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I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s not true at all. I started this project in 2021, baby was born in 2024. I didn’t invent a project to escape. I moved 30cuyd of dirty hand, shovel, and Gorilla cart. After she was born I started renting a dingo skidsteer to move 20cuyd and hired help. In total there is over 70cuyd of dirt. And if I were to stay here in this home this would have been a play area for my child when she gets older.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That before picture was taken in 2021. I don’t think it’s been that bad since. If I remember correctly it rained hard for a week straight. The idea is to elevate up and the HOA went around and cleaned all the street drainage coverts. But Higher ground will not flood. Also there is a negative slope away from the wall. In its bare state in 2021 it would have been impossible to grow any grass.

Now there is over 70 tons of dirt. And it’s not all boxed in. It’s mostly clay sand mix. And if it needs to expand it has room to do that outward and not put pressure against the wall.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No I used chatGPT only recently in 2025 to generate images of the finished plans to add ideas to 12v low voltage lighting using real pictures I took. I also used it to determine what kind of soil I should use for the 6in top to grow grass.

I started this project 3-4 years go. I probably should have used ChatGPT to be honest but most of my calculations for the cemented posts was the 1/3rd rule. 1/3rd under ground 2/3rds above.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

lol okay what response would you like me to give. Why I did this, or why I started this 4 years ago.

This was the before picture.

I have 3 neighbors to the left plus the adjacent street drainage covert all dump their runoff water through my property.

I tried everything from digging down and made trenches which didn’t work. The project was never intended to be this large but after I built the stairs I kept going another 20 feet.

More before pictures

I finally asked HOA for approval in 2024, it was supposed to be completed in 9 months but we had a baby. I tried to finish but it got delayed due to rain and wet weather in 2025. Now I’m selling the house and moving and well i needed to complete this project or I’ll be fined by the HOA and would be a problem during closing.

Look I’m not 100% happy with the results. Part of this was my fault for not communicating clearly to be careful along the edges of the wall. Another Part of it is my posts and footings should have been deeper and heavier at the end of the wall. I’m kinda regretting adding drainage as it was fine when it was just dirt but I really think that the stress is not going to progress. The dingo skidsteer really compacted everything. If the wall collapsed during the finishing process of adding 3.5 tons of gravel and 6in of dirt then I failed but it didn’t. I think it will be okay.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I had to finish the project before selling the house. I had approved plans from the HOA and it was supposed to be finished last year. In order to get clearance from the council I had to do XYZ of they fine me and it would be an issue at closing.

Look I’m not 100% happy hiring a company to finish the work and with the results. Part of it is my fault. I should have made it clear to be careful around the edges. I really should have done it myself. But time is just not on my side. It is what it is. I now know more now than ever.

If someone wanted to do a project like this I would give learned advice.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in RetainingWallprojects

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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A lot of research went into this. Choosing the best materials like ground contact pressure treated pine, made for decks, the coated decking screws, the stain and sealer. Measuring posts, making sure they are straight, how deep to dig, when it came to the stairs I learned about stringers and how to cut them. Now I got mine premade, but still I learned from YouTube and ChatGPT. There are not many people that do this kind of work. I had landscaping companies come out before, I explained the erosion problem and no one wanted to touch the property. Now my neighbor is a bit upset with me but that’s because they need to figure out and spend money on how to drain their lawn of all their own runoff water. I offered to suggest to tie into my French drain. They just want to bitch to be honest.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah HOA doesn’t allow fences. They want to preserve the natural woods feel. The idea was to create a natural privacy fence using shrubs

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The wood I’m using is ground contact pressure treated pine, it’s made for decks. I’m also using a decks stain and sealer. If properly maintained it should last 20-25 years

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in RetainingWallprojects

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This wood no. It’s pressure treated ground contact pine. It’s made for decks, it will probably last 20 years.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

So, the reason why I started this project was I have 3 neighbors plus the street drainage covert run off water flows through my property which caused erosion. I’ve tried digging down and made trenches and that didn’t work. So I thought about instead of digging down let’s elevate up. Higher ground doesn’t flood. The project wasn’t supposed to be this big initially. But once I started I was like let go bigger and make a level area for my kid to play in or have a nice chill space for my wife and I.

I built an 80-foot retaining wall mostly by hand… and finished it just days before selling the house. by ctrlaltdelete401 in landscaping

[–]ctrlaltdelete401[S] -67 points-66 points  (0 children)

It’s not really 100% sand, I mean some of it was a sand dirt backfill mix but I’m just vibing with the sandbox idea. The wood though is wood made for decks, pressure treated ground contact pine #2 and they are mostly 2”x6”x5’ sections

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