TIL: My retaining wall needed 3 times more gravel than I planned

I was building a small retaining wall for a flower bed and figured 2 bags of gravel would be plenty. After measuring the base and doing the math, I ended up needing 6 bags just for proper drainage. Anyone else ever underestimate materials this badly on a weekend project?

3 comments

3 Comments

stone.lisa3d ago

Drove back to Home Depot so many times last weekend they started waving at me like I was family.

knight.dylan1d ago

Wait, did you actually buy crushed stone for the base of patio pavers? That's not really what you want for that job. Crushed stone doesn't compact well and won't give you a solid base, it's more for drainage. You're supposed to use something like "class 5" or "road base" gravel that has fines in it so it locks together when you compact it. I'd double check what you put down because if it's just plain crushed rock, your pavers are going to shift and settle unevenly over time. I learned that the hard way after my first patio started looking like a bumpy sidewalk within a year.

ruby_henderson363d ago

Oh man, I did the exact same thing with my patio pavers last summer! I bought 4 bags of crushed stone for the base and ended up needing 12 because I forgot to account for how much it settles when you compact it down. My wife was not thrilled when I had to run back to Home Depot three times in one Saturday. The worst part was that I had already laid out all the pavers and had to pull half of them up to add more gravel underneath. I swear these projects always look like they need way less material than they actually do. Now I always add 50% extra to whatever I think I need and it's saved me so many trips.