Rainwater washing out my NEW road

[955Lincoln]

Wow, touchy situation. It is going to cost a lot of money to do that road up properly although the initial dirt work looks good, sans base. It's a shame there wasn't more communication between you and the seller about this road as far as what each party was expecting. An estimate from your side would have shed some light on the total costs.

The seller is partially correct about waiting to see what path the water will take but there are also obvious common sense things that should have been done during the construction of this road.

What exactly is an "all weather standard"? Is there a printed document?

Best of luck

 

[beppington]

That appears to be a light dusting of gravel

$10K total for a new 3/4-mi long road thru the mountains doesn't sound like nearly enough money to me.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

That appears to be a light dusting of gravel

$10K total for a new 3/4-mi long road thru the mountains doesn't sound like nearly enough money to me.

In other words, you get what you pay for. Looks like a good start to me. A few days work with the right equipment and a lot more gravel and the road should be good to go.

But that is just my opinion. :confused3: I know for sure that I would have fun finishing what has been started. :thumbsup:

One last thing, I agree with some about the lawyer route, only as the absolute last resort. Expect them to cost you money, even if you are found to be in the right by a court.

 

[MarkV]

Boeing, just my opinion here. You have 3/4 of a mile of road, if I read this right. You are already in for $5,000 dollars. To me that is cheap for 3/4 of a mile. The rough grading has been done and from the photo's a superficial covering of gravel has been laid. I think you are 50 to 60% through the process of building a road that you can count on year round. That does not take into account that any road like yours is going to require yearly maintenance and additional gravel as time goes on. It looks as if your issue is, what is the definition of an "all weather road" in your contract. I would expect to double your original investment in the road to make it right. Gravel for 3/4 of a mile gets expensive. Good luck.

MarkV

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Lexington is a very beautiful area. As far as the road, for the money it's not too bad. I had some mountain property in WV years ago, and the shared road into the "development" was much worse than this. I think a little ditch work, and a few culverts in the right place will go a long way to fixing this up.

 

[dstig1]

That appears to be a light dusting of gravel

$10K total for a new 3/4-mi long road thru the mountains doesn't sound like nearly enough money to me.

I'd agree on all counts. I expect it to cost me in the $7-9k range for 600' of compacted driveway (not paved) through our woods. As others have suggested, talk to some real contractors in the area and get estimates. I think you will find that you have 10's of thousands more ahead of you to get a real road once they get into the ditches, culverts and broad based dips that are needed. But all these costs vary locally a lot. The only way is to get quotes. At least you have a decent path started for the contractors to look at and I bet the surprises have been exposed already, in many spots.

 

[mjncad]

That layer of gravel is nothing more than a light coat of frosting on a canine Twinkie. The initial rough cut looks decent; but as others have wisely stated, it needs ditches and culverts to manage the water.

Ideally the road would have been compacted, then geotextile put down, followed by compacted road base and finally compacted gravel mixed with fines. Alas, doing it right can get costly; but doing it wrong and fixing it can be even more pricey.

The problem with "all weather road" is the term is fairly vague, and what is all weather to one individual is a mud bog to another.

You might check your state's DOT web site to see if they have specs and drawings on how to construct a gravel road for your area.

It just pisses me off when good people get screwed by shady crooks. I really hope you can keep the legal-beagles out of it as they are the only ones who win.

 

[CurlyDave]

Not a lawyer, but here is the way I see it.

The contract calls for 50-50 cost sharing with your portion not to exceed $5000.

From the pictures, you got about $10k worth of road work, the problem is that all you have is a dirt road with no ditches, no culverts, and very insufficient gravel. Unless there are some really steep sections not shown I think you need ditches and culverts, plus about 6" of base rock (6-8" chunks down to about 1") and another 6" of 3/4" minus on top of that.

For 4000' of road 12' wide that comes to about 900 yards of base and 900 of 3/4" minus. Fabric under the base would be a good idea, but wold cost more. Around here you would be looking at $10-15 per yard, delivered and spread, so somewhere in the $20-30k neighborhood. Plus ditches, culverts, etc. maybe another $10k.

There is clearly a big disconnect between the words of the contract and the reality of the cost. I just don't know how the contract would be interpreted, but you might want to be prepared for a 50-50 split of quite a bit more money.

Taking potential legal fees into consideration, if I could get the seller to split the cost of upgrading to a real all weather road I would be inclined to jump at the chance.

I am making a lot of guesses, from thousands of miles away, based on pictures. You really need local contractor estimates.

Keep in mind, if the seller is a contractor, he will get discounts on everything. Be prepared to negotiate a bit to make it a real 50-50 split.

 

[RickB]

Not a lawyer, but here is the way I see it.

The contract calls for 50-50 cost sharing with your portion not to exceed $5000.

From the pictures, you got about $10k worth of road work, the problem is that all you have is a dirt road with no ditches, no culverts, and very insufficient gravel. Unless there are some really steep sections not shown I think you need ditches and culverts, plus about 6" of base rock (6-8" chunks down to about 1") and another 6" of 3/4" minus on top of that.

For 4000' of road 12' wide that comes to about 900 yards of base and 900 of 3/4" minus. Fabric under the base would be a good idea, but wold cost more. Around here you would be looking at $10-15 per yard, delivered and spread, so somewhere in the $20-30k neighborhood. Plus ditches, culverts, etc. maybe another $10k.

There is clearly a big disconnect between the words of the contract and the reality of the cost. I just don't know how the contract would be interpreted, but you might want to be prepared for a 50-50 split of quite a bit more money.

Taking potential legal fees into consideration, if I could get the seller to split the cost of upgrading to a real all weather road I would be inclined to jump at the chance.

I am making a lot of guesses, from thousands of miles away, based on pictures. You really need local contractor estimates.

Keep in mind, if the seller is a contractor, he will get discounts on everything. Be prepared to negotiate a bit to make it a real 50-50 split.

An insightful and realistic post.

 

[firefighter jim]

Like others have stated, ditching is critical on the uphill side of your road and simply grading the road and spreading gravel isn't enough as you need a good base such as shale prior to the spreading of any gravel. We have 1/2 mile hilly drive and it is a constant battle to stay on top of it. In spite of the drive maintenance, we still enjoy living on top of our hill! Good luck. :thumbsup: