Home Builders - Question

Is this normal SOP for home builders?



Last year, I wondered why for 4 days I was chiseling out cement from my small front yard in my Townhouse. A truly aggravating experience. Dug down 1 foot to plant some new shrubs and hit cement. Some areas were 1 foot thick.

After watching them work on the row next to me I see why.

Is this worth complaining about?

BTW...this was after the cement truck left. They had finished pouring, but the guy obviously loaded too much into the hopper and just poured it over the fill dirt.

it's worth complaining about, but will get you nowhere.

my solution was to hire someone to landscape and let them deal with the concrete.

I ran into the same problem at my townhouse. I have a little inside knowledge as I worked for a home builder at one time (In IT not in the field). Basically they use whatever they have to bring the yard up level. Its sometimes called hardpan. When I tried to replant my backyard I found an old stump, chunks of concrete, even a piece of siding. I ended up adding about 1000lbs of nice dark dirt and a tiller to break up the hard packed red clay we have down here in GA. After sodding the yard I had the nicest grass in the community, helped me sell the house

johnnyc said:

I ran into the same problem at my townhouse. I have a little inside knowledge as I worked for a home builder at one time (In IT not in the field). Basically they use whatever they have to bring the yard up level. Its sometimes called hardpan. When I tried to replant my backyard I found an old stump, chunks of concrete, even a piece of siding. I ended up adding about 1000lbs of nice dark dirt and a tiller to break up the hard packed red clay we have down here in GA. After sodding the yard I had the nicest grass in the community, helped me sell the house

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Yeah, that's pretty much what I did last year. Made a huge difference. Before my front yard was basically a giant potted plant.

It's standard for concrete trucks to empty small excesses of concrete and wash out their shoots, pump truck, etc. before returning to the plant. But this is what a "WASH OUT" is for. The builder or developer (general contractor is ultimately responsible) should have had a designated location for concrete wash out. Some states/municipalities require it. It would have silt fence around 3 sides and labeled with signage. It's definitely worth complaining about. They screwed up by allowing the concrete guy to do his wash-out anywhere he pleased. They should come back and dig it up and re-landscape the area.

menschmaschine said:

It's standard for concrete trucks to empty small excesses of concrete and wash out their shoots, pump truck, etc. before returning to the plant. But this is what a "WASH OUT" is for. The builder or developer (general contractor is ultimately responsible) should have had a designated location for concrete wash out. Some states/municipalities require it. It would have silt fence around 3 sides and labeled with signage. It's definitely worth complaining about. They screwed up by allowing the concrete guy to do his wash-out anywhere he pleased. They should come back and dig it up and re-landscape the area.

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+1, It is very easy to break up into small pieces the next day, and dispose of. If you let it sit, not so easy.

I ran into this in my back yard after my house was built. From what I've heard from neighbors and what not it's a very common thing. Thankfully the concrete in my yard was only about 5" thick max and was easy to break up. The garbage can was very heavy to roll to the curb that week.

It is normal practice for the pump and/or concrete truck to wash out at the location the concrete was poured, but the contractor who poured the concrete should have removed these "clumps" when they were done working. Furthermore, I can't believe the landscaper didn't remove them before seeding or sodding. Seems like a bunch of contractors who don't give a ****.

abonzer said:

Seems like a bunch of contractors who don't give a ****.

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And this is something new?

Sub-contractors do their job, regardless of how much damage they do to the property or other sub-contractors work. Sloppy is much faster than working neatly and SO much easier.
Burn the framing putting in pipe? Can do.
Break waste lines back-filling the septic. Can do.
Bust holes in the walls laying carpet? Can do.
Knock down fencing laying a sidewalk? Can do.
Fall through the ceiling installing insulation? Can do.
Crush the landscaping replacing the roof? Can do.
Break the exterior stucco installing wiring? Can do.

I'm much more annoyed when they can't even do their own job well. Like the concrete crew that extended my driveway in Sunnyvale and couldn't align the expansion grooves with the existing ones. How tough would it have been to make the grooves one inch away from where they put them? Apparently, too tough.