Landscaping question

[andrewrayhons]

Long story, so apologize in advance:

Early this spring we had to replace our main sewer line from the house to the city main in our front yard, about 40 feet worth. Hired a plumber to dog up old collapsed line, replace with new one. He left a mound of dirt in my yard, and said he would come back in a few months after it had settled some to fill it in and haul away excess.

I didn't like his price so I asked my local landscape company to give me a bid. I told them my main concern was them not compacting the soil, and then it would sink or settle and I'd have a dip in my front yard. They said yes, they would do so. Fast forward a few weeks after landscape company did their work and I'm growing grass again, we had heavy rains and the ground settled in two different spots about 2 to 3 feet drop.

They claim since they didn't do the original plumbing work they didn't know what voids were left, and won't warranty their work now that the ground settled. What do I do?

 

[HROT]

When you say the landscape company said “yes they would do so” meaning they said they’d do 2 trips?

 

[Rifler]

You can't expect the landscaper to accept responsibility for compaction of backfill that had already been improperly placed by the plumber,.. Assuming compaction of the subgrade is now reasonably complete, ask the landscaper to give you a price to repair the final grade and he will very likely give you a good deal,... if not, order in some top soil and do it yourself.

P/S: When you order topsoil get some extra so you have something for touch up...

 

[andrewrayhons]

You can't expect the landscaper to accept responsibility for compaction of backfill that had already been improperly placed by the plumber,.. Assuming compaction of the subgrade is now reasonably complete, ask the landscaper to give you a price to repair the final grade and he will very likely give you a good deal,... if not, order in some top soil and do it yourself.

P/S: When you order topsoil get some extra so you have something for touch up...

Yeah, sadly I'm guessing this will be my route. I'm not asking the landscaper to come back out though, he claimed that there WILL be more settling, which leads me to believe he KNEW there would be settling once they were done.

 

[Rifler]

Yeah, sadly I'm guessing this will be my route. I'm not asking the landscaper to come back out though, he claimed that there WILL be more settling, which leads me to believe he KNEW there would be settling once they were done.

There very likely will be some additional settling,.. The only way to absolutely prevent any settling would have been to replace every bit of the soil that was removed from the plumber's original trench, and the only way to accomplish this would have been to back fill and compact the entire excavation in 6 to 8" lifts,.. Obviously the plumber didn't do this or there never would have been a pile of material left in your yard when he finished... Good luck, and order extra top soil...

 

[Greenway4Prez]

Hindsight is always 20/20, but natural settling is better than forced compaction. I’m sure the landscaping company was concerned about using REALLY heavy equipment to pack things and the threat of breaking any pipe or fittings.

 

[millah_22]

Long story, so apologize in advance:

Early this spring we had to replace our main sewer line from the house to the city main in our front yard, about 40 feet worth. Hired a plumber to dog up old collapsed line, replace with new one. He left a mound of dirt in my yard, and said he would come back in a few months after it had settled some to fill it in and haul away excess.

I didn't like his price so I asked my local landscape company to give me a bid. I told them my main concern was them not compacting the soil, and then it would sink or settle and I'd have a dip in my front yard. They said yes, they would do so. Fast forward a few weeks after landscape company did their work and I'm growing grass again, we had heavy rains and the ground settled in two different spots about 2 to 3 feet drop.

They claim since they didn't do the original plumbing work they didn't know what voids were left, and won't warranty their work now that the ground settled. What do I do?

As long as it's not dangerous, I would just leave it until about august 1. I'd fill it up with dirt. Every 6 inches, spray it down with water to get some of those pockets out. Let it settle. A week before labor day, level it out with a rake or whatever. Seed, and water.

If it's dangerous, go ahead and level it out now, and seed in the fall.

 

[OutbackBowl2017]

Get bags of top soil, tamp it down then throw some sod down. Probably $100 or less.

 

[millah_22]

Get bags of top soil, tamp it down then throw some sod down. Probably $100 or less.

Depending on size of low spots, a delivered load (heehee) may be more price efficient.

 

[NDallasRuss]

Depending on size of low spots, a delivered load (heehee) may be more price efficient.

Drive around and find a construction site with one of these signs. Fill up the truck and use the free dirt. Sprinkle a couple of bags of topsoil on top of the fill dirt.

 

[NoleATL]

Long story, so apologize in advance:

Early this spring we had to replace our main sewer line from the house to the city main in our front yard, about 40 feet worth. Hired a plumber to dog up old collapsed line, replace with new one. He left a mound of dirt in my yard, and said he would come back in a few months after it had settled some to fill it in and haul away excess.

I didn't like his price so I asked my local landscape company to give me a bid. I told them my main concern was them not compacting the soil, and then it would sink or settle and I'd have a dip in my front yard. They said yes, they would do so. Fast forward a few weeks after landscape company did their work and I'm growing grass again, we had heavy rains and the ground settled in two different spots about 2 to 3 feet drop.

They claim since they didn't do the original plumbing work they didn't know what voids were left, and won't warranty their work now that the ground settled. What do I do?

2 to 3 feet is a TON of settling after a replaced sewer line. I guess yours is deeper due to the freezing aspect... My sewer line wasn't even 3 feet deep on its own.

 

[Rifler]

2 to 3 feet is a TON of settling after a replaced sewer line. I guess yours is deeper due to the freezing aspect... My sewer line wasn't even 3 feet deep on its own.

Water lines in northern half of Iowa will typically be installed 6'-0" deep....

 

[millah_22]

2 to 3 feet is a TON of settling after a replaced sewer line. I guess yours is deeper due to the freezing aspect... My sewer line wasn't even 3 feet deep on its own.

Yeah, gotta keep it below the frost line

 

[HawkinK.C.1]

When my neighbor had his done, they left the dirt mounded up over the top of the trench and my neighbor would stick a section of copper pipe that he had attached to his hose down into the dirt in the trench and let the water compact the soil. He just kept moving the hose around and shoving the pipe into the dirt where it needed compaction. Worked great.

 

[joelbc1]

Another saga from the pages of “The Pride of Home Ownership”… 🤐

 

[millah_22]

Another saga from the pages of “The Pride of Home Ownership”… 🤐

 

[On Iowa]

2 to 3 feet is a TON of settling after a replaced sewer line. I guess yours is deeper due to the freezing aspect... My sewer line wasn't even 3 feet deep on its own.

Water lines are a minimum of 4' below grade, usually more like 6-8'. We all have basements with gravity drains, so you're talking closer to 10' below for the main to the street.

 

[joelbc1]

And across the street the home is flying a “Trump 2024” flag…only in America!

 

[SoDakHawk]

Hindsight is always 20/20, but natural settling is better than forced compaction. I’m sure the landscaping company was concerned about using REALLY heavy equipment to pack things and the threat of breaking any pipe or fittings.

This.

My neighborhood was developed over the last 15 years and every yard has had settling where the sewer line runs to connect to the street. Every house has had to replace that section of the sidewalk that sinks. Over the course of 12 years I have had to backfill the settling in my yard about 4 times. The last time was about 3 years ago and it seems to be holding and is hopefully the last time I have to do it.

The builders and landscapers could not use heavy equipment to pack the soil for fear of damaging the sewer line. Combine that with our soil type being very silty and this is the result.

 

[IIowaFarmBoy]

Had a new waterline done all the way across 150 feet. Flooded it. Let it try. Drove across it back and forth. Tilled in up and repeated it.

No settling. Leave out the driving on it, but if that sewer line is 3+ feet lower you won't hurt it. If it breaks they did something wrong.

I did put real black soil a couple inches deep on top for the grass to grow. Don't use Council Bluffs silt.

As far as compaction, if you have a rider and it's wet when you mow you'll do more damage that what I just suggested. Never roll your yard.

You are over thinking this. My organic yard is mostly weed free and beautiful.

Been 4 years. No settling.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

Yeah, gotta keep it below the frost line

Sewer doesn't need to be below frost. Constantly flowing warm water keeps the pipes from freezing. That being said most sewer lines are in fact 10 plus feet down for basement waste lines. Cities usually require backfill to be compacted with vibrating head on the backhoe and engineer tested. You won't crush a sewer pipe laid on undisturbed soil while backfilling...

 

[millah_22]

with vibrating head

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

 

[millah_22]

 

[SA_Hawk]

I would use a 50/50 soil and sand mixture with repeated application until level.

 

[Urohawk]

Long story, so apologize in advance:

Early this spring we had to replace our main sewer line from the house to the city main in our front yard, about 40 feet worth. Hired a plumber to dog up old collapsed line, replace with new one. He left a mound of dirt in my yard, and said he would come back in a few months after it had settled some to fill it in and haul away excess.

I didn't like his price so I asked my local landscape company to give me a bid. I told them my main concern was them not compacting the soil, and then it would sink or settle and I'd have a dip in my front yard. They said yes, they would do so. Fast forward a few weeks after landscape company did their work and I'm growing grass again, we had heavy rains and the ground settled in two different spots about 2 to 3 feet drop.

They claim since they didn't do the original plumbing work they didn't know what voids were left, and won't warranty their work now that the ground settled. What do I do?

Interesting. I had a sewer issue in a house I was going to sell. Rather than replace the line I found a guy who does pipe relining to save some bucks. Told him I already had sewer cam from roto rooter. He came and did his own sewer camera for free. Told him I didn't want to pay for another camera and said he wanted to know what he was dealing with and wouldn't charge me. Does it for every job. Asked him if I should get it relined versus digging it up. He said to reline since sewer line went under our garage. Said he used to do full line replacements so he had experience with both ways. Guy seemed honest and knowledgeable.

Asked why he got into the pipe relining business instead. Said he got sued by a the neighbor of a sewer replacement job. The city sewer line ran between their back yards so he had to dig about 5 feet in her yard. Got permits, permission, etc. Repaired everything he dug up. Told her he would come back and level stuff out after a year. The lady complained about the mound in her yard 3 months after the job. Said he went back to level it out and a year later it sunk into the yard. She sued him despite his warnings to wait it out and observe. Said, "I'll never dig out another sewer pipe again."

 

[Gimmered]

Long story, so apologize in advance:

Early this spring we had to replace our main sewer line from the house to the city main in our front yard, about 40 feet worth. Hired a plumber to dog up old collapsed line, replace with new one. He left a mound of dirt in my yard, and said he would come back in a few months after it had settled some to fill it in and haul away excess.

I didn't like his price so I asked my local landscape company to give me a bid. I told them my main concern was them not compacting the soil, and then it would sink or settle and I'd have a dip in my front yard. They said yes, they would do so. Fast forward a few weeks after landscape company did their work and I'm growing grass again, we had heavy rains and the ground settled in two different spots about 2 to 3 feet drop.

They claim since they didn't do the original plumbing work they didn't know what voids were left, and won't warranty their work now that the ground settled. What do I do?

Had the same thing happen a year after mine was done. had a 10 inch rain. Get more dirt, it ain't going to fill itself.