Bidding

So, in getting bids for the back wall, I was shocked to hear how much money it would cost. We had about a dozen contractors in to tell us all about poured cement walls and formed brick walls and on and on. None of the bids came in under the price of a new Toyota Prius, which is the big reason I wanted to do it myself.

I did have a lot of fun bringing the wall down, and I probably could have done the whole thing over the course of the next year or two, or with the sacrifice of my back. So we brought in a new contractor to take a look. He gave us a very reasonable bid, better than any we'd heard prior,so he got the job.

Well. In the previous bids, the cost was just for the wall. This company - Arbor Enterprises - is not only building the wall, but re-landscaping the entire back yard as well. They've palletized all the stones I had so carelessly dropped next to the house, redone the grading in the back yard, and started to lay the stones. They are (so far) going above and beyond our expectations. And they are all pretty nice guys to boot.

Here's the progress so far.

Palletized Rock.

Back Yard regraded.

Still a lot of wall to go, but I'm definitely glad we've got them doing the job.

Oh, and see that big pile of logs on the right side of the last picture? They moved that around to the side of the house so I could better cut and split it! Then it's going in the wood storage spaces in the wall. (wait till you see this thing. It's going to be an awesome back yard! Wanna come for a BBQ when it's done?)

More Later