I took Thursday off work to make a 4 day weekend for this project.
I installed this
http://www.ndspro.com/drainage-systems/dry-wells/flo-well-dry-well which required digging a massive 6ft deep, 4 ft wide hole (that's a lot of dirt), bagging the dirt, carrying it out to the front of the building, then adding a $hit-ton of gravel around the plastic tubs.
The project also includes a channel drain and connecting it to the Flo-well, which I'll finish on Saturday, and which should be a breeze in comparison.
Husband helped with the digging and bagging, but I'm proud to say I did the majority of it myself.
Also, turned out that the coal pile for my building, back in the day, was in my yard (I half the yard, neighbor has other half). Landscaper/plant person (I have no idea what they're called these days) recommend I remove it as it's bad for the plants. I did. That $hit is heavy!
I learnt a lot,
- Every project is MUCH more complicated than you think. I had to get approval from the city and clearance from various utilities before I could even start digging
- I had to do a ton of research on what drainage solutions I could use as I'm in a corner lot near other buildings, which of course is partly why I have drainage issues in the first place.
- Things take much longer and require a lot more "stuff" than you think they will for example I underestimated the number of contractors bags I'd need for the dirt so ended up buying at the $$$ hardware store instead of ordering in bulk.
- Doing stuff your self isn't "FREE" as there are all sorts of other expenses, for example we had to rent a UHaul to get the gravel back home, there were beer breaks and 3 nights in a row we ate out as we were too wiped to cook and couldn't use the kitchen and living room as that's where the gravel was stored (in bags) as there was no space out front or back - the joys of city living. Technically the beer breaks and restaurant meals were avoidable, but I'm certainly not beating myself up about it.
Next week I finish the channel drain then put the good top soil (which I'd removed the previous week) back and grade.
I was quoted around $3k by two separate people to do this project for me. Even though it was a lot of work and a little more complicated in figuring out where I could put stuff, I'm still thrilled I didn't pay someone else to do something that I, with a little thought and a lot of manual labor, was able to do myself.
