Dirt settling under pavers ... who should fix it?

[Dldave1978]

Hey all -

Pool completed mid June 2016. Not much rain through the summer and from fall until early December, we didn't have rain for over 8 weeks. Then suddenly in mid December and on, a lot of rain. So much that the pavers under our deck (on the top part of a PB built retaining wall) and started to sink. The problem is a gutter drain system PB put in (and charged separately for). The drain takes water from gutters on the back of my house, runs the length of the house and then dumps water in to the back yard. I am guessing the dirt around and under the 3 inch main pipe finally settled with all the rain.

I have an area about 3 foot wide and 15 feet long that has sank anywhere from 2 to 6 inches. PB work is warranted for a year. Has an 'act of God' clause in it. Do you think I should ask PB to fix? Pavers will need to be pulled up, sand/dirt filled in; pavers placed back in position. I still have sand left over from the build but I lack the TIME to do it myself. Think it's worth asking PB to send his guys out to fix? Obviously they don't control settlement from rain but this is significant. Had it been filled and tamped correctly this wouldn't have happened. What says TFP forum?

Thanks!

(pics to follow later today)

 

[bobodaclown]

Absolutely ask the installer to fix it. The worst he can say it's an act of god and not his responsibility.

 

[Ozzy7750]

If it was compacted properly to begin with, it shouldn't have moved. Definitely shouldn't have moved 6 inches! Get him back and don't even talk about the rain, just say that isn't how it should look so fix it.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[duraleigh]

Yeah, ask him to fix it. Depending on the type of soil, some settling is inevitable, but it can be minimized with compaction.

 

[Pyrodav]

45sf of pavers is hardly worth your name being tarnished. I'd say he/she would be more than willing to fix it. I would.

 

[CountyBumkin]

My Paver installer said (and its stated on various "Paver websites") it is best not to install the pool deck (paver or concrete) for a least a year after the pool is built - because the ground will settle.

When the pool is backfilled (especially around the deep end the soil needs to be compacted in layers) it is the builder's job to be sure the soil is compacted. And I doubt any of them are compacting the soil in layers since (it's extra work and) the settling doesn't show up until pool is well out of warranty. IMO.

When the Paver installer comes along there is not much he can do as the pool excavation work is backfilled already. Paver guy can run a compactor over the deck area but it generally won't be enough to compact the soil 3, 4, or 5 feet down around the pool shell. After a year or so any settling will have occurred.

But no one (i.e. wife) wants to wait a year before putting in the deck.

That's why Pavers are great in this regard because you can remove them add more fill as needed and reinstall. But with poured deck, you will have a void under it or it will crack. No easy fix there.

 

[kywildcats]

IMO, act of God would be the rain, not where he placed the gutter system. That's act of PB!