Bad News #2: Bad Dirt

Another gray area in the contract in terms of price was the cost of site preparation. Because of the recovery efforts during the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, the site preparation subcontractor was too busy to prepare a quote for the job. So our builder added an estimated amount to the contract we signed, and Pete and I added 50 percent of that estimate to our budget as a cushion in case we needed it.

And, boy, did we. Who knew there was such a thing as bad dirt? Well, there is. Our old, bad dirt didn't drain. There is also a spring on the lot that may require a French drain. After 86 dump truck loads of new, good dirt, we can start on the foundation. Instead of a 50 percent cushion, it should have been 150 percent. Big cha-ching!

Site preparation; courtesy of Ted Jennings

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