Landscape/Drain advice needed.

[AlSwearengen]

The neighbors and I went in together on a large drain basin, I guess you would call it. The body of it is concrete with a metal grill cover. It is probably about three feet deep and 3x3 wide, so it is pretty big. We had a good rain today, so I went down to check it out and make sure water is running into it like it should.

Well, the dirt around one of the front corners has started washing away. When the landscapers installed it, they laid cement directly on top of dirt leading into the front side (catches the vast majority of water) of the basin. Now, a ten inch section of the cement has broken away because the dirt has washed out from underneath it. Water is pouring down along the side of the basin and going who knows where. I am having nightmares of my neighbor's yard turning into a sink hole and them blaming us b/c so much water runs from our property onto theirs.

My uneducated first thought is to try and put as much dirt into the hole and pack it as tight as possible and then replace the cement. Then, I need to persuade my neighbor to take care of his grass, so we don't have this problem again.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Will any type of dirt work? Do I need to do something different?

 

[Hoover Dawg]

Can you post a few pics? I do this stuff all the time but it's hard to really follow what's going on. Don't really understand why there was cement poured.

 

[civildawg88]

sorry, I totally mis read the problem.

I would use sand the refill the holes and see how it does

 

[The Peeper]

It could be as simple as the contractor didn't pack and fill very well, pretty easy solution for that one. More complicated problem could be somewhere after the basin the pipe has come apart and water is washing out the dirt down there somewhere. Either way first call is to the contractor

 

[dawgphd]

Either way first call is to the contractor

It does seem it's the contractor's responsibility.

 

[Digging dog]

It could be as simple as the contractor didn't pack and fill very well, pretty easy solution for that one. More complicated problem could be somewhere after the basin the pipe has come apart and water is washing out the dirt down there somewhere. Either way first call is to the contractor

Pretty much either A or B. Hopefully not a section of pipe that has separated.

 

[Hoover Dawg]

Pretty much either A or B. Hopefully not a section of pipe that has separated.

He says it's the front so hard to believe it might be the pipe, but to me, if you're getting erosion, sort of wonder why a pipe is needed anyway? Inlets are meant for relatively flat areas, erosion will occur in channels or slopes.

 

[skip dog]

some of this could be contractor fault, and some could be on the shoulders of too heavy of a rain event before everything could "settle" in nicely. What I would lay at the feet of the contractor is in the realm of compaction around the box. If after installing the drainage basin and getting set level, and feeling good about themselves, they could have just pushed the dirt back in the surrounding gaps of the basin, stepped on it a few times, and poured a concert "lip"....... then you get a 2" rain event that occurs over 1 hour, and that is simply too much pressure for this brand new install to handle.......Ask him to "warranty" the labor on the repair, and you will buy / pay him for the materials to compact in for repair.......backfill w/ 6/10 base material limestone w/in 4 to 6" of finish grade, installing and compacting in 3" lifts, and then "top dress" the final 3 to 4" w/ a compactable brown dirt.

Most contractors due not warranty occurrences out of their control, or acts of God......such as a heavy rainfall very soon after a install such as this.....therefor try to influence him to meet you in the middle w/ him supplying labor, and you reimbursing him the materials need for repair.