I rented a compacter from Home Depot, and this was my first time using one. They look pretty unimpressive – smallish, but really heavy. I’d seen other people use them, and it looked pretty easy.
So imagine my surprise when I started the thing up, it started to gallop across the gravel and slammed into into the house foundation! It was all I could do to wrestle it back and struggle to reach the kill switch!
Turns out that they are made to self propel, and you have to be able to plan your route so that you can simply steer the unit around the workspace. I got the hang of it, and it did a beautiful job!
Now I can start installing the rebar. It will be epoxied into the foundation, and into the retaining wall, creating a grid that is anchored on three sides.
I even epoxied rebar into the existing sidewalk, which had cracked and become separated from the main pour alongside the house. I don’t want ANYTHING to move with temperature or load changes, so it will all be tied firmly together.
The places where the rebar crosses are tied with annealed wire, doubled over and twisted.