Fine work and a nice looking structure.
Giid job with the pics as well.
Must have been a tough 3 days.
You saved a pile of money by doing a bunch on you own.
Did you calculate the estimated savings?
Thanks for compliments folks. The three days it took for the crew to build the shed were actually easy days for me. Basically all I did is sit back and stayed out of their way. But the overall project took many more than three days to complete. Staking it out, setting grade, excavating, putting in the pad, digging in the drain tile, took many days since I was basically by myself. After the crew was done building the shed, then I spend many more days building door thresholds, bringing the floor up to finished grade, piling more rock up around the outside to keep the rock on the inside from running out from under the bottom of the walls. After the initial bulk of the material was hauled in by a contractor, yours truly hauled in the rest in the little dump trailer seen in the photo below. Since the quarry is so close to me, I decided years ago to pick this up and it made it possible for me to go get my own rock when I need it. By not paying delivery charges each time I need a little rock, this has more than paid for itself over the years. It is slow going since I can only haul a couple tons at a time, but for most projects it is all you need.
The retaining wall was another project really in itself. I knew I would need help there. But by hiring someone who does it everyday for a living, the wall was built in less than a day. But then after they had packed up and gone, there was still many days of work that needed to be done. Back-filling behind the wall to the proper height. Then bringing the dirt back up to the wall in the front. Putting in the aprons in front of the doors. There was also a fair amount of dirt to be moved away and leveled out around the area. Fixing up all the ruts the equipment left. Cleaning up all the left over rock that was piled in the lawn. So the overall project took many many weeks. But I would work at it as time and weather permitted.
As far as what I saved. It would be hard for me to guesstimate the overall savings by doing as much of it as I could. From day one, there was no doubt that I would be doing a lot of the work. I enjoy this type of work, I have the time and the equipment to do these kind of projects, so it was never an option to go out and get bids on the work that I could do. I've never been one to hire some one to do something I am capable of doing? Even if you have to go out and buy some equipment to do it. It is still cheaper in the long run than paying someone to do it, and you have the equipment for future projects.(At least that's what I tell the Misses). But most of the time it turns out to be true. I questioned my sanity when I bought the BX23 with the backhoe on it. I thought that after I was done with the one project, it would sit in the shed and never get used again. I was wrong. I would hate to be without it around here now.
Dusty
