Subsidence

NOTE: As of September 23, 2009, this post has been edited in
accordance with a court-mediated settlement. The names of the
contractor and his excavation subcontractor have been replaced with
pseudonyms.

We had a contractor over to bid on finishing the basement, in case Contractor A (who had walked off the job and were demanding substantial damages that they were never able to prove) refuses to complete the work at all, and while I was under the house discussing the project with him, our neighbor came over in a mild panic because her yard was sinking into the hole.

Oy, vey.

I went over and it looked stable, just the usual behaviour of sand when it is disturbed. On the other hand, it also looked scary and reminded me of why it is that we need to get this job over as soon as possible. I put some sand and chunks of concrete in the hole to keep the neighbor's dogs from escaping through it, but I just want to get this job over NOW and not have to think about it again.

posted by ayse on 07/03/05