Once we back fill the retaining wall we are going to add some car art, parts beyond reuse, maybe weld it into a sculpture.

In vivid contrast here's (a reminder) what the same south-east corner of our back lot looked like in 2016 when we acquired the property. The building had been rented for >35 years and during its former ownership history was used by an industrial valve company, a movie prop builder and prior to our purchase, a commercial printer. For whatever reason the back lot portion of the property wasn't rented to the last tenant so it was left fallow for many years and Knotweed was allowed to invade and grow unchecked. We had no idea what we inherited with this virulent Knotweed and following a series of unsuccessful professional and owner-initiated attempts to eliminate it, we finally resorted to excavating 30 cubic yards of material...even then for the next 2 years following we played Wack-a-Mole with pop up plant growth. Aided by a "commercial herbicide" Paul mentioned that shall not be named the time has finally arrived to begin the process of reclaiming and restoring the back lot so it can be put to use. We decided to build the retaining wall to shore the higher grade of the neighboring property and to deal with an awkward slope in that corner. As the wall will be 4 feet high its deemed structural so it had to be built to code and for those who have worked with concrete know, concrete weighs about 4,000lbs per cubic yard (and we need 2 yards) so forms had to be built to standard and the wall will be reinforced with 3/4" rebar. Once the concrete is poured and the forms stripped we'll tackle the backfill and allow it to settle for a period, then repave. Another challenge of the work we're doing is the fact the back lot is "land locked" so the only access is from the street through the warehouse. This has meant most everything is carried, carted or wheelbarrowed in and out. Fortunately we were able to get a small loader in to assist with the large excavation and material removal a couple of years ago however in its wake it left a huge mess in the shop. For the retaining wall footings we schlepped 33 bags of pre-mix concrete, 66lbs each, and mixed them using a small, electric mixer. It was quite a chore. I look forward to when this phase of the restoration is behind us.

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Time on the weekend stripping forms and cone ties to reveal the finished retaining wall. A little bit of swiss cheese but for an industrial/commercial application its a great result, so no parging required. It meets our goal of being solid, plumb and square. Next will be the work to back fill the inner void (and perimeter) with plenty of drain rock, then soil and some hearty shrubs for slope retention. That will give Paul just the canvas for his car part sculptures.

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