This weekend, I finished laying about 840 square feet of pavers in my front yard.
My next project was to start laying the dripline for the planter areas around the pavers.
Before I start to make final connections, I decide to do a quick main water line re-test.
Water seeps through a section of the pavers.
What the f*&%? I know there isn’t a pipe there.
Now I’m pulling apart pavers.
Mud. Lots of mud.
The cracked pipe is 12” away from where the pavers are…
…In the dirt…
…Where I didn’t have to pull apart anything.
The water pressure happened to push up on the pavers.
(sigh)
I had my weekend planned out. I was going to finish the pavers, run the lines, drop some soil, put in some plants, and connect my low voltage lights.
I was going to sit outside after sundown, crack open a Corona and admire my work as the lights turned on from the timer.
Thwarted. Time to Assess.
Step 1 – Stay Calm – I started to question my abilities. Are you good at ANYTHING? Yes. My pavers look great, and this is fixable. I caught the problem before it got worse.
Step 2 – Be Rational – I found the problem and know how to fix it. It will take time since I need to schedule more time for digging, repairing, and re-testing.
Step 3 – Drill Down – Why did this happen? In this case, I’ll never know. Either way, I’m taking responsibility and will get it fixed.
Step 4 – Action – It was 92 degrees. I’m tired and frustrated. I decided to call it a day. I want to do a good job making the repair and re-setting the pavers. If I did it then, I would have done a mediocre job and barked at my wife or kids. I’ll deal with that crack next weekend.
If you own a business or an investment property, setbacks are commonplace.
Use these four steps to stay on track without beating yourself or others up.
What else do you want to know? Drop it in the comments.
