All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Diane, That's FANTSTIC advice.
Ofgift

Thurs Jan 22 After no response from Bob, I called AZROC to see about filing a complaint. That person made suggestions, and I called the city, and finally to Streets and Rights of Way. That woman made suggestions, one of which was to call The plumber again. I did, and he said Kenny had called me several times to resolve the situation. I told him There were no messages on my recorder from heim. Bob said he would have Kenny call me at 8AM today. He did. He came, dug out the entire project, I did see there was dirt under the whole sidewalk. So I was beginning to feel like a jerk Except that he did remove more than a five gallon bucket of rocks, and the ground, when he left, was at the level of the sidewalk. My saving thought was why. It couldn't have been.
By this time, he started talking to me, and I explained my fear and my position.
So as he shoveled dirt back in, he did several acts that I did not see previously, and commented on them. He said he hadn't done them the first time, and is doing them only now to satisfy me. He said they never pack dirt in that way.
He would throw in a couple of shovels of dirt, get on his hands and knees, jab it it with his shovel handle, push it back with his hands, then use a tamper and pound. Add more dirt and repeat. And repeat.
Then, as he had the hole under the north side and beside it about filled, he got a 5 gallon bucket of dirt from his truck and poured it into the hole and stomped and tamped it down.
He went to the other side and did the same thing there, and added two more 5 gallon buckets of dirt that he had brought. There was still a large depression, and I had him get two buckets I had in the garage, a total of another 5 gallons of dirt to fill the space to the level it should be. So he added 4 5 gallon buckets of dirt.
I no longer feel like a jerk. He did, I think, understand my position, and after adding that much dirt, maybe began to see my point at least a little. His animosity diminished, and he was smiling and pleasant.
He did check the meter for me before he left, and it was as it should be.
I'm so glad I persued this. I feel more confident that the concrete pad has less chance of subsiding, and will be able to recommend them. I will call on them if I need a plumber. Maybe. They are pretty expensive.

Ofgift

No response from Bob of the plumbing co, so I thought I'd file a complaint w/BBB, but he's not a member. I did go to the state Registrar of Contractors, and will contact them tomorrow.

While there, I looked up 2 other companies that I got estimates from on other work. The estimates are within a hundred dollars or so, and need a way to choose one over the other.
According to the ROC, one co has an open complaint against them, doesn't say what.
The other co has no complaints open, but the record says:
Additional Information: (This information may not include all applicable suspensions.)
SUSP 8/1/01 - 9/12/01 RENEWAL;SUSP 8/1/03 - 11/28/03 RENEWAL
SUSP 1/9/03 - LIFTED 10/8/03 (T02-0909) DP 10/10/03
SUSP 8/1/05 - 8/11/05 RENEWAL

Why does a company have a license suspended? Is that indicative of complaints or what? Sounds like the first is the better, but I really do not know how to interpret these things.
What say you?
Ofgift

Here it is Tuesday, 6:30 PM and Bob has not called. It occurs to me to contact the BBB. I think I'll look into that.
Ofgift

I often call my credit card co before paying the bill to get the balance. Then I usually hang up. This time I listened to the recorder for another minute, and discovered my payment due date was changed. For years it has been on the 15th of the month. Now it's several days earlier.
Though I do pay beforehand, I'm always cosncious of the 15th due date. What a nasty surprise that would have been--paying later than I normally do, and discovering hefty overdue charges the next month...
ofgift

3:35PM Bob just called. I explained what I saw and what Kenny did/did not do. He said he’d talk to Kenny to find out what he did, probably in the morning and call me probably tomorrow.

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

Well, you never know when preparedness will serve you - even in the little ways. I was in a car accident last Thursday. I'm alright aside from the neck that won't quit hurting (seeing chiro tomorrow), however my jeep is dead and I've spent pretty much each day since then in bed. With my stock of food and supplies I don't "need" to leave for anything while I heal up.

Take it easy, Tim--I sure hope it's easily corrected.
I, too, have somewhat of a stockpile. Most of it is canned or dry, and I want to get more. I suppose I should even get a few propane tanks. I do need to get more dog food. I hate to get much of that. She eats a pretty good quality kibble, but all kibbles deteriorate pretty quickly, I think. So I should consider canned or moist, I suppose.
Ofgift

Originally posted by Charles Whitaker:

Ofgift,
I would try wetting the soil around the crevice that you are trying to fill. Let the mud trickle into the cavity and then repeat with more dirt and more water until it is filled. of course, packing the mud into the crevice would need to be done. Good luck

Thanks for the suggestion, Charles. I called the plumber this morning to talk to him about it. 6 hours later and he still hasn't called back.
I'm not clear on what you are saying. The hole beside the walk is about 2 feet deep by 2 feet long by about 18-24" wide.
The hole under one side of the walk is about the size of a 2 gallon bucket. I'm guessing the hole on/under the other side of the walk is about the same size.
If I do understand, you are suggesting that I dig out to below the base of the sidewalk. Then I shove dirt under the walk and wet that whole area to help it settle, then shove more dirt back in. I hadn't thought of wetting it. If I don't wet it to soup, I should be able to tamp it tighter. Is that right?
Then continue till I'm back at sidewalk level...

good idea--I will. We aren't likely to get rain for 5-6 months, at least more than enough to dampen the ground, so I wouldn't expect that there'd be subsidance till after that.
I will take dirt over, dig the dirt that's there down enough that I can push it into the "cave", and fill it as well as I can.
I can't do a lot, but I'l use a hammer, too, and tamp it in.
If I feel successful with one side, I'll do the other.
I wonder if by doing that I will cause more harm than good...
Ofgift

I called the city engineering department today. The fellow said he thought it was probably okay, but will have someone come out and look at it. He also said that if the pad does tip, it is my responsibility to have it repaired.