Cutting and Laying First Course of Blocks

6:48

14:47

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Turning a Hill into a Flat(er) backyard pt/2

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What happens here

Blaine uses a Husqvarna gas-powered cut-off saw to precisely cut retaining wall blocks to fit against the house's foundation. The saw, surprisingly, starts easily despite not being used for ten months. After the initial blocks are cut and placed, Sam begins laying the first course of blocks along the string line. Both workers then 'toe in' the blocks, meaning they backfill with excavated soil both in front of and behind the blocks immediately after placement to secure them. This step continues for multiple courses of the buried section of the wall, with careful placement and leveling of each block.

Goal: Install the initial courses of retaining wall blocks and secure them with excavated soil.

Tools and materials

Dust Mask — Respiratory protection from concrete dust
Ear Protection — Hearing protection from saw noise
Gloves — Hand protection
Handheld Level Stanley — Checking the level of each block during placement
Rubber Mallet — Adjusting the position and level of the blocks
Safety Goggles — Eye protection from cutting debris
Shovels — Moving excavated soil for 'toeing in' blocks
Excavated Soil N/A — Backfilling and 'toeing in' the blocks
Retaining Wall Blocks — Constructing the retaining wall courses

What they say

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trying to get these first blocks as tight as we can up against the side of the house we got some concrete flames gonna cut it off all right how do you get this one going choke and then just pull the thing we bought this saw last year to do some testing on it for a video and then never used it again so it's been sitting for about 10 months there's no way he's gonna get that fire up [Music] did that just happen that's been sitting i can't believe it that i don't know what to say i mean it fires up better than the steel chop saw we use on a daily basis so this will be the first wall that sam bases entirely on his own blaine is going to set the first block so that sam knows what to go off from but after that this was all sam and this real thing that i could fly that's a broken bridge after the blocks get based they've got to be towed in immediately [Music] while sam's basing and building blaine grabs a skid loader to bring in some backfills [Music] blaine has to be careful not to get any rocks in that series of lines and holes that you see on the top of those blocks if those get filled up with rocks they gotta be hand-picked clean

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