Wall Plans

On Wednesday, Nov. 19, we took a field trip to the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park to look at samples of retaining wall "block." This is the style our contractor suggested but we had to pick the color. Our choices were pewter, pecan and hickory. Pewter is visible at the left of the sample wall. Pecan was on another sample; it looks like yellow sandstone. The hickory has a slight reddish cast. We picked hickory. Today (Nov. 24) we signed the proposal and sent in our deposit. We get a 5% discount for work done December-February. The project is one of the most expensive we have had since moving here in 2001. But the old railroad tie wall is at least 50% disintegrated and becoming a hazard. We decided to get it replaced with something more durable before the village cites us in the annual spring exterior inspection.