My poor stone wall!!

Yesterday, a large delivery truck accidentally backed into the corner of my beautifully constructed stone wall. There wasn't much damage done to the truck, but the wall came tumbling down. We now wait for repairs to be made and hopefully this won't happen again! Please let me know if this kind of thing has happened to you, I always enjoy your comments.

Comments

[CreoleInDC]

Oh my goodness! It is such a beautiful fence too! So sorry that happened but yes...unfortunately I have backed into a wall before. I'm still embarrassed about it. Sheesh!

[Christy Nail]

Your post brought back "fond" memories! When I was a teenager, one of my friends backed into my parent's brick wall bordering our driveway. Needless, to say, my father was not happy about the pile of bricks that lay awaiting his return from work. He decided this would never happen again, so he filled the center of the wall with cement with the bricks on the outside. Guess who backed into the wall next? I was the unlucky child to back into the wall...not to worry, though! The wall remained solidly intack..my rear fender did not!

[Jan Erickson]

Hi Martha, OMG, how devastated you must be! Don't the delivery drivers usually have another person on board so they can direct the driver as he backs up? It just seems logical. I had some one drive into my garage door and it has never been the same. That was years ago. Also, some "jerk" knocked over my mail box and a neighbor found it a couple of blocks away and brought it back. I was able to reset it and it worked for years. Oh, the lessons of life. It will be nice to see your stone wall when it's back to normal. Thanks for sharing and I hope it never happens again. Jan

[Sandy, Sydney, Australia]

Hi Martha,
My husband is a builder and he and his guys have done their fair share of damage over the years. I know it won't make you feel any better but it doesn't make their day either. Mishaps happen when people rush, or are rushed. It usually results in major inconvenience for the owner and loss of $$$ and hours for the tradepeople.

[Michelle]

We once had some gym equipment delivered to a new house we had just moved into. As a housewarming gift my father had given my new husband a very expensive basketball that took my husband 4 very long days of digging and cementing to put in.

Of course the delivery truck backed in to the hoop and smashed the glass back of the hoop. As if that wasn't bad enough (that could have been replaced easy enough), they actually bent and twisted the entire adjustable post it was on. The entire thing had to be replaced by the trucking company, but my husband was right back out there digging up the 4 foot hole and mixing the cement again. It took 2 months to get the new one and reinstall it.

The worst part, I was really upset because I knew my husband was going to be heartbroken and I rushed outside when I heard the crash. The driver opened the door of his truck and hung his head and said "This is not how I wanted to celebrate my 1st week of sobriety." I felt AWFUL.

[cindy]

After a graduation party I hosted the Porta potty truck showed up to pick up the potty I rented for the party. Since this was placed discreetly in my backyard the driver had to manuver around trees, landscaping, etc. to make the pick up. Well, as he was backing his way out he drove over a young maple tree (about 8-10ft tall). The poor tree became the victim of a hit and almost run. Fortunately, my daughter saw the whole thing and the driver did decide to stop and own up to the whole thing. The company did reimburse us for the tree and, more importantly, the party was a huge success!

[TLS Stonework llc]

We repair stone walls in Southern NH, and will travel for larger jobs. Visit our website www.tls.weebly.com

[Michael]

To protect the rebuilt stone wall, bollards could be set a few feet away from the wall to prevent this damage from happening again. Bollards are strong vertical protective posts. You could probably consider using antique iron hitching posts installed on deep concrete foundations. The bollards should be strong enough to resist damage and stop an errant vehicle from touching the stone wall.

[Kate]

Once I hit a wall in the fog on a very strangely angled T intersection (I didn't turn enough!). The owner of the house was very very nice and said it happens at least twice a year and they have stopped fully fixing it because they were afraid of someone getting very hurt one day. I was devastated but it is funny in retrospect.

[Shannyn Snyder]

When I saw this, I had to laugh - a little. I work for an au pair company and am in charge of about 50 au pairs. Many of them are learning how to drive for the first time or how to drive on the right side of the road. The morning after a cultural event at my home, we noticed a portion of our fence opposite our driveway down. We repaired it without much hooplah but when it happened again after the next event, there was a new rule for au pairs - if you haven't mastered backing a car out of a driveway, park in the circle!!

[Hardboiledegg]

Having just attended an art reception your crumbled wall looks like sculpture or something at this point I would not be surprised to see in an art gallery -- perhaps a cement block corner faced with stone may be a solution -- also, just down the street from my subdivision someone plowed into the brick neighborhood entrance feature , it looks like a sentry building but it displays the subdivision's name Garrison Way, the driver took off the faux columns that were corner accents
if the driver Backed into the wall perhaps it is too low for a backing up vehicle driver to see it I would also suggest a black iron fence to be installed on top of the stone fence to discourage people from walking on the stone fence climbing over the stone or perhaps you could increase the height of the fence to increase the visibility now the damage down the road looks as if someone lost control of their vehicle

[JO]

I havent had a wall taken down but two of the homes I have lived in have trees at the bottom of the driveway that have been run over and almost completely demolished... the previous owner planted them so I can't claim fame to putting them there

JO

[Laurie]

Oh how I know this dilemma. Our retaining wall has been knocked several times next to our driveway. The last time, twice in a week.

We finally moved the wall.

[Bramble]

It appears that the turning radius of this exit might be a bit narrow for any commercial size vehicles that may use it. A curve, rather than 90 degree angle might facilitate an easier turn and less future damage. As a landscape designer I have seen this problem often and encountered it in our last home which was bound by historic district regulations. It's always frustrating to see beautiful work damaged but I know you will quickly resolve the problem.
Also large vehicles have alot of blind spots in them that make it very difficult to navigate at times, not an excuse just an observation! Good luck with the repairs and if you are like me Spring can't arrive too soon! Be well!

[Stencil Helen]

I live in a 17th century English house with a listed garden wall of historical importance. For some unknown reason an entire length of it collapsed last week. The noise and vibration was huge. By law it has to be rebuilt in the historically correct manner... and worse the sheep are now invading and devastating our garden! Thank God there are no coyotes in northern England!

[Abby]

Ohhhhh Martha thats terrible. I adore those hand crafted stone walls. I have a very talented stone mason friend who may be of use to you.
Abby

[David Robert Darrah]

Hi Martha, 25 years ago I use to brake up concrete drives and sidewalks, replace them. Then I built two 100 ft walls out of them. I am now in my 69th year and I just hit 20,000 golf balls since 6/07 check me out.Thank you Brother David http://www.saviorleadme.com http://www.moneymaking.homestead.com

[Dayami]

oMG!!! what a gorgeous wall! It'll get better soon ;)
This sort of thing happened to us around 7 years ago. A neighbor ran over our mailbox. He was kind enough to come to the house the very next day and offered to pay for a new one and he even put it up himself.

[Jon Mondrik]

Okay Martha,
Just between you and me, did you swear a little bit? I know I would have. However, if you're anything like me, I would feel guilty, and then really sorry for the driver.
Life keeps you on your toes, and it would be boring if things like this never happened.
Take care,
Jon

[donna]

Hi Martha, Sorry about your wall, that's a scary thing to happen! I'm glad that no one was hurt. I watch your show this morning about the The Big Ideas,and I love Barbara's, (Television Producer)Freestanding Martha Stewart store for merchandising and workshops!!! And the other Ideas can all fit into the Freestanding Martha Stewart Store...just pick a floor!

[jeri]

Martha: if you need any replacement rocks i've
plenty on my land in Dexter Me. willing to share.Of course you have to wait till the snow melts
and mud season is over.

[Lolly H Lindemann]

I sympathize with you,I have a 60' covered bridge everyone must cross to get to my house.Unfortunately not every deliivery person knows the size of their trucks.I aleays ask but some know and others guess.Well as you can imagine the top of my bridge has been damaged a few times.The big problem is the writting up there that states "Cross This Bridge At A Walk" It is costly to have it re-painted.Hope your wall is easily repaired!

[Judy]

We have a large oak in the middle of a circular driveway. The poor tree had scars when we moved there and we have had trucks back into it several times. One icy winter, I backed into it and my car slid into it and swiveled around it on the ice!!!

[Katherine Meade]

Dear Dear Martha,

I hope you weren't too hard on the driver. I was showing real estate (in a Mercedes) a few years ago, and backed into the clien't mailbox, supported by concrete! The owners were nice to me, and I had it completely reconstructed, of course! But I felt terrible. Material objects can be fixed. Sometimes people can't. Thank God no one was hurt!

[Sheila Lister]

I hope you video the reapir process.

S.