Topsoil is good for pools, right!? (now with photos!)

[denisbaldwin]

Just when I thought the fun was over with my pool, a careless contractor came in and kicked the fun up to 11.

This morning, I had 10 yards of top soil brought into my back yard to level out the clay and plant grass. He dumped it where it was supposed to be and then, while shaking the box to empty the tailgate, backed some of the pile into the pool!

The pool immediately went black with the flood of new soil. Luckily, I screamed at him just as the dirt was pushing over the ledge and it was only a few hundred pounds of dirt. I turned off the pump as I had to go back to work and didn't want it clogging anything up.

Ugh.

Back to vacuuming again. :\

UPDATE: This is the pool 2 days after the dirt hit it, pump off the whole time. You can see the lines where I've been losing water and the mess they made. Tomorrow, my yard crew will be done planting grass seed and I'll get to cleaning it.

 

[brosaslll]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Oh man. That stinks. Sorry you have to deal with that.

 

[mart242]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Any pictures?

 

[rastoma]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Yeah, man I hate to hear that... but like a wreck in the road you have to stop and look... so where's the pics?

 

[Richard320]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Hopefully it's in the shallow end. You could get in and shovel out the worst then.

Pictures would be nice. Before/after will be a testament to your abilities.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

only a few hundred pounds of dirt

That's a lot of filter cleaning...

 

[jcourt]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Hate to hear this - hope you can get it completely out of the entire system without too much trouble.

Contractors....uggghhh!

 

[Butterfly]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Holy cow! And after you worked so hard to get it cleared!

Let's be glad he did not back into your new fence! :-D

Keep us posted on the cleanup.

 

[denisbaldwin]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

I'll see if I can snap a few pictures tonight. What a mess.

 

[Hurricane Gio]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Holy Cow! I would make him pay for clean up or a heavy discount on the soil.

 

[poolgirl22]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

I can't imagine the ten levels of mad I would go through...
I admire you for not throwing HIM in the pool...

 

[Ohm_Boy]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

That's a lot of vacuuming to waste

 

[zea3]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

That guy (or the company he works for) should pay for the cleanup of your pool and refund you for the amount of topsoil you paid for that they destroyed. I say destroyed because unless you plan to remove it by hand and spread it out to dry somewhere I doubt you will be able to salvage it!

 

[denisbaldwin]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Holy Cow! I would make him pay for clean up or a heavy discount on the soil.

When I attempted to negotiate that he said, "I'm just a guy with a dump truck. I don't own a business. I'm just bringing you dirt for cash. I'm not responsible."

 

[Hurricane Gio]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Holy Cow! I would make him pay for clean up or a heavy discount on the soil.

When I attempted to negotiate that he said, "I'm just a guy with a dump truck. I don't own a business. I'm just bringing you dirt for cash. I'm not responsible."

Did you pay him? I would have refused payment. Did you pay with a credit card? dispute the charge.

 

[zea3]

That guy with a dump truck should have insurance! Make a claim! If not go after him in small claims court!

 

[Butterfly]

Re: Topsoil is good for pools, right!?

Holy Cow! I would make him pay for clean up or a heavy discount on the soil.

When I attempted to negotiate that he said, "I'm just a guy with a dump truck. I don't own a business. I'm just bringing you dirt for cash. I'm not responsible."

Where I come from, we call him self-employed. Among other things, he should get some insurance!

His business is selling/delivering 'dirt' for cash. If he is not more careful, someone (maybe you) could end up owning that dump truck.

I am not saying he owes you his dump truck, but I think he owes you something. JMHO

 

[Butterfly]

If you are viewing by the 'latest post' and wanna see the pics of the damage, Denis added them in his first post :-D

so.....scroll back up.. :-D

Thanks for the pics!

 

[denisbaldwin]

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm going to take action.

I paid him cash before he dumped it. That was probably my first mistake. He wouldn't take a check or credit card, so cash it had to be.

Secondly, I'm not even sure if I have his information anymore. He was an ad in the local newspaper that I had called to hire him. When I call him now, it goes direct to voicemail. I'll give my lawyer all of this info and see what he can make of it.

 

[zea3]

Try googling the phone number to see if it is a publicly listed. You can also try calling from a different phone and see if he picks up. He is likely trying to operate under the radar of the IRS with this "cash only" stuff. Did his newspaper ad say "so-and-so dirt hauling" or "just-a-guy-with-a-truck-who-delivers-dirt-and-won't-be-held-responsible-for-damaging-your-property"? He placed an ad offering a service for a fee. That makes it a business. Reporting him to the state attorney general may also be an option.