Warning: That DIY retaining wall took me 3 weekends instead of 1

I thought I could knock out a simple retaining wall in my backyard over a Saturday. Turns out, digging the trench for the base took way longer than I planned. I hit roots from an old tree stump that ate up a whole day with a pickaxe. Leveling each block and getting the drainage right added another weekend easy. By the time I finished with the gravel backfill and the cap stones, it was a full three weekends. Has anyone else had a small project blow up into something way bigger than expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_green521mo ago

Oh man, you're not alone on this one. Tried to build a small planter box by myself one weekend and it turned into a full landscaping project with a leveled base and retaining fabric. Somehow a simple Saturday thing just snowballs every single time.

taylorshah1mo ago

@evan_green52 exactly, it's like there's this whole unwritten rule where small jobs just expand to fill all the time and energy you've got. happens with everything, not just projects, you know? vacuuming one room turns into cleaning the whole house.

stone.lisa1mo agoTop Commenter

Never saw it that way before but @evan_green52 makes a good point...