So, I thought I keep some information together from my walkway/retaining wall project. This is as good of a place as any. Plus it's a good way to introduce my wife (currently out of town) (who I love very much) to the project!

First, the project is to dig out a walkway and put together a retaining wall.

I went to the quarry by my place (who knew) and looked around for a while. But, I decided a natural stone wall was too much work for a newbie, so I decided to get a system. This place was a Nicolock dealer so after hours going through their catalog, I found something I liked. For some reason, finding reviews on retaining wall systems seems to be about the only review not littering the Internet.

Anyway, I decided on the Tuscany Wall (adobe blend) for the wall and the Colonial Cobble Blend (oyster). For the walk, my goal was to find something clean, but a little rustic - not too "new" looking. Hypothetically, it should look like this.

I decided first on the herringbone paver pattern, then the herringbone 45 deg, which I liked but seemed like a ton of cutting, then finally ended up on the I pattern.



After measuring and re-measuring, I just decided to start digging and then order everything when I had a clearer idea. Here is the area




This is our main side entrance and the gravel walkway is too narrow and....gravel. Our property line runs along the mulched area (about where the white board is). I'm going to put a retaining wall there and add a nice walkway. Notice that the gravel is all the way up to the siding; it it currently graded way too high.

Let the digging begin! I started Saturday and dug for about five hours. when I was done, here's what it looked like. I was pretty happy with the progress. I got out some of the walkway and took a good start cutting the hill for the retaining wall.



I also had/have some dirt to contend with. (honey, it will be gone in a week..or two..I promise)



I figured I'd have a good chance to finish digging on Sunday. I dug for 6 1/2 hours. I also did battle with a buried stump that I uncovered and plenty of roots.






Notice that there is about a foot of dirt moved from below the siding. According to the 1980 edition of Architectural Graphics Standards, clay that is damp and plastic (moldable) weighs 110 lbs/sq. ft. while packed earthen mud weighs 115 and wet sand and gravel weighs 120 lbs/sq. ft.

Today I moved about 100 cubic feet of dirt. 27 cubic feet (a cubic yard) weighs about a ton, so that's a little over 3 1/2 tons of dirt. A good day's work that I'd feel even better about if I didnt still have about another 6 hours of digging left.

ps. anyone want some free dirt??