Harrison Contracting

I did do the wall for Mr [redacted] and guarantee the wall for one year There was actually no problems with the wall in that it never once moved.Mr [redacted] has a very large sloping yard and when heavy rain came the dirt was eroded away bywallRather than call me at that point he put trash bags between wall and ground which thencaused the erosion of the tree rootsI went by to take a look and explained his action had voidedthe warranty and he should have called me firstOne thing to note is that it was stated in contractthat I would use removed sand from other areas of the yardI also purchased a heavier materialwhich was installed If Mr [redacted] had called me prior to installing plastic trash bags and creating alot of additional damage I would have came and taken care of issue even though it was his immense yard and over the top amount of rain that produced the issue

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:Here is my response to ***, the owner in response to this message.***, seriously you are going to come up with a response like thisLet’s break it down.First of all there is something I would like to clear up now that I have my cell phone in front of me while writing this replyI first told *** about the wall on April 23, I discussed a different issue with him in MarchWe met on Sept21, 2015, not Novas I mentioned in complaintI doubled checked my text messages with *** and it was the Nov16, text reply to a message I sent when he said the wall was doing its jobThere was no communication between those two datesSorry Revdex.com, I want to be as accurate as possible“There was actually no problems with the wall in that it never once moved.” >> I never said it moved, the earth behind the wall eroded awayWalls are designed to prevent erosion“has a very large sloping yard and when heavy rain came the dirt was eroded away by wall.” >> Ok, what was your plan to address the issue before you built it? Did you put any engineering thought into it? Previous wall = no issue for the years it was put in when the house was builtYour wall = erosion after monthsAnd one of the years was during the big year flood we had in SA where we received a lot more rain that in in a short period of time“Rather than call me at that point he put trash bags between wall and ground which then caused the erosion of the tree roots.” >> I tried to take care of this myselfAs you have told me many times you are so busySo since I had a hole in my yard about three feet deep I needed to fill it so my dogs would not fall into it since they are small lap dogsAs you know I try to fix things myself, like when your people broke my sprinkler lineI fix it so you didn’t have to spend money to have someone come out and repair itPlus when I turned on the system in the spring, there was another break I fixedI was looking to make the job easier for youThe erosion of the “bush” (not tree) roots was already done when it happened the first time because the hole was so bigYou can see from the pic I sent you on April when it happened the second time, which was a smaller hole because of the bagsI reburied the roots and it happened again, just not as bad the three other times it happened“I went by to take a look and explained his action had voided the warranty and he should have called me first.” >> You want to try that again? You never said thatYou said it was not a good idea to put the bags there so I removed them after we metYou told me that behind the wall would need to be dug out and pea gravel put in to allow for drainage and that would prevent the dirt from going thruYou told me the same thing in your April text when you said “So what we need to do us [sic] install gravel by steps and then cover with topsoil.” You said in Septmeeting you would consult someone else and get back with meThat was the last communication I had with youFrom that comment I assumed I would hear back from youWhy would you say that if I had “voided the warranty.” Plus what voided the warranty? When I put the plastic in place I put slits so water could still go thru but was trying to stop the dirt from doing the sameWhen the erosion happened again it went to the sides of where I put the plastic and only eroded about a two feet wide by a foot deepI have a pic so try againI didn’t damage the wallSince there was already a huge hole in the ground I just put the bags in the hole against the bricks and put the ground back in the holeThe wall was still standing and as *** said, it didn’t move“One thing to note is that it was stated in contract that I would use removed sand from other areas of the yard.” >> You know if you are going to lie, make sure there is no written proofYour quote says “Insure all area behind landscape bricks are backfilled.” I told you that you can use sand that I had in surplus if you needThis quote was done on Dec18, 2014, before I started my project on Dec(I double checked my vacation requests) that had freed up sand so your quote should have had priced in appropriate backfill for a retaining wall, which according to different websites is the pea gravel you told me aboutThe main reason for the erosion is because you used the sand as backfillThe sand just flows thruSand doesn’t hold together like dirtAlso, you put the wall at the exact forward location of the railroad tiesThey were deeper than the bricks so that required more backfillYou should have put the wall further back, closer to the actual ground that needed to be retained so less backfill would need to be done that way a small strip of dirt, maybe four inches, in front of the wall would have been needed“I also purchased a heavier material which was installed.” >> Really, what was it? You didn’t bring any other materials except concrete and wood for your concrete frameDon’t forget I was on vacation and home the entire time you worked on your project as I was also working on my project, which freed up the sandYou used the concrete as a base for the wall, which might not be a good idea because the base is now solid, and if water gets that low, it has nowhere to go because you did not build a drain like I discussed with you before you started constructionI allowed you to borrow a trailer I rented so you could dispose of the railroad tiesHere I was trying to be a nice guy and try to help you reduce your costs on the projectYou didn’t bring any large quantities of materials back with thatYou used your truck to bring bags of concrete to build your baseI purchased all the bricks; with the verbal understanding that you would be responsible to return all the bricks that were over purchasedGuess who returned the bricks? MeYour memory sure didn’t remember thatBut I didn’t press it because I liked you (now a past idea) as this was the third project you had done for meI had to return about bricksI’ll break this down some since it is a long sentencea“If Mr *** had called me prior to installing plastic trash bags and creating a lot of additional damage” >> Less erosion happened because of the bagsThe biggest hole was the first one that went all the way down to just above your concrete base almost three feet downI haven’t had that issue again, but it has not rained hard again since we met in Septso it might happen again as we start to approach rain season.b“I would have came and taken care of issue” >> I told you about the issue on April I still have the textI sent you a pic that dayOn April you responded “I’m pretty busy right now but will get you taken care if [sic] when I can.” I texted you on May 7, June 1, June (was about recommending you to someone about you doing their roof, you said you would contact me soon, assume about the wall), July 6, Aug12, and SeptIt took you till Septto arrive after repeated texts to youI didn’t tell you about the bags until you were there in SeptTry againIf I didn’t do anything when it first happened in March 2015, it sounds like you would have left the hole in the yard that entire time because you were “busy.”c“even though it was his immense yard and over the top amount of rain that produced the issue.” >> Again, no issue with last wall made of railroad ties.Also looking a major home improvement place, it says “The interlocking blocks can be used to build walls up to inches high.” You used interlocking blocks and my wall is higher than that for over half of the wallSo since you didn’t build the wall correctly you should actually replace the whole thing instead of just digging out and installing the pea gravel
Regards,
*** ***

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I made no agreement as to providing fill as I am not in construction and would not know what to acquire. It is during research after wall failure that I found out what should have been used for backfill. I told him that he can use any excess sand I had available if he needed it for the project. Sand was not made available to him until toward the end of his project as I didn’t have it freed up before quote. My plan was to spread any excess from the job I was working on throughout the yard as I have done in previous years with a dirt and sand mix.Here is exact quote for job (also attached):Remove existing railroad ties in hill area and haul away. Dig down to create a footing for entire length.Create a 12” form above ground with 5/8” and ½” rebar and 2”x6”s.Create form for steps.                                     ...⇄ Pour concrete and allow setting for 24 hours.                                     ...⇄ $1,500.00Build wall with 12”x4” landscape bricks to an approximate height of 3’       To varying heights, cost is figured on 800 bricks max, if additional       Are needed will add cost of material.   Capstone to increase by cost of material, approx. $100 to $200.Adhesive is not figured into cost of job.Insure all area behind landscape bricks are backfilled.                             $3,895.00Upon completion we will remove all debris and insure a clean and                Professional finish.He states that “Insure all area behind landscape bricks are backfilled.” He just shoved in something to fill the gap and used the sand. An educated contractor should know how to build a retaining wall and know that sand would not be good filler. Proper backfill should have been used. Quote does not state owner will provide backfill. The contractor fails to address why it took him over five months for the first site visit. There are other things he fails to address, but this is a nice one to show his commitment to customer service on repeat customers. We can see he is not reliable after cash is in the pocket.It saddens me as I used him for three projects and had plans on using him again. I recommended him to at least five people before this issue and I planned on using him again. When I first started working with him he said that had a number of repeat customers are good when the economy is not performing well like when I first hired him to replace my roof. I have provided good recommendation to people that have done stuff for me in the past like my solar panels and shed just to name two. Revdex.com, this contractor is just making up stuff to try and pass the blame. I would hope that you, and people that search Revdex.com for workmanship before hiring him, can see that his comments are contradicting. I am not sure if there is anything else that can be done on this case as I can continue to shoot holes in whatever he bring by as I have proof (quote, texts, emails) and all he is providing is stuff pulled out of thin air. I don’t think there is anything else that can be done in this case as I believe that we can throw responses back and forth for a long time. The truth doesn’t change, which I have on my side, so I am assuming that the responses would just continue to throw the business owner deeper into a hole. Please review the company accreditation as nothing was resolved here and the contractor cannot adequately state why the wall was built as it was and not to general construction practices for building a retaining wall.
Regards,
[redacted]

I am quite sure the issues were due to the use of sand instead of gravel and dirt.I was told when I bid the job that he would provide the fill material and that is how it was bid.If I had chosen the material it would not have been sand. I also did not anticipate torrential rains directly after completing job.I took it for granted that since he supplied the fill material Mr [redacted] would install propermaterial after I came by and told him the problem. I did not state to Mr [redacted] that the warranty was voided but it was implied by his placement ofa blocking material.

I did do the wall for Mr [redacted] and guarantee the wall for one year.     There was actually no problems with the wall in that it never once moved.Mr [redacted] has a very large sloping yard and when heavy rain came the dirt was eroded away bywall. Rather than call me at that point he...

put trash bags between wall and ground which thencaused the erosion of the tree roots. I went by to take a look and explained his action had voidedthe warranty and he should have called me first. One thing to note is that it was stated in contractthat I would use removed sand from other areas of the yard. I also purchased a heavier materialwhich was installed.         If Mr [redacted] had called me prior to installing plastic trash bags and creating alot of additional damage I would have came and taken care of issue even though it was his immense  yard and over the top amount of rain that produced the issue.