A little less than five years ago, we hired this contractor to install what was approximately a…read more10x12 patio along with two small retaining walls. One wall was roughly 4-5 feet long, and the other was an L-shape with sides approximately 4 and 5 feet long. During the installation, they struck or broke one of our water lines, causing significant flooding in the excavation area. They immediately denied responsibility and claimed the line must have already been damaged from excavation work done decades earlier when a concrete slab was originally poured for the basement apartment entrance. That explanation never made sense to us. The ground had not been disturbed in at least 20 years, had a concrete slab over it the entire time, and we had owned the home for several years without any signs of a water line leak. We have a convertible jet pump system, and there had never been any loss of prime, short cycling, or any indication of underground leakage prior to their excavation work.
As the flooding continued during the project, they insisted the water must have been coming from another leak somewhere on our property, despite not being able to locate one. We repeatedly explained beforehand that we have a high water table and occasionally had groundwater issues in the basement. Once they broke open the slab and excavated the area, it created an easier escape path for groundwater, which is why water was pushing up through the excavation. Eventually, one of their lead workers privately admitted to me that he thought we were probably correct after they investigated further and could not identify a leak source along the water line itself.
Despite this, we ended up absorbing the cost of the damaged line and were then charged approximately $6,000-$7,000 extra for additional stone, drainage tile, and excavation work to address the groundwater issue. In hindsight, that drainage work actually confirmed what we had been saying all along because after the deeper drainage system was installed, our basement water problems improved significantly. While the drainage ultimately helped the property, we do not believe the additional charges were reasonable considering the issue was triggered by their excavation and the amount charged did not appear proportional to the actual labor and materials involved.
We were promised what I believe was a five-year warranty on the work. However, we had to call them back multiple times within the first couple years because sections of the patio settled and sank. Most recently, one of the retaining walls has begun collapsing inward from soil pressure behind it. Getting the owner to respond was difficult. He repeatedly failed to show up when promised, and once he finally came out, he initially claimed the patio was already "six or seven years old" and out of warranty. When my mother-in-law corrected him and pointed out the work was less than five years old, he immediately changed his explanation and said the warranty did not apply because of the prior water issues and because they had already come back a couple times before.
That reasoning made no sense to us. The drainage conditions were known during the original project, they accepted the work, performed the drainage modifications themselves, and still provided a warranty afterward. If the drainage or installation was inadequate, that reflects on the original workmanship. A warranty should not suddenly become void because the contractor previously attempted repairs on the same failing project.
He then claimed he had supposedly left extra retaining wall block for us after the install, which I specifically remember was not true because I had previously asked about the leftover material and was told it was being returned for credit. Eventually, after additional delays, he admitted he could not find any matching block and then quoted another several hundred to a thousand dollars to repair the failing wall. At that point, we decided we were done dealing with the situation and will be hiring another contractor to correct the issues properly.
Overall, our experience was extremely frustrating. The work required repeated repairs, responsibility was consistently avoided, communication was poor, and the warranty only seemed valid until it became inconvenient to honor. Based on our experience, I would strongly recommend that anyone considering similar work make sure all drainage concerns, warranty terms, and repair responsibilities are documented very clearly in writing before proceeding.
