They're not called rows, they're called courses. We'll make you a mason one day 😂 16:02 That is called an S joiner, it's a striking tool - a raker is for shaving out mortar, creating a cut out/raked joint, you'll see that on fireplace faces. 16:16 is called a backfiller. Don't wait too long to strike or the mortar will turn black from the tool marks. I would also recommend a masonry brush, it helps to smooth out the joints. Normally to fill the block we use grout, a mix of cement, sand and plenty of water (slightly soupy), but concrete is okay (more expensive). We usually will hang a piece of plastic over the side of the block to protect it from slop. You did a good job! Looks nice.
Awesome video, You are a great dad to let your kids watch you bust your butt to build something so nice for them and go the extra mile in an area in life you are learning. The kids see you make mistakes and keep on going. Plus you tipped the cement driver. So many good qualities in your character.
Three weeks is pretty good. It took me 3 weeks to lay 375 block. But I’m a 5’1”, 60 year old woman who had never laid block before. Kudos to you. Very nice job.
@@ghostdog662 hardly. He easily laid twice as many or more than I did. Apples to apples, though. I was mixing my own mortar in small batches, too. My biggest challenge was that my walls were 4ft tall, so I was lifting them over the rebar almost to my head. Husband loved the “guns” 💪🏻💪🏻 though 🤣
I'm not a Mason, but I've been walking all my life, the key is to pick up your feet before moving your leg forward. Hope you find this DIY tip helpful. Good job on everything else.
Another great video - please continue to do you! I really like your mix of projects and reviews while delivering it with some comic relief. Kudos to you for including your daughters and setting an example that hard work pays off.
Inspired… great job with the building and the narrative. I’m @ twice your age and been doing these DIY projects for 35 years (no video cams and RUclips). I’m about to build my last house, my youngest son alongside for the journey, and we’d like to video journal it. I’m way more intimidated by the challenges of videography than the building 😅 Subbed to watch more how you do it. Beautiful family. Best of Americana.
Our prior home was located on a street corner, less than a block from a 4-lane heavily used street. We decided to build a 4-ft tall, concrete block ‘crash wall’. Built it very much like your wall; however, we used plain cinder block, which we faced with quarried stacked stone. We reserved one cavity for placement of two time capsules, which included our names, when we bought the house, the front page of the local newspaper, coins, a couple of our 2 sons’ Matchbox cars & trucks, small ‘fidget’ toys, a thumb drive loaded with news videos, a few TV shows, music videos, video shots of the neighborhood, the house, etc., even the neighborhood list of residents, etc. Everything was wrapped separately in acid-free paper, packed in sturdy plastic screw lid containers, which were permanently sealed. They were placed in the cavity, which was filled with crushed stone. The entire wall was sealed/capped with 2” thick stone. We did something similar when we did a major kitchen demo & redesign about 10 years later, burying a smaller ‘time capsule’ within a load-bearing wall cavity, locating it where wire won’t ever be run.
Great job! Good to be able to utilize the same space for several uses. I haven't watched the channel for a while and this was a pleasant surprise! Thank you.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC I plan all our outdoor projects in winter here in Queensland Australia. During summer its constantly 100-110F and 80%+ Humidity. Lose about 5kg a day in sweat just standing in the shade outside :D
Outstanding work brother! Perfection is due to the preparation which is quite obvious here. The cool thing is, years from now, your girls will be like "my daddy built that for us". They'll never forget it. Just like my dad building the skating and hockey rink for us in the back yard every year. I commented on that in one your prior videos. Off topic a bit....many of us DIYers live rural lives as well and truly appreciate your life style. Was wondering if you would consider doing a tour of your log home. I think many of us in RUclips land would appreciate that. Build on and take care!
Great helper, I see she is wearing the construction grade OSHA approved Puma flip flops with the heavy duty strap to prevent objects from hurting the top of the foot. 🤣 Can't wait to see it all finished.
Who needs a professional when their's Kyle. Looks great Kyle. You are a perfectionist! Always a nice touch when your daughter is in the video. The camera loves her.
dreams, plans, and projects are our life. I saw a nice project, which I also made many. One day, almost certainly, you will look back on this project. The project was a grand over-reach of effort, or a perfect plan. Life makes so many changes. I hope you can, one day look back on your play area, as a built cottage, with friends staying often. A grand future course.
Very nice video Kyle. I'm currently building kinda the same brick system into a wall. And let's say: Errors were made. Yours looks much better than mine already. It's a learning process.
Kyle, amazing job Bud! What a Dad, doing stuff for your girls now will pay tremendous dividends for You and your Wife when you get to retirement age! They will never forget the love you poured out for them! Great memories in the making!
Projects like this move a lot quicker with a few good friends and the promise of a good BBQ when the job is done. I love your dog too!!!!! 15:25 Not a single one of us saw that, in fact, I don't even know what you were talking about. 😂
I stopped giving a s@*t what other people think a long time ago and it's liberating. Yup, I'm that guy!! These videos are very appealing. Anyone in this content space is benefitting from your content (including tradesmen like me). You're content is awesome. Don't change the formula.
For block walls you should have cut in some lateral rebar through the blocks to make the wall stronger. It will help it resist bowing from the weight of the backfill.
I would imagine filling every core it has some stregnth. If you open any professional block retaining wall you will see they cut open cores and add in lateral rebar.
@jameshorrocks2939 this isn't technically a retaining wall though the footing isn't right and while he could've done that for added strength for his application it's not necessary
Wall is coming is coming out great I don’t think you’ll have to worry about rust jacking your footing so well built and heavy duty can’t wait to see the bobcat in action
I've met a lot of adults who don't know how a block wall goes together or even what's inside a stud frame wall, and it always feels slightly criminal that nobody ever taught them how to build their own nest. Teaching your kid now that she can do this sort of stuff is going to give her a confidence in her own capability that the world will find very hard to take away. Kudos on the good parenting - and also the wall building.
I have 5 daughters, and we included them in every home-improvement project we did over the years. They are all very capable, and DIY stuff without a thought in the world. On the other hand, I've seen kids that have problems changing light-bulbs...
Love that Split Block, and the over build.. funny in the nondesert climates, peoples version of "Hot" is a bit different, (btw in AZ July to Sept monsoon season our humidity is higher) we wake up at 6 am to 83 degrees, by 930 am its over 100, stays OVER 100 till about 11 PM. Just FYI. Today will be 116.
Nice work! I've never done a block project like that. Very tedious! I could sense the urgency during the concrete pour. I hate that feeling. Looks great though!
Nice job on the wall. I watch your videos all the time, love the comedy. Going to do an electrical job soon. Was wondering if I could email you on some information about it?
@@upinsmokefirewood it did. I thought that up and made it that morning. The driver said they already make them. I thought i was onto something. I think he called it a pusher box.
Im just a one man operation. If i had a laborer i would have used a motor board. All of the utilities will be cored into the block. Footers wont affect any of them.
You may not be a mason, but you have watched one or two or went to RUclips U! lol I'm 58 and started going to work in the masonry business with my dad when I was old enough to play in the sand pile. You are a perfectionist and someone that looks to me that "good enough" is not in your vocabulary. Me too! Unless you are going into business the only thing I recommend is a full size trowel and use a mud board. Scrape out of the mound the amount you want to use, pick it up and bump the trowel, that will make it stick and you can run a longer bed joint without the mortar sliding off the trowel. You may want to check your footwear before you break something! lol What's with the DEF/Government extortion shots? Oh yeah. I have one of those Korean tractors too and my TYM T 25 is stouter and will keep up or outperform my neighbors 35 hp Deere and I got to spend the 10 or 12 grand I saved on implements! Anyway, good stuff, good ideas!
I like the video's of DIY and just one man show, many of us are in the situation. Projects big and small and have to figure out how to do them with less than ideal man power and budget at times. Only thing we have on our sides typically is time. Nice to see you not slacking on the details and making sure the outcome is quality.
You need to make a counter weight 3 point box.. make a box out of steel and throw rocks or concrete bags in it and you should be more comfortable picking up heavy loads
Thats why i keep that grading scraper on there. Its freakin heavy and it sticks out pretty far for leverage. Hydraulics wouldn’t lift it the first time.
Seriously three weeks !! In my country ,I have seen builders who managed to set 1000 concrete blocks per day or 1500, it’s amazing how the difference winden
@@janejones3170 i made the changes as i progressed. I only used the string on the outside of the first row because i had a chalkline. Good pointer. Thanks!
Check out this mystery Amazon affiliate link to see one of my favorite tools : amzn.to/3WbAjjf
I actually have some pea gravel that im going to relocate to the play area. Should be pretty good.
They're not called rows, they're called courses. We'll make you a mason one day 😂
16:02 That is called an S joiner, it's a striking tool - a raker is for shaving out mortar, creating a cut out/raked joint, you'll see that on fireplace faces.
16:16 is called a backfiller. Don't wait too long to strike or the mortar will turn black from the tool marks. I would also recommend a masonry brush, it helps to smooth out the joints.
Normally to fill the block we use grout, a mix of cement, sand and plenty of water (slightly soupy), but concrete is okay (more expensive). We usually will hang a piece of plastic over the side of the block to protect it from slop.
You did a good job! Looks nice.
@@GregHallArt thanks for the pointers Greg!
I love seeing videos like this where people teach their kids things that will last a lifetime.
I don't tune in because your projects are super interesting, I tune in because you make the projects interesting. Keep up the good work.
@@jmendes394 thank you! And getting comments like this motivates me to keep making them. Much appreciated.
Awesome video, You are a great dad to let your kids watch you bust your butt to build something so nice for them and go the extra mile in an area in life you are learning. The kids see you make mistakes and keep on going. Plus you tipped the cement driver. So many good qualities in your character.
Thanks, i appreciate that! I try to be considerate of everyone as much as i can.
Awwww your daughter is super cute and you showing her how to sling mud is nice. She will never ever forget that
Three weeks is pretty good. It took me 3 weeks to lay 375 block. But I’m a 5’1”, 60 year old woman who had never laid block before. Kudos to you. Very nice job.
No kudos to you. Thats a lot of block to lay.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC You got smoked by a 60 year old woman. Lol
@@ghostdog662 hardly. He easily laid twice as many or more than I did. Apples to apples, though. I was mixing my own mortar in small batches, too. My biggest challenge was that my walls were 4ft tall, so I was lifting them over the rebar almost to my head. Husband loved the “guns” 💪🏻💪🏻 though 🤣
@@chitza3270 just giving him a hard time. His work was great.
I'm not a Mason, but I've been walking all my life, the key is to pick up your feet before moving your leg forward. Hope you find this DIY tip helpful. Good job on everything else.
Another great video - please continue to do you! I really like your mix of projects and reviews while delivering it with some comic relief. Kudos to you for including your daughters and setting an example that hard work pays off.
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Inspired… great job with the building and the narrative. I’m @ twice your age and been doing these DIY projects for 35 years (no video cams and RUclips). I’m about to build my last house, my youngest son alongside for the journey, and we’d like to video journal it. I’m way more intimidated by the challenges of videography than the building 😅
Subbed to watch more how you do it. Beautiful family. Best of Americana.
@@richardjamieson9103 good luck with your build. I appreciate the comment.
Wonderful video all around. Thank you for your example and for sharing.👍🏾❤️
@@raoulroberts2024 glad you enjoyed it!
Our prior home was located on a street corner, less than a block from a 4-lane heavily used street. We decided to build a 4-ft tall, concrete block ‘crash wall’. Built it very much like your wall; however, we used plain cinder block, which we faced with quarried stacked stone. We reserved one cavity for placement of two time capsules, which included our names, when we bought the house, the front page of the local newspaper, coins, a couple of our 2 sons’ Matchbox cars & trucks, small ‘fidget’ toys, a thumb drive loaded with news videos, a few TV shows, music videos, video shots of the neighborhood, the house, etc., even the neighborhood list of residents, etc. Everything was wrapped separately in acid-free paper, packed in sturdy plastic screw lid containers, which were permanently sealed. They were placed in the cavity, which was filled with crushed stone. The entire wall was sealed/capped with 2” thick stone. We did something similar when we did a major kitchen demo & redesign about 10 years later, burying a smaller ‘time capsule’ within a load-bearing wall cavity, locating it where wire won’t ever be run.
@@probablynot1368 thats a cool story. Thanks for sharing. Ill have to do something like that in the future.
Great video again. Nice that you are teaching your kids labor. Keep up the awesome work. God bless.
Great job! Good to be able to utilize the same space for several uses. I haven't watched the channel for a while and this was a pleasant surprise! Thank you.
I appreciate the support. Ill be happy to have this project wrapped up. Looking forward to seeing the girls enjoy it and the future cabin.
Looks awesome! Had a hunch it was a future foundation. Doesn't hurt to plan ahead.
Very impressive, came out awesome!
Luv the way you get after it!
Your videos are the BEST!
Thanks Adam!
Keep the kids involved!!
Absolutely love watching these DIY projects you film.
Glad you enjoy it. I enjoy them when theyre done.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC I plan all our outdoor projects in winter here in Queensland Australia.
During summer its constantly 100-110F and 80%+ Humidity.
Lose about 5kg a day in sweat just standing in the shade outside :D
Great video, I’m not a mason either, I feel you did research and did an excellent job for a DIY’er. I enjoyed this video! 🇺🇸👏🏻👍🏻
You did a nice job, Kyle. It always takes longer than you think it will, but it's coming along nicely, and looks good.
It sure does. Takes longer and costs more than you plan for.
Hey! You did a great job! Looking good! Thanks for the content! 👌👍
Outstanding work brother! Perfection is due to the preparation which is quite obvious here. The cool thing is, years from now, your girls will be like "my daddy built that for us". They'll never forget it. Just like my dad building the skating and hockey rink for us in the back yard every year. I commented on that in one your prior videos. Off topic a bit....many of us DIYers live rural lives as well and truly appreciate your life style. Was wondering if you would consider doing a tour of your log home. I think many of us in RUclips land would appreciate that. Build on and take care!
Thank you. I did a quick tour of it a while back when we purchased it. But i can put something together in the near future.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC That would be cool. I'll dig back in the archives and try to find that video. Thanks for the response!
Looks great. Good idea with the intention of the future transformation.
Great video, I like how you have future plans for when the kids grow out of the playground area. I like the "Guest House" aka "Man Cave " plan 100%
Thanks Dave! I think its going to work out pretty nice.
Nice Job , no matter how much time is cost ,so long your self see the end picture keep up the good work .Greeting From Richard The Netherlands 👍
@@RichardSewAtjon thank you!
Dude that came out awesome. Nice job
Thanks Adam! I was waiting for you to show up and help. You probably would have if i would have asked.
Awesome job. Love your attention to detail and your videos really great!!!
Thank you!
Looks awesome! Way to think ahead!
The girls want to get involved which is great, You did a great job, waiting to see it with the play set, Kudos.
They have turned out to be great little helpers. And they goof around more than i do.
They come by it honestly,@@SpicerDesignsLLC
That turned out great! Nice work. 👊🏼
Great helper, I see she is wearing the construction grade OSHA approved Puma flip flops with the heavy duty strap to prevent objects from hurting the top of the foot. 🤣 Can't wait to see it all finished.
Great job on the walls! 💪👊👍Love the hat by the way!!! Cheers!!!!
Who needs a professional when their's Kyle. Looks great Kyle. You are a perfectionist! Always a nice touch when your daughter is in the video. The camera loves her.
Thanks Roy!
Great job!! Keep up the good work.
Nice work! Look forward to your videos.
dreams, plans, and projects are our life. I saw a nice project, which I also made many. One day, almost certainly, you will look back on this project. The project was a grand over-reach of effort, or a perfect plan. Life makes so many changes. I hope you can, one day look back on your play area, as a built cottage, with friends staying often. A grand future course.
Great project and long term plan
Makes sense now with the tiny house. Looks professional for sure.
Thank you!
Very nice video Kyle. I'm currently building kinda the same brick system into a wall. And let's say: Errors were made. Yours looks much better than mine already. It's a learning process.
Its tedious work for sure. Not much room for forgiveness.
Kyle, amazing job Bud! What a Dad, doing stuff for your girls now will pay tremendous dividends for You and your Wife when you get to retirement age! They will never forget the love you poured out for them! Great memories in the making!
Thanks John! I appreciate that. Thats what its all about right.
Very nice work Kyle, looks awesome! 👏
@@PatriotUpNorth thank you!
@@SpicerDesignsLLC well deserved
Nice work, having that much land with no hoa to do what you want is truly freedom. 👍. The hotdog comments almost had me spit out my coffee, laughing 😅
Hah! Thanks. And yes i agree
Projects like this move a lot quicker with a few good friends and the promise of a good BBQ when the job is done. I love your dog too!!!!! 15:25 Not a single one of us saw that, in fact, I don't even know what you were talking about. 😂
I stopped giving a s@*t what other people think a long time ago and it's liberating. Yup, I'm that guy!!
These videos are very appealing. Anyone in this content space is benefitting from your content (including tradesmen like me).
You're content is awesome.
Don't change the formula.
@@alan2112drums thanks Alan!
That there is what I call a winter time project! Way to hot to even think about laying block right now 🥵
Ya i picked a great time to lay block. Builds character right.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC if that's what you call it 🤣. Looks great though!
Great job Spencer!
For block walls you should have cut in some lateral rebar through the blocks to make the wall stronger. It will help it resist bowing from the weight of the backfill.
It's a short wall though; I doubt it is necessary. In the guest room future though maybe it would be better to not add concrete block to level it out.
I would imagine filling every core it has some stregnth. If you open any professional block retaining wall you will see they cut open cores and add in lateral rebar.
@jameshorrocks2939 this isn't technically a retaining wall though the footing isn't right and while he could've done that for added strength for his application it's not necessary
Great project!
Wall is coming is coming out great I don’t think you’ll have to worry about rust jacking your footing so well built and heavy duty can’t wait to see the bobcat in action
I've met a lot of adults who don't know how a block wall goes together or even what's inside a stud frame wall, and it always feels slightly criminal that nobody ever taught them how to build their own nest. Teaching your kid now that she can do this sort of stuff is going to give her a confidence in her own capability that the world will find very hard to take away. Kudos on the good parenting - and also the wall building.
@@tealkerberus748 thanks, i appreciate that and i agree. I think understanding the basics of how things are constructed is very important.
I have 5 daughters, and we included them in every home-improvement project we did over the years. They are all very capable, and DIY stuff without a thought in the world. On the other hand, I've seen kids that have problems changing light-bulbs...
@GlueTubber i agree. Makes all the difference in the word and will help them all through out life.
Good job 👍🏾
Nice work Kyle!
Looks pretty good!
Love that Split Block, and the over build.. funny in the nondesert climates, peoples version of "Hot" is a bit different, (btw in AZ July to Sept monsoon season our humidity is higher) we wake up at 6 am to 83 degrees, by 930 am its over 100, stays OVER 100 till about 11 PM. Just FYI. Today will be 116.
Same here with winter
Cool man.. love the future proofing!
looking good ! very nice work .👍
@@siriosstar4789 thank you!
Great Job. It looks great!
Great job. Like the videos.
My Spicer Designs hat spent the week at the beach. Good to see the Kioti putting in some work
Hah! I wish i could have been wearing that hat at the beach.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC you were in spirit haha
Great video as always dude!!! Machine!!!!
Nice Job!
Nice work! I've never done a block project like that. Very tedious! I could sense the urgency during the concrete pour. I hate that feeling. Looks great though!
@@IndyFarmLife thanks buddy! im not a fan of that feeling either.
Get yourself a small chunk of plywood for a mud board, far easier to work with easier to keep mixing the mud up
Ya i agree. I was limited to the smaller trowel working out of a 5 gallon bucket.
Yes, a mortar board about 2' by 2'4" on a 3-4 extra block stood on end will make things easier, and you can use those block last to finish.
Ya need more pallets.. palletize everything so you can move around stuff with tractor .
looks nice!
That's not going anywhere! Love the property projects
Awesome Job
Nice job on the wall. I watch your videos all the time, love the comedy. Going to do an electrical job soon. Was wondering if I could email you on some information about it?
Thanks! And absolutely. Im happy to help
I like that concrete sled. Probably saved allot of mess!
@@upinsmokefirewood it did. I thought that up and made it that morning. The driver said they already make them. I thought i was onto something. I think he called it a pusher box.
I always sleep next to all my guns!! Great vid
clean work man
Thanks buddy!
a mortar board and a larger trowel would speed you up. did you plan out water, electric and sewer before putting in the footer?
Im just a one man operation. If i had a laborer i would have used a motor board. All of the utilities will be cored into the block. Footers wont affect any of them.
Makes a lot more sense now and looks great. You going to do rough plumbing now?
I will be trenching the utilities over when i replace the concrete slab in the car port.
Nice work
Good work! You make me feel lazy. I got to get to doing.
Nice job
You may not be a mason, but you have watched one or two or went to RUclips U! lol I'm 58 and started going to work in the masonry business with my dad when I was old enough to play in the sand pile. You are a perfectionist and someone that looks to me that "good enough" is not in your vocabulary. Me too! Unless you are going into business the only thing I recommend is a full size trowel and use a mud board. Scrape out of the mound the amount you want to use, pick it up and bump the trowel, that will make it stick and you can run a longer bed joint without the mortar sliding off the trowel. You may want to check your footwear before you break something! lol What's with the DEF/Government extortion shots? Oh yeah. I have one of those Korean tractors too and my TYM T 25 is stouter and will keep up or outperform my neighbors 35 hp Deere and I got to spend the 10 or 12 grand I saved on implements! Anyway, good stuff, good ideas!
Hey Kyle…another excellent video! I think the dog has the best job of all! Haha
@@Moselli56 ya no kidding. When i was editing i noticed him laying around in different spots just watching. What a life.
Great video
I like the video's of DIY and just one man show, many of us are in the situation. Projects big and small and have to figure out how to do them with less than ideal man power and budget at times. Only thing we have on our sides typically is time. Nice to see you not slacking on the details and making sure the outcome is quality.
Nice !
Nice work ! Doing it yourself is hard but I always look at it that I can take that money I didnt pay someone to do and buy me some more toys or tools.
You need to make a counter weight 3 point box.. make a box out of steel and throw rocks or concrete bags in it and you should be more comfortable picking up heavy loads
Thats why i keep that grading scraper on there. Its freakin heavy and it sticks out pretty far for leverage. Hydraulics wouldn’t lift it the first time.
Still the best channel out there!
Wow! Thanks John. Im doing my best.
Good Stuff
For a sparky you lay a mean row of blocks.
Good job
Found you because of the miniexcavator but I'm enjoying it all now
Thats great! Glad you stuck around. I do have a couple more videos coming with the Chinese machine.
Nice Job...
Nice.
That's good work right there! 👍🍻🍻🍻 As a gag you should set up 4 sit n spins and tell the girls you ran out of funds just to build the walls. 😂
Hah! I actually had a similar idea. Youll see. Should be kinda funny
Def initely a job well done !
Seriously three weeks !!
In my country ,I have seen builders who managed to set 1000 concrete blocks per day or 1500, it’s amazing how the difference winden
@@masudfars2677 ya they can do the same here too. Im one guy and im not a mason. And i didnt work on it everyday.
@@SpicerDesignsLLC great stuff you posting , really spicy ,keep up
Maybe I'm just easily entertained .... I enjoyed the video ;)
Ill take it! Thanks Jim
On split faced blocks you put your string on the smooth side not the rough because it will put your out of plum.
@@janejones3170 i made the changes as i progressed. I only used the string on the outside of the first row because i had a chalkline. Good pointer. Thanks!
aye! a Fellow Hoosier!
Great job doing it yourself, with moral support from your daughters!
You could have sprayed those rebar with epoxy paint.
@@traceyjscott069 ya thats a good idea
Can you get a discount code for a crossfire pro plasma table and hypertherm package? I'd like to get one this year.
@@Island.dweller SPICERDESIGNS discount code will save you some money on that.
Kyle…don’t let the ATF see them guns at 9:36! Great video man.
Matt
Kyle, I don't think your daughter's sandals are OSHA approved 🤣
All jokes aside it was awesome you were teaching her how to do it.