need advice on blue rock site prep and septic syst

[Tribal fisher]

Last year I made the mistake of thinking I could do my own work and when I was driving I saw a D8 parked off the highway with a phone number on it. I called thinking it was a rental but it was for hire. So I ended out hiring the guy and someone came by and said they were looking for someone to do some ripping and stopped by to check out his work. He asked me how much I was charged for what he said was pretty poor work and when I told him he shook his head and said check out one of my lots on 13th. He had a whole acre done for what I paid for a 1/2 acre and it was level. I wish I would've asked him who he hired. My lot was pretty clear no trees just shrubs the front half is still the same the back half is now just a bunch of big boulders. So I'm thinking I'm probably going to need someone to come in and crush the boulders and level. I also need my septic system installed but don't know who I should hire. A little worried after my last experience.

[kimo wires]

Get 2 or 3 estimates from reputable excavation companies with detailed descriptions of what is going to be done. What materials if any are included for house pad prep etc.
There are plenty of fly by night operations that do sub standard work.

One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.

[ericlp]

I hate to offer any advise on who to hire as I thought I did my homework. And I think I got a fair deal but wish the job was better. As I had to pay more (even tho I am a bit mad at that and I had to pay even more to do somethings that should have been done in the first place form (others)).

So..... Like Kimo said ... get three bids from LICENSED Contractors.. Like Earth Karver... and the like. I can't remember the other bids I got. But I often wonder if I would have gotten a more quality job with someone else. I feel 10K bucks to rip should be FLAT with a slight slope for draining. But I guess in some lots maybe it's too much to ask.

Spell out EXACTLY what you want and make sure everything is in the contract before you spend $$$ ... Go look at other jobs the guy performed if you can.

[loffelkopffl]

call Sonny SJ Valdez builders he's licensed 640-5506

[Tribal fisher]

Things sure would be a lot better if I could do things myself at least then I know it'll be the way I want it. I live in Washington State and they let you do everything. I used to work in construction building houses, apartments ect. I also went to school for heavy equipment operation. So here I did all the work on my land clearing, leveling, private road, 2 driveways and house pads the only thing I didn't do was septic systems and wells. I did all the electrical work. So since I'm used to doing it all this hiring people to do things is a new experience for me, a learning experience.

[ericlp]

Ripping Lava ain't like pushing mud around. I would think it would be a bit more difficult to learn that? Especially for a one time deal. But I hear you... I wish the state would allow homeowners to do their own electrical, plumbing. Who can't glue a few sticks of CPVC together? Don't get me wrong a lot of people probably can't or don't want too (great hire someone) but those that can why force em to spend $$$ when they don't need too?

You will figure it out!

[kander]

way back in the early days of mans history, circa 1900 I can perhaps understand the need for a man of his trade to come out and perform electrical or plumbing work which was considered in the realm of magic. It seems in this modern era we have a huge wealth of information at our fingertips on how to correctly and to code perform these simple tasks. That is if a person does not already know how to accomplish it.

It is an insult to peoples intelligence to consider otherwise.

[Tribal fisher]

I'm here in Hilo and thanks to Puna Web I feel a little more wiser. I did what was suggested. I saw someone clearing land a few blocks away and spoke with him and he told me to check out some of his previous work and looked great but later found out he's not insured or licensed. I also could hear a cat working so I drove and located Jason Sanborn checked out some of his recent work also. Now just waiting for a quote. So far quotes are the same as if I never had my property ripped already. So anyone reading this who wants to clear or rip don't make the mistake I did and hire just anyone make sure you do your homework or you can throw thousands of dollars away.

[Tribal fisher]

I listened to your advice and I got 3 quotes from licensed and insured businesses. Excavation Tech $9,500 to re grade and re rip and septic system. J. Walker $12,000 and Sanborn $11,000. Excavation Tech was the lowest but we decided to go with Jason Sanborn because he convinced us that he would be the best. He has three machines to do the job not 1 and he also said he sticks to what his estimate says and if he runs into trouble he doesn't add it to the bill he says he eats the cost and I decided to end this post with something at first I wasn't going to say. I decided to tell everyone who I threw $5000 away on. I wasn't going to mention his name but after talking to the 3 Excavation businesses who all told me what a horrible job Bob Hill had done on my lot and how they've all had to redo Bob's work for other unfortunate people like me. I figured others should be warned. The only nice thing I heard about bob's work on my lot was that he actually did some ripping they said usually he just pushes stuff around and leaves a big mess and that's how 1 of the guys described what Bob Hill did to my lot "oh wow what a big mess it all has to be redone." Maholo everyone for all the great advice I feel like I'm on the right track now. Jason says he'll start work either today or tomorrow.

[EightFingers]

Too bad you can't post pics of your lot and the work done on it.