wisconsin” truck, here in NC we call that a normal truck. They are all that size if not bigger, I’ve seen some with three or even four drop axles instead of two. Nice KW.
I’m curious if you’ve ever used 1/4” clear stone instead of 3/4 for a retaining wall base? Seems like it would be easier to level with and still have good pass through drainage. Have you ever experimented with it?
Stan nice project only thing would of done different used excavator to load quad dump moving dirt twice instead of once your funny totally underestimated price of new truck that's why used equipment $$$ value is so much now
It's nice looking and I like that footing. I'm not a fan of those walls for the most part or engineered walls as they call them. They really don't hold ground and move well. I live in an mountain valley with an lot of old mining operations and its incredible how an cribbing type of retaining design holds ground so much better and for l9ng amounts of time because the cribbing has some give to it and it can take movement. There's hillsides with old timbers over 100 yrs old still holding even when it rots. Cement and iron ties cribbing can last an long time too.
Just started the video, question on fill-dirt removal, if you are removing dirt you're not gonna reuse, why not just dump it into a mini-dumpster or trailer so you dont have to re-scoop that pile of dirt and railroad-ties into a dumptruck later? Save some time, unless you think youll need to reuse it all.
Hi Stan, I have a question about how you handle billing calculations when a client has purchased the block already.. I have a client that was unaware of permitting, Surcharge, load bearing walls slope etc... We were recommended by a previous client to intervene and do this right.. There is about 225 feet of wall, highest point 11 ft, shortest approximately 3.5 ft.. I can use our normal calculations, but am curious how you handle things like this.. I feel like I may leave money on the table because we typically have our margins on materials Delivery etc.. Just a comparison and It may help others as well. THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR VIDEOS AND VERY INFORMATIVE PROJECTS! Don Sullivan GC.. Custom Designs Construction LLC Denver Colorado
Wow I had no idea what that dump truck in the video cost over $200,000. I purchased back in January of 2022 a 2008 international dump truck with a max force 10 engine. Ya I know about the motor. But I’m loving it. It has 61,000 thousand miles on it. It can hold 15 tons. I’m working on building my bobcat/dirt work bossiness. My main job is quiktrip and I’m working of getting my company up and running. But with everything going on im taking it very slow.
I was interested in the steps - I'm putting some down to our lake on a slope...make a video for that damn it! lol jk of course love your vids....from Zimmerman!
Hey Stan great video! I've been working in the field for 8 years, and I'm been a foreman for 5 of those years. 90% of our work is hard scapes using alot of the same materials you use (versa products, willow creek products, ext). Im planning on moving back home to MN and I'd love to hear your opinion of the job market in the area! What are the chances someone with my level experience will be able to find a job that suits that experience?
We always gotta watch for power lines , branches , etc when loading trucks. We’re county and gotta watch for crazy drivers that never want to slow down even when they can see ya way ahead in the road. They’re in so much of a hurry and bout drive right into ya .
Why no geo grid or text tile fabric? Also, can you tell more about the red grace measuring device used at the 24:30 mark? Who makes it, how does it work?
Hi, I'm new to retaining walls and have been researching different products. I know you are partial to the Versa-Lok product but do you ever install any other brands? Each Versa-Lok piece is 6" tall and 16" wide while most other retaining wall blocks are 8" tall and 18" wide. This adds to the cost of the project. The pricing for each block is also about $2 more. Both of these factors increase the material cost about 30% for the project. If you use another product with the Geo Grid and install it correctly, is that wall more likely to fail before the Versa-Lok wall? I'm just trying to figure out if the Versa-Lok product is worth the extra cost. I appreciate your videos and any feedback. Thank you!
Hey Stanley, love the videos. We do much smaller walls and every time I watch your videos with retaining walls I find myself asking: why don't you use Crusher (with fines) for the base material? I know it's difficult to level, but isn't the compaction superior? Are we doing something wrong using crusher rather than "clean" stone? Western New York, btw. Thanks for all your hard work and production.
@@michaelmaker8169 yeah we run drainage as well, but do the fines actually hold back water? And I'm still curious about the compaction of the clean stone.
The fines can hold water but thats not why we DO NOT use it. We have found that it can have a slightly greater chance of deflection- and doesn't bridge as well over soft or questionable soils. the 3/4 clear is great for bridging and locks into place tight and does not have problems with water.
@@Dirtmonkey hey thanks for the response Stanley.I'm slightly embarrassed to ask, but can you elaborate: what is deflection; and what is bridging? I'm just trying to see how relevant it is to the type of walls we do. We are fairly new to hardscaping, and I tend to echo your philosophy of making sure things are done right.
I just had a versalok wall built and now every time it rains, muddy water comes through parts of the wall and leaves a mess on the paver patio. Can that be remedied?
Stan, have you ever used a mini jaw crusher on your jobs? I have 2 lemtrack 4825 crushers in San Diego and they work great. Just wondering if you had access to similar in your area based on the work you do. Thanks Carl in San Diego
Here is one of my crushers working on a residential concrete driveway replacement ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LIkc7BtAOLk.html@@Dirtmonkey
What I see on residential projects here in Northern California the walls are always reinforced concrete, whether specified by the engineer, landscape architect, or builder. Often this is for the look of the project and other design features of poured concrete. It looks like--to do it right for higher walls--the dry stack requires a highly knowledgeable and skilled crew.
"It looks like--to do it right for higher walls--the dry stack requires a highly knowledgeable and skilled crew." yes precisely. and almost any landscape company tries to build these bigger walls but they don't have the experience to do it right and that leads to issues
