Our New Yard Fence

[Edwin]

Smiley, I already thought about that! I think each block weighs 45 pounds, does it not? Maybe ship a lot of them airmail so they will get here quickly! Those would be pretty expensive blocks! My brother told me that he bought a lot of them to do some of his work for $1.00 for each block. I found a limited number of them for $1.00 for each block, and I thought that was a really good price, but my brother-in-law in the Philippines told me that when he built his house there he paid 25 cents for each block! By the time I paid for the gasoline to haul those 50 blocks for $1.00 each, I had more money into them than that. I think I am now paying $1.26 for each block, and I think that is reasonable for brand new blocks. The store where I get mine lets me reject any block that is not perfect! When I built the cellar walls I hired a truck to bring up 450 blocks, 48 eighty pound bags of cement, and 28 eighty pound bags of mortor. It turned out that I took mortor back because I had more than I needed, but I needed more premix than I got, and because I decided to build a wall around the house I didn't get enough concrete blocks, so I hauled 30 and 33 of them each load up the hill with our Chrysler Van which is the same as a 3/4 ton truck! It cost me about $80.00 for the truck to haul the blocks, the mortor, and premix up the hill, and if I had done that myself it would have cost me a lot more than that buying gasoline! When I am down town for any reason, and I need blocks I haul them home, and I figure it costs me very little because I am already making the trip. If I had to make special trips just for that purpose it would be much cheaper for me to just hire the truck!

I like blocks, and I have found a number of good uses for them. I need 22 more for my partition fence in the yard. I need 45 to build some steps Carol wants me to build. I am also thinking about building a small room to store garbage in, 8 feet wide, 8, 10, or 12 feet deep, and I will try to decided. I am not going to mortor the blocks in, but I am just going to tie the corners, put railroad ties on top for a roof, leave probably a 32 inch doorway, and I think it will hold together for what I want it for. Then if I change my mind it will be easy to take it apart and do something else!

[Smiley]

We took down another wall this afternoon.The walls are a little over 12 feet high.The building is framed with large steel I-beams and has a lot of interior block partition walls.They are not bearing any load so I really don`t understand why they used so much block, We have taken down about 700 in total and have managed to save close to 600 of them. I finally put up a sign at the side of the road offering them for free,they sure didn`t last long! I caught one guy trying to sell them I pointed out the error of his ways to him and sent him on his way

[Edwin]

Yes, Smiley, that is a great savings to save 600 out of a total of 700 blocks that you demolished! That was a great deal for anyone in the area who needed wanted blocks! I pastored a church when I was a really young guy that was built out of blocks! The basement of the church had concrete poured walls, concrete floor, and in that basement was a kitchen and fairly large room for eating church dinners, as well as a quite a few small Sunday school classrooms. I think the floor was wood, and then the walls were concrete blocks. It was heated by an oil stove. If I remember correctly it had a big old swamp cooler for summer time cooling. It had a huge set of front steps going up into the sanctuary, which was up off the ground level a ways, and there was a back door, and a side door going down into the basement from the outside, or you could go down stairs from the inside entrance from the huge concrete steps and landing. The concrete landing at the top of the large steps was cracked, like often happens with concrete. It was a pretty nice, not huge, but fair size church. I attended there as a teenager, then I pastored the church a few years later, and we actually moved back there and Carol and the kids attended the church a few years later, while I worked from afternoon until 2 a.m. in the sawmill, and because of my hours that I had to work, I didn't attend church very much at that time. It is difficult to work those hours and then try to live day time hours on the weekends, and most of the time I kept those hours during the weekends as well, as it was too difficult to turn the hours around each weekend. Because of that I missed attending church most of the time that I worked those hours. We moved closer to where I worked, and because of not having to commute so much distance I was able to attend church more again. Then I became the associate pastor of the church where we were attending after we moved, and those were good times!

[wayne208]

smiley I think it is nice of You to save those bricks . Now days No one saves anything or so it seems to Me .Getting them to Edwin might prove a Challenge .Last Night was a Big night here as a lot of kids graduated . may God watch over them .

[Edwin]

Yes, Wayne, I know from Smiley's posts before that he likes to fix things, recycle things, and make things work again rather than throwing them away. We live in a throw away society, and it is a shame. Often times one small part costs more than buy the item brand new complete. I am like a lot of other guys in that I like pickup trucks, and being an ex rancher/farmer increases my love for the old rigs even more. I have had my eye on our neighbor's old chevy 3/4 ton with a flat bed on it for some time. It caught fire near their cow corrals, and burned up. It happened in the winter, so the tires are still perfect and still have air pressure in them. There was a time that you could take an old rig like that, and with a little work bring it back to life. I would like to have a heavier vehicle than my 1/2 ton 1969 Ford pickup, because I am always and forever overloading it, but it has served me well, and I paid very little for it, buying it from one of my former students that I had when I was teaching 6 and 7 year olds, yes that is how old she was when I had her in my classroom, and then I bought a truck from her many years later! I was talking to my brother, and he told me that parts cost so much money that I couldn't afford to fix it up, and I think it is a shame when you can buy a vehicle running an in good condition cheaper than you can fix one up and bring it back from the dead, so to speak! So, I guess I will let the neighbors keep their old burned out truck, even though it would be a wonderful truck if a person could afford to resurrect it!

[Smiley]

A salesman that came by the shop kind of laughed at me for what he called 'wasting my time' by trying to save as many blocks as I could.He really could not understand why I would care when I had no use for the blocks myself. I like to not be wasteful. Having said that,I will add that I do not believe that there is any benefit in going without when it is not necessary either.I`m not a miser or anything like that,I just find that life has more to offer everybody if we are just a little frugal.
My old Harley is 33 years old and it is still a fire-breather! I have a friend whose everyday ride is a `58 panhead that runs better now than when it was new.When I was gardening in Nova Scotia my tractor was from the `30's.I took care of it and it took care of me

[Edwin]

I feel the same, Smiley, I don't like to lose things, I don't like to break things unnecessarily, and I take pains to preserve what I can, and I think everyone would be better off if we could live like that. If you can take a few pains to save a few blocks, why not rather than just taking one hard swing, busting the block all to pieces making it unusable, but many people would rather just bust everything up then junk it. I have heard that a carpenter's time is so valuable that they can't afford to pick a nail that drops! That is the reality with commercial carpentry work, and I understand that, because people have to make a profit, and take less time, rather than more pains to save all the nails. I am not a commercial carpenter, so I definately pick up the nails, and I sometimes even straighten bent nails, and my brother is the same way. He is a farmer/rancher rather than a builder, although he knows how to build. I had a carpenter friend years ago, who is dead now, but he told me that he knew a quite a few top notch carpenters who could not make a living building because they were to particular and too slow!

[wayne208]

I am glad that I have 2 good friends .. 1 is a good Carpenter the other an Electrician by Trade . They have saved Me thousands of Dollars.. Yes I also Pick up Bent Nails and Straighten them .. I also have a Guy i use to work with and he was a Good Car Mechanic . I am truly Blessed

[Edwin]

Wow, Wayne friends: Carpenter, mechanic, and electrician; you have it made! Wayne you have some back problems, so you are thinking about that, and I have a good back, but I have to be careful all the time, or I end up not being able to do anything, and in extreme pain! I was a little concerned about today, because our lovely, lovable doggie Scooby loves to stir the chickens and turkey up. He sees them huddled in a corner, and he takes a run at them, and actually hits the fence with his head, and barks at the same time, scaring the chickens to death, and he loves it! I think it is kind of funny, but I do feel sorry for the chickens! I was thinking that the outside perimeter for a yard fence was all I had to be concerned about, but Carol said, "We have to have a partition fence to separate Scooby from the chickens and the turkeys," so I said, "yes we will put in a partition!" I was wishing that I had gotten 2 more wire fence panels, and 2 more railroad ties when I was down with my pickup truck getting the supplies for the entire fence, but such is life.

I do have a carrier rack on top of our Chrysler Van, and I have hauled loads on it before, once, so I knew it could be done. I found 2 2 by 4s that just fit across the top of the van. I put them up there for extra support, and to keep the top of our van safe. I put a railroad tie on each side, and then I put the 16 foot wire panels on top of that, and our youngest daughter tied them down! When I got the wire panels, they had two more that had wires badly bent from fork lift misuse, and he just gave them to us, about $50.00 worth of panels. Our youngest daughter needed some like that for her horse, so it was a really nice gift to get them! She then followed us home, helped me unload the railroad ties and the wire panels! We then put an air conditioner in the window, and had a really delicious supper, and a lot of fun visiting. Our granddaughter had homework to do from the college classes she is taking, so that cut our visit short, but I appreciated the help, and we had a lot of fun!

[Edwin]

Now the yard fence is complete with the exception of some fine tuning. We put finer mesh wire around the yard that the chickens are in, which will keep the little doggie in. I put him out and forgot about him. When the Rand reminded me that Ducky was still out, I went to the back door and called him. He was on the outside of the fence, which means that he went through the holes on the concrete blocks, so you know how little he really is! He was wet from rain, but he will dry quickly!