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How to deal this client, retaining wall on a lake..

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#21 ·
Yes that is Camano Island where that happened, where is your parents house being build on Camano?? the guy running the 320 had got out to go get lunch down the hill when the wall came over the sad thing is a geotech was on site when the wall was build:confused:
 
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#23 ·
I love when guys build so called "rock walls" where they stack boulders 10 feet high and fill behind then with dirt, and the wall is 5-10' away from the house. I actually saw one where they did that, the "wall" ranged from 10-15 feet high, it was just some crappily stacked boulders, and get this i saw them putting in irrigation right behind the wall! the house was a nice house right on the beach, probably in the 2-3 million range, you could already see where some of the rocks had started shifting and it was still in construction. I wouldnt want to be the contracter doing that house, i would be crossing my fingers i made it past the warrenty period without the wall coming down and taking out the house, or worse hurt/kill someone.
 
#24 ·
Any retaining wall over 48"s here has to be engineered we have had contractors nailed for building rockwalls that were 4 to 6 inches above the 48" mark.

I never seen those style blocks in the pictures minimax posted the ones we have here are a full 2 tons they lock together. Usually we can't build with them no more than 2 to 3 high any higher than that you need engineering so much rake back etc.

Poured concrete walls are so much easier to deal with form it up pour the concrete let set for 14 days and backfill.

As for a retaining wall using 6x6 posts and 2x12s is mickey mouse. A 2x12 really doesn't have any strength to have a load pushing on it sideways its strength is on edge. I wouldn't have backfilled it with wet muddy material because its heavy . Put lots of drainrock behind the wall then move in some good compacting soil and hold it back away from the wall a little bit and left the space bettween it and the wall a little loose so it doesn't put pressure on the wall.
 
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#26 ·
One thing you can say is this is another one for experience. Myself I wouldn't have done the job backfilling just from experience knowing what it takes to hold back material. I have done lots of concrete walls from over the years I know how much force (weight load) of heavy wet material does to wood. One job I was on told the guy thats not enough bracing and strength started to pour the wall and I could see it bulging. I said let it cure a little bit again refused my advise he started rodding the concrete poof the form let go.

Wet heavy clayish mud is heavy its like concrete it will put so much weight load on a wall you need good strength to hold that back.

Another job poured foundation building contractor in a rush to have it backfilled too much weight cracked the wall.

Good Luck I hope you get the person that built the wall to help you fix the problem as there will be lots of hand digging.
 
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Discussion starter · #27 ·
The more I think about it, I probally shouldnt have taken on this job, but things are slow here. Anyays the guy who built this sunk 6x6 posts 4 feet below the ground and cemented them in place, but they are put every 6 ft or so.

The original guy cut around 8 feet into the bank to put stairs in, this is where I am sure that there is some bowing.
 
#28 ·
I build walls all time and that is not good business to get involved in some ones elses mess. First of all any good wall builder is going to have his own equiptment, especially for backfilling. Improper drainage is the # 1 failure to any kind of wall. I dont care if its vera-lock, allen block, ties, or even silly putty they have to drain of they will fail. I sometimes sub a little excavation in our area we have hard shale at times i need a bigger machine . But any body building a wall that does not even have a bobact for backfilling should not be building walls. I would not get involved in any matter of it, it couldnt of taken that long to backfill so how much moey did you actually make off of it to be involved in such possible disaster to happen. My season it actually close to winding down , i pick my jobs and this one would not be one.
Mike
 
#30 ·
ksss said:
That really was my point if your hiring out the backfilling that may be a clue to problems.
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I started scratching my head as well. Even the crappy wall builders around here have means of backfilling even the largest of walls without having to sub it out.
 
#31 ·
:usflag: Maybe the builder was hoping that when you backfilled it, it would fail and you would have to pick up the costs of replacing it. or as I suspect is really new and figured walls would be easy to build, built one made some cool green and now is in a situation he doesn't know how to deal with.

Its like when you break your first gas line.:dizzy: .... your like #^% now what do I do .... Maybe I should just leave and it will fix itself... but provaling heads figures it out and everybody moves forward, the line gets fixed and everybody is happy.

Maybe you should call the builder up and say look, your wall is ****, you know it I know it and the customer knows it, and work from there for a fix, maybe even play advocate to the customer so they know that your just the Iron owner and not the builder of said wall.
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
Well I am back, met with the guy he was a jerk and wouldnt listen to a word that I said, basically I wasted my time and my gas! Anyways when I told him that I didnt build the wall, therefore I dont know how strong it is , how it was built etc.

Ready for this one, he wanted me to hook my bobcat up to the post and pull the wall back!! This guy was a know it all type and he knew everything, so I couldnt tell him a thing. One thing I completely forgot to mention was that the homeowner lined the INSIDE of the wall with plastic wrap!!! I asked him about this and he avoided question completely.

He walked off saying some nasty words, and I told him to have a great day.

I would consider this a great learning experiance, thanks for all of your help. SY
 
#33 ·
SouthernYankee said:
Well I am back, met with the guy he was a jerk and wouldnt listen to a word that I said, basically I wasted my time and my gas! Anyways when I told him that I didnt build the wall, therefore I dont know how strong it is , how it was built etc.

Ready for this one, he wanted me to hook my bobcat up to the post and pull the wall back!! This guy was a know it all type and he knew everything, so I couldnt tell him a thing. One thing I completely forgot to mention was that the homeowner lined the INSIDE of the wall with plastic wrap!!! I asked him about this and he avoided question completely.

He walked off saying some nasty words, and I told him to have a great day.

I would consider this a great learning experiance, thanks for all of your help. SY
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When it was all said and done how much did you actually make off of backfilling? Was it worth it? Never be to proud to turn a job down there is always some one that will jump in. But we all have made mistakes taking on jobs at times, learn from it and move on.
Mike
 
#35 ·
SouthernYankee........there are lots of lessons there....here's one of mine to make you feel better.....

We demo'd an industrial building in Los Angeles, Calif. About lunch time, we noticed an abnormal amount of Pacific Bell (telephone) trucks running up and down this main drag we were on. I asked the guy I was working with if he had called Blue Stakes (he had but after the job started...oops!) Long story short, we smashed/cut/ripped out a 4" diameter phone cable that serviced most of this heavy industrial town......I called a buddy at Pac-Bell and within 15 minutes of the call we had 10-15 trucks with full crews of Pac Bell who worked until about 4am to get this fixed.....I stayed and bought them coffee and donuts and food until the job was done......Here's the fun part (NOT!)....the bill was $18,000 which came out of my pocket.....That was my lesson about blue stakes, and now, 30 plus years later.....I call Blue Stakes for everything.....I learned that lesson painfully well.......
So, for $400, the lessons you have been presented are relatively CHEAP....learn and move on.....
 
#36 ·
SouthernYankee said:
I made $400.00, but it wasnt worth the hassle,but I learned a lesson
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I dont think any one here is beating on you either, like my self and others said learn and move on. At least you had the balls to share your experience on this forum. Trust me any one that has been in this business has been there and maybe worse, i can start with my self. Good luck to you in the future.
Mike
 
#38 ·
Hey Scag, did you do the dirt work for your folks or who did they use? And who is building the house
 
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#39 ·
No, we didn't do the work. My parents caught sight of the house just after it was framed and went from there. Kim Nesje is the general contractor and his son, Eben Nesje, did the excavation. If you ever need a builder, Kim is excellent, he has worked with my parents so well. He is extremely detail oriented and goes the extra mile to get things done the right way. Having dealt with tons of contractors through the last couple years he's definately a guy I wouldn't mind working for and I hate working for contractors, I think that's saying a lot about how he does business.

The house is pretty much done, they're just finishing up some painting. Otherwise the house is pretty nice, I was there last weekend actually.
 
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