Charged to remove fill

11 years ago

I was curious how many people when building a home were charged to remove fill. We just started building a home and got notice that we are going to owe money to have them remove fill. It's in the contract so we are certainly liable for it but it wasn't really discussed (our fault). Kind of annoyed since we already paid an extra 10K to have a full basement (instead of crawl space) - certainly this will result in more fill being generated but one would assume that would have been part of the cost for that.

Wanted to see what others experience with this has been. Thanks.

Featured Answer

worthy

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Whether you're in need of fill or need to dispose of excess or unsuitable fill, it's an extra charge as the builder cannot anticipate what he will find. Or as mentioned above, on a small lot, there's no place to store extra fill.

As a builder, I've sometimes been lucky both ways. Someone nearby needs our extra fill, or I can use what somebody else is disposing of. The worst situation is when I've underestimated what was needed to backfill or grade so hauled it away and then had to pay for new fill to be trucked in. In any case, you'll often need topsoil at the end. The worst is when I see builders add a bare half inch of top soil over clay, then roll out the turf.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

User
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Yep. In our case the topographical survey was off, which threw the architect off a bit resulting in more excavation and removal of "unsuitables." The overage came to almost $3000 just to remove the dirt. That on top of the additional excavation. So for the excavation line item which included digging, fill, backfill, and export of unsuitables, over $8K above the original estimate.
amberm145
11 years ago
Yes. About 10-15% of the cost of our excavation was to haul dirt away. We got "lucky" and there was a nearby construction site that needed it, otherwise we would have been charged to dump it. And then for backfill, we didn't have enough on site (small urban lot) so we had to pay again for trucking to haul some back. Again, I don't know where the dirt came from, but we only had to pay for trucking. But we were warned that they may have needed to buy more.
Related Professionals
Southaven Architects & Building Designers · San Marcos Architects & Building Designers · Victoria Architects & Building Designers · Fall River Architects & Building Designers · Superior Architects & Building Designers · Atlantic City Design-Build Firms · Jackson Design-Build Firms · Hackettstown Design-Build Firms · San Diego Design-Build Firms · Sanford Design-Build Firms · Savannah Home Builders · Baton Rouge Home Builders · Austin Home Builders · Westerly Home Builders · Grand Junction Home Builders
rwiegand
11 years ago
we didn't want the lousy dirt (almost pure sand, useless for growing anything) spread on our lot so we too paid to have it hauled away. Paid lots more to have the sand removed and topsoil installed in the garden beds.
loveumms
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks everyone - I think the frustration we have is that we asked about excavation costs ... multiple times and were given one explanation of things and potential costs. The term "removal of fill" never specifically came up thus, until we got saddled with this bill had no idea that was even something to consider (it is written in the contract so we should have asked specifically about that instead of just excavation cost since that can mean different things to different people).

Sigh - this will be the only home I ever build, it has just been one thing after another.
loveumms
Original Author
11 years ago
I guess since this is a planned community with the builder owning the lots, we expected them to know the lots they were selling us and what would be expected to build the home they created on that lot

Would be different if we bought the lot and asked them to build on it

Another lesson learned