Soil too soft

[jchan]

I've been fortunate enough to own a piece of land and right now I'm in the process of trying to put a house ontop of it. I went with a custom home builder in the area. Well...they started digging this past weekend and have decided that the soil or clay is too soft to hold a house. They want to dig 2 feet below the basement and add rocks. I have no problem with this, because it's something we have to do...but I'm unsure whether they're giving me a correct estimate...well it's hardly an estimate. They're saying it's going to be over $10,000 which could mean anything...over 10k. To give some background on the house, it's going to be about a 3,000 sq ft house...including the basement it's probably another 1,500 sq ft and a two car garage. Does anybody have an idea of how much it should cost per sq ft? I'm assuming that the 10k would include everything, but they haven't laid everything out for me yet. Thank you for any help!

[RTF]

You need to get a detailed estimate before they start. Has there been a soil study done by a geotech firm or soils engineer? What is your current soil compaction? Do some homework before they get started.

[jchan]

I just received a breakdown of the costs and here it is:

1. Excavator move charge $ 400.00
2. We estimate 8 hours of work for Excavator at $140/hour $ 1,120.00
3. Bobcat move charge – Bobcat needed to spread stone $ 150.00
4. 1 day of Bobcat time – 8 hours @ $100/hr $ 800.00
5. 312 Tons stone @ $25/ton $ 7,800.00
6. Remove 20 Truckloads of dirt @ $200/load $ 4,000.00
7. Geotech Fabric $ 300.00


TOTAL $14,570.00

[RTF]

Have they consulted a soils engineer?

[jchan]

Well...we had soil tests done with the county. The results came back that the soils were Problem Type B. It looks like we are going to have to do what they're suggesting.

[RTF]

Sorry to hear that. In reviewing the estimate it looks ok, hard to really say without being there. There are a few line items I have trouble with, the costs associated for equipment delivery are high and the bobcat hourly charge is high. In my area I can hire a bobcat with an operator for $60/hr all day long, and he has a helper.

[jchan]

ok...thanks for your help. We're still working on going through each item to make sure they're not overcharging us.

[RTF]

Best of luck, if you have additional questions please post them.