We have three drains, which are assumed to be clogged (one contractor's assistant tapped one of the drains with a pointing device and said it was "full of dirt") and thought to be the primary source of erosion/ditch in our backyard (please see annotated photos attached).
We have two corrugated pipes attached to downspouts and a third corrugated pipe that is not attached to anything but is below a drain opening that empties water from our pool deck from a perforated strip on the pool deck.
One contractor is of the opinion that the drain opening from the pool deck does not have enough erosion under it to be. Emptying much, and sprays—we should just remove the unattached corrugated pipe; however, I am not so sure about that.
We plan on removing the old corrugated pipes and replacing them with new 6-inch PVC drain pipes that end in 12-inch drip boxes in daylight at the end of our yard and bringing dirt in to fill up the erosion/ditch, then putting sod over it.
This is the point where there are conflicting opinions among one contractor out of the seven that I interviewed.
Thus, the contractor wants to remove three bushes and one side of the hedge around our pool (and a few feet of hedge from around the back of the pool) in order to make sure that there are no other sources (pool leak, broken pipe, etc.) that are contributing to the erosion/ditch other than the clogged corrugated pipes. He says that he finds it hard to believe that the clogged corrugated pipes could cause that amount of erosion and that if we don't investigate further and just replace the drainage pipes and fill up the erosion/ditch with dirt and sod, then we might just be putting a "Band-Aid" over the problem, and we might soon end up back to where we were (currently) at the start.
He says that none of the bushes or hedges that he removes could be replanted again. He also went on my pool deck and found an area (over on the side of the ditch) where it appears that the pool deck is coming "detached" from the house, which he claims is further evidence that there is more going on than just clogged corrugated pipes and supports his desire for removing the bushes and part of the hedge for further investigation. He told me on Friday that he feels so strongly about this theory that despite having already submitted estimates for the job, he would refuse to take the job if I did not agree to the removal of the bushes and part of the hedge to allow him to further investigate.
I had another contractor back for a second interview today and told him of the other contractor's suspicion that there is more causing the erosion ditch, as well as the contractor's desire to remove the three plants as well as part of the hedge, and took him on the pool deck to show him the area where the other contractor said that the pool deck was becoming removed from the house and that this serves as further evidence that there might be more involved than just clogged corrugated pipes causing the erosion/ditch and that the trees and part of the hedge need to be removed for further investigation.
The contractor who I showed the area where it appears that the pool deck is becoming removed from the house said to me, "I see this all the time. As a homeowner it is good to keep an eye on it, but I don't think that it justifies removing those bushes and part of the hedge to investigate further causes for the erosion/ditch."
My dilemma here is, "Who do I believe?" Does this one contractor know something (or to look for something) that the other five contractor's whom I interviewed somehow missed (or are missing?)
Does he have foresight, intuition, and perhaps a higher level of thinking than the other contractors do?
Or is he blowing his concerns about "other factors contributing to the erosion/ditch" way out of proportion? Will he be "leading me on a 'wild goose chase,'" ripping up perfectly healthy bushes and part of a perfectly fine hedge all to only end up concluding that the erosion/ditch really was caused only by clogged corrugated drains all along, delaying the resolution of the project and costing me extra money by removing the bushes and part of the hedge and causing me to just have to replace them with new bushes and hedge sections once the new PVC drains are installed and the erosion/ditch has been filled and sodded?
I would greatly appreciate any comments, advice, feedback (good or bad), sharing of personal experiences (good or bad), and opinions, as well as any "hacks" or "workarounds" for this situation.
Thank you so much.
by InspiredHomeowner
1 Comment
Paragraphs my guy, this wall of text is a lot.