« Saving trees, saving money | Main | Kitchen & Bath Show Big on Color »
May 4, 2007
A Dirty Shame
Building season is in full swing here in Knoxville, Tenn. (Well, okay, it's always building season here, thanks to mild winters.) I've been watching "progress" on a couple of lots I pass on the drive to and from work every day. So far it has consisted of knocking down an old house and tearing out several trees, including a large Southern magnolia. And it seems that all the topsoil has disappeared, too!
I've lived in a lot of new houses, and I've struggled with trying to establish a lawn and garden without the benefit of topsoil. It ain't easy! What really bugs me, though, is knowing that whoever built the house hauled away "my" topsoil and sold it -- probably to someone else whose topsoil disappeared during construction of their house.
Can anyone explain to me why topsoil is so undesirable on a job site? Unless the lot is really small, it seems that the soil could be moved to the back of the lot, out of the way. Another construction site I pass daily has a virtual mountain of topsoil in the far corner of the lot. Now that builder (a commercial company, by the way) is one I'd like to deal with. But maybe he's waiting to sell it all after all.
Am I missing something here? I'd love to hear about your practice when it comes to topsoil. Do you haul it away? Replace it with topsoil from somewhere else when the house is done? That's not always a great idea, I learned upon reading The Dirt on Topsoil. Let me -- and others -- know how you handle this and why.
Thanks!
Posted by Marjie O'Connor, HGTVPro.com Staff at May 4, 2007 2:34 PM
Comments
You are right; lot preparers do the most cost efficient job of getting everything out of their way, and in doind so, cut their noses off their own faces. Trees, that really are not that hard to work around, add tremendous value to the home when it's selling time.
Ditto the top soil, that permits quality lawns and plantings. They say they bring back the topsoil, but what I got back is far from good soil; it's heavy clay that defies growth of almost anything!
How do we get the contractors to see they are losing value, rather than improving efficiency. Trained dozer operators would go a long way, as would mortgage dealers with a sense of the future values.
Posted by: Howard at May 9, 2007 10:59 AM
As a contractor, we sometimes need to maximize space, and,as in the case of the Magnolia, it becomes expendable. The Magnolia is a messy tree, as are other examples:Weeping Willow, Gum, etc.
What we do, however, is contact an Arborist to inspect the trees structural integrity to determine the feasibility of movement/transplanting, as our2nd priority is to find another home for it.
Soils themselves can be another issue altogether.
Is it too sandy? Is it cheaper to remove surface soils and replenish after deeper soils are removed and retamped to eliminate driving piles?
How poor is the soil? Worn out? It's gotta go.
Many other problemic situations that are brought to our attention by soil engineers and too numerous to mention here cause this seemingly environmental calamity, but rest-assured that in the Tort-rich community of America, there is CLEAR JUSTIFICATION for these actions that otherwise would cause litigation in the future!
Hope this helps! -Joe
Posted by: Joe at May 9, 2007 11:57 AM
