I called River City to repair my septic system in Tillamook. After a very rainy January, my shower and toilet were backing up due to too much water in the drainfields. Chad with River City recommended proceeding on a time and materials basis, since the location is a ways out of Portland - he could diagnose the problem and repair in one fell swoop over 2-3 days. River City required a 5000 credit card hold prior to proceeding, and in looking over the rates list I signed, I didn't expect the bill to be much more than that.
Fast forward 3 months: the shower and toilet is backing up again much worse: sewage including feces in the shower. My entire yard is a swampy mess with up to 14 of standing water in many places, including behind the house where they created a sort of pit through their excavation where surface water can't flow out of. Water is visibly infiltrating into my garage, and could be seeping into the lower level of my house as well which is at the same elevation. My underground rain drain pipe was crushed during construction. Every square inch of my yard was dug up and is too muddy to walk on, and there is Styrofoam poly aggregate (basically artificial gravel which looks like packing peanuts) mixed in with the soil all over the yard. My renters, who have 2 dogs, have not been able to use the yard since January.
The price tag for this was $17,690.25.
The state of my property is much worse, and everything that was done to divert water needs to be redone likely exceeding that amount. I have hired a local contractor to excavate and replace the crushed rain drain and to clean up the poly aggregate. I hired another septic company to siphon the standing water behind the house that is not draining, and drain excess water from my holding tank. I am getting a bid this week for a landscape architect to remove and replace a defunct ground water interceptor - this is basically a French Drain to divert excess ground water that was getting into the septic system. The system River City used has a perforated drain pipe that comes bundled with Styrofoam poly aggregate, wrapped in a geo fabric to provide drainage, rather than the traditional gravel-based drainage systems - supposedly it is a proven system that costs less and is fast to install, if installed correctly. Somehow many of these bundles burst all along the trench line, spewing chunks of Styrofoam all over the yard. From what my contractor observed, the pipes are not even connected in places, and in some cases there is no pipe, just Styrofoam in torn fabric a hole with clay soil fusing to the Styrofoam pieces. In some areas the drain pipe is above the ground. The soil is on my property is mostly clay, and the usual precautions you would use with a soil that does not drain, like additional geo filter fabric, backfilling with a pervious soil etc. was not done. Additionally the grading done does not direct surface water away from the house, instead a low point was created behind the house where water is trapped and just ponds. Normally you would channel the water away from - rather than toward the foundation. The crew had 3 days with an excavator at 1200/day, and this was the result.
I had a phone conversation with the Chad and the office manager about the issues and the bill. I acknowledged that the the shower and toilet seemed to be draining and other maintenance to the septic lines were done, and I authorized a 5000 partial payment on my credit card. Chad agreed to return in April to fix some of the issues, and make some adjustments to the bill. Meanwhile I discovered that feces and toilet paper were piling up behind the house through a sewage line that had been broken during construction. River City repaired that broken pipe, but then I got an email from the contracts manager, Mick letting me know that Chad and the foreman were taken off the project, and all communications had to go through him. In trying to figure out how to remedy the problems, I asked Mick what products were used, placement of underground elements, whether my raindrains were altered or combined with this new drain line, and a conversation that was supposedly had with my neighbor to daylight the ground water onto his property. Mick would only reply by saying things like the amount owing currently is $13,175.25. We can put you on a payment plan if you like.
At about 6 weeks after the invoice that I disputed was received, Mick filed a lien on my property (wrongly naming my neighbor as the owner initially - causing a great deal of anxiety) with the intent to foreclose if I didn't pay them in full, plus the 500 filing fee.
I hired a mediator so we could have a conversation and work things out, River City refused to mediate. Yesterday I received a letter from Mick demanding payment in 10 days, saying that their work was per industry standards and that their invoice was not overstated.
video:
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