Is this Customary? Haul away too much dirt now charge to have it replaced?

[Species 8472]

My PB dug our hole in April. The PB has finally gotten around to completing the pool (almost there). He now indicates that I need 40 yards of dirt to regrade property. Here's the catch. I have plenty of space and my yard is level. He hauled away too much dirt in the first place and now wants to charge me to have it replaced (i.e., $2000 for topsoil or $600 for 40 yards of dirt and stone).

Is this customary? Never mentioned up front.

 

[dumbcluck]

customarily lame.
without even knowing the size of your pool, I can safely say that he easily hauled away more than 40 yards of dirt and you can bet he charged you for that too. unless there was some issue with the soil that was dug up, he is either not very bright or just doesn't care because youre the one paying for it. is it in your contract for these charges? if its already there, lesson learned. if he is adding it on, pretty lame, sounds like his mistake to me. again, check out your contract first before confronting him. (and remember he is still not done) I would hold back on final payment until he is completely finished and can explain himself in this matter.
hope this helps. find out why first before getting angry though. he may have a perfectly logical reason.

 

[jjwalker]

does his bro-in-law own the hauling company?

 

[36racin]

40 yards of top soil is about $600-700 not $2000+. I'd tell him to go get 40 yards of the dirt he took away and probably got paid for twice already. Once by you and once by the person that recieved your dirt.

 

[duraleigh]

Having that much mistrust of your PB to finish your build in a fair and professional manner would worry me a lot.

Do you have financial leverage?

 

[gwegan]

Why does he need 40 yards? Is your pool gunite or liner? How much do you still owe?

When my pool was built I had them scrape my yard and had to add 30 yards back. But I knew that going in.

He should have understood he needed additional dirt and it should be in his price.

 

[Species 8472]

Thanks for your opinions

He never mentioned at the outset

I think he screwed up amd took away too much dirt. We have a 750 (at least that is what we contracted for) sf pool with 8 ft deep end for diving board. frankly it is free form and I don't think it is 750 sf-- might be but seems smaller.

He just finished plastering today making the pool substantially complete 16 days after the contract called for it.

We were surprised with the additional up charge for diamond bright midnight blue plaster (never said the darker colors would be more when we initially contracted for the diamond bright upgrade of $2000). A few weeks ago he hits us up for another $1375 bc he claims midnight blue is more expensive.

THe pool, fence, pavers, hot tub, etc all through him totals $75k and considering he promised a finish date by 6/1, then essentially guaranteed 6/23 and now it looks like it will be 7/2 with everything complete, we are put off by his penny pinching.

Because he was so late we asked for two free pillars for free. He agreed though I believe he mentioned that the paver company gives him two pillars per 500 sf of patio and we have 1100 sf.

We still owe him about $11k with $5k due today but I came home after plastering.

That is the story

 

[ouachita]

Regardless both of his prices for topsoil or rocks/dirt are way too high.

 

[jjwalker]

I have plenty of space and my yard is level.

seriously, if you are happy with the grading why continue to do work to the yard? are you laying sod or seeding after the work is done. The only REAL reason to put down good topsoil is to prep it for sod or seed. If that's the case it needs to be graded to a level that will accept the inch or so of sod. Really hard to give advice if you don't have pics. bottom line, if you're happy with the grading leave it alone, if not tell him you'll provide your own topsoil, he provides the labor.

 

[36racin]

Thanks for your opinions

He never mentioned at the outset

I think he screwed up amd took away too much dirt. We have a 750 (at least that is what we contracted for) sf pool with 8 ft deep end for diving board. frankly it is free form and I don't think it is 750 sf-- might be but seems smaller.

He just finished plastering today making the pool substantially complete 16 days after the contract called for it.

We were surprised with the additional up charge for diamond bright midnight blue plaster (never said the darker colors would be more when we initially contracted for the diamond bright upgrade of $2000). A few weeks ago he hits us up for another $1375 bc he claims midnight blue is more expensive.

THe pool, fence, pavers, hot tub, etc all through him totals $75k and considering he promised a finish date by 6/1, then essentially guaranteed 6/23 and now it looks like it will be 7/2 with everything complete, we are put off by his penny pinching.

Because he was so late we asked for two free pillars for free. He agreed though I believe he mentioned that the paver company gives him two pillars per 500 sf of patio and we have 1100 sf.

We still owe him about $11k with $5k due today but I came home after plastering.

That is the story

Does your contract state "diamond bright midnight blue plaster " and a price? If it does then do not pay him the extra!! Hold out $$$ till you get you pool and yard like you want it. I'm guessing there was no penalty in the contract if he was over the time limit to finish the work?

 

[Species 8472]

seriously, if you are happy with the grading why continue to do work to the yard? are you laying sod or seeding after the work is done. The only REAL reason to put down good topsoil is to prep it for sod or seed. If that's the case it needs to be graded to a level that will accept the inch or so of sod. Really hard to give advice if you don't have pics. bottom line, if you're happy with the grading leave it alone, if not tell him you'll provide your own topsoil, he provides the labor.

No. The yard was completely level previously. Now, it slopes away from the pool.

- - - Updated - - -

Does your contract state "diamond bright midnight blue plaster " and a price? If it does then do not pay him the extra!! Hold out $$$ till you get you pool and yard like you want it. I'm guessing there was no penalty in the contract if he was over the time limit to finish the work?

It just said "Diamond bright plaster" and we were charged $2000. When we asked for midnight blue he indicated the darker colors were more expensive. I get this fact. However, this was just an example of throwing on this charge. I told him we would likely go with the darker plaster, but the onus was on us to specify.

However, I am not going to pay for dirt that he took away from our property to be, in essence, returned to our property. If someone feels differently then let me know. Most of the opinions have been that we would be crazy to do so.

 

[Patrick_B]

No, I would not do that either, and I think it was wrong of him to do that. I would use financial leverage as was mentioned above by duraleigh.

It sounds unscrupulous to me on the dirt issue, but he is right on the darker blue finishes. All of them are much, much higher in cost per bag.

 

[suzook]

He should have just left the dirt. If he needed it taken away, he could have done so at the end of the job. Sounds like his screwup, but you have to pay for it. Ridiculous!

 

[Species 8472]

No, I would not do that either, and I think it was wrong of him to do that. I would use financial leverage as was mentioned above by duraleigh.

It sounds unscrupulous to me on the dirt issue, but he is right on the darker blue finishes. All of them are much, much higher in cost per bag.

Thanks for the advice. I spoke to him and he is going to bring in some dirt. Who knows if he will attempt to pay.

- - - Updated - - -

He should have just left the dirt. If he needed it taken away, he could have done so at the end of the job. Sounds like his screwup, but you have to pay for it. Ridiculous!

Thanks for the advice. I spoke to him and he is going to bring in some dirt. Who knows if he will attempt to pay.

Attempts to charge, that is.

No, I would not do that either, and I think it was wrong of him to do that. I would use financial leverage as was mentioned above by duraleigh.

It sounds unscrupulous to me on the dirt issue, but he is right on the darker blue finishes. All of them are much, much higher in cost per bag.

No. The yard was completely level previously. Now, it slopes away from the pool.

- - - Updated - - -



It just said "Diamond bright plaster" and we were charged $2000. When we asked for midnight blue he indicated the darker colors were more expensive. I get this fact. However, this was just an example of throwing on this charge. I told him we would likely go with the darker plaster, but the onus was on us to specify.

However, I am not going to pay for dirt that he took away from our property to be, in essence, returned to our property. If someone feels differently then let me know. Most of the opinions have been that we would be crazy to do so.

Does your contract state "diamond bright midnight blue plaster " and a price? If it does then do not pay him the extra!! Hold out $$$ till you get you pool and yard like you want it. I'm guessing there was no penalty in the contract if he was over the time limit to finish the work?

seriously, if you are happy with the grading why continue to do work to the yard? are you laying sod or seeding after the work is done. The only REAL reason to put down good topsoil is to prep it for sod or seed. If that's the case it needs to be graded to a level that will accept the inch or so of sod. Really hard to give advice if you don't have pics. bottom line, if you're happy with the grading leave it alone, if not tell him you'll provide your own topsoil, he provides the labor.

Regardless both of his prices for topsoil or rocks/dirt are way too high.

Thanks for your opinions

He never mentioned at the outset

I think he screwed up amd took away too much dirt. We have a 750 (at least that is what we contracted for) sf pool with 8 ft deep end for diving board. frankly it is free form and I don't think it is 750 sf-- might be but seems smaller.

He just finished plastering today making the pool substantially complete 16 days after the contract called for it.

We were surprised with the additional up charge for diamond bright midnight blue plaster (never said the darker colors would be more when we initially contracted for the diamond bright upgrade of $2000). A few weeks ago he hits us up for another $1375 bc he claims midnight blue is more expensive.

THe pool, fence, pavers, hot tub, etc all through him totals $75k and considering he promised a finish date by 6/1, then essentially guaranteed 6/23 and now it looks like it will be 7/2 with everything complete, we are put off by his penny pinching.

Because he was so late we asked for two free pillars for free. He agreed though I believe he mentioned that the paver company gives him two pillars per 500 sf of patio and we have 1100 sf.

We still owe him about $11k with $5k due today but I came home after plastering.

That is the story

Why does he need 40 yards? Is your pool gunite or liner? How much do you still owe?

When my pool was built I had them scrape my yard and had to add 30 yards back. But I knew that going in.

He should have understood he needed additional dirt and it should be in his price.

Having that much mistrust of your PB to finish your build in a fair and professional manner would worry me a lot.

Do you have financial leverage?

40 yards of top soil is about $600-700 not $2000+. I'd tell him to go get 40 yards of the dirt he took away and probably got paid for twice already. Once by you and once by the person that recieved your dirt.

does his bro-in-law own the hauling company?

customarily lame.
without even knowing the size of your pool, I can safely say that he easily hauled away more than 40 yards of dirt and you can bet he charged you for that too. unless there was some issue with the soil that was dug up, he is either not very bright or just doesn't care because youre the one paying for it. is it in your contract for these charges? if its already there, lesson learned. if he is adding it on, pretty lame, sounds like his mistake to me. again, check out your contract first before confronting him. (and remember he is still not done) I would hold back on final payment until he is completely finished and can explain himself in this matter.
hope this helps. find out why first before getting angry though. he may have a perfectly logical reason.

My PB dug our hole in April. The PB has finally gotten around to completing the pool (almost there). He now indicates that I need 40 yards of dirt to regrade property. Here's the catch. I have plenty of space and my yard is level. He hauled away too much dirt in the first place and now wants to charge me to have it replaced (i.e., $2000 for topsoil or $600 for 40 yards of dirt and stone).

Is this customary? Never mentioned up front.

 

[tylerlisal]

The same thing just happened to me. The pool builder left some dirt from the excavation, but not enough and ended up having to bring in 2 loads for the decking. I've been up front with them about my budget, so when I asked about the cost they immediately said there was no charge to me - it was their responsibility, they should have left more. I don't know if they got it from another excavation, or had to pull in a favor - but I'm glad they owned up and that they didn't ask me to pay.

 

[Species 8472]

The same thing just happened to me. The pool builder left some dirt from the excavation, but not enough and ended up having to bring in 2 loads for the decking. I've been up front with them about my budget, so when I asked about the cost they immediately said there was no charge to me - it was their responsibility, they should have left more. I don't know if they got it from another excavation, or had to pull in a favor - but I'm glad they owned up and that they didn't ask me to pay.

Sounds like a good company--owning up to their mistakes.