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Do you want to know what the worst thing is about building your own home?

Well, it’s the fact that you don’t have a whipping boy. There is no one there to blame when things go wrong, no one to fuss at about how the budget has been blown, no one to whine too about how much something costs.

That’s part of the job of being a builder it seems, to be the whipping boy for the clients. It might as well be in the contract. Over time builders become thankful when it’s just a whine that they hear and not a scream. lol

So, when you build your own home you learn to take on responsibility for those inevitable unforeseen challenges. And to not burden others with problems that are not of their doing. I guess that’s a good thing? Maybe everyone should consider building their own home?

Building on a steep site presents extra challenges, and expenses. If you go into a project like this knowing that setbacks are “part of the package” and have the goal of making the best out of these problems, they can turn out to be a treasures in disguise.

And that’s what this retaining wall became.

There are a LOT of stones in this wall. And, no cement. Some of the stones are the size of a refrigerator, and weigh as much as a car.

This stone wall added so much more than just extra square footage to our tiny yard. Don’t you think?

Originally posted 2015-03-27 14:14:40.