Unpopular opinion: I used to think a simple soil compaction issue on a site in Phoenix would be a quick fix, but it took us three full weeks of testing and bringing in a different fill material to finally get the right density.

The geotech report was wrong about the native soil's moisture content, so our standard compaction method failed and we had to bring in a special clay mix, which added over $15,000 and a huge delay to the foundation work, so has anyone else had a geotech report just be completely off like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan_rodriguez15d ago

Man, that geotech thing is the worst kind of surprise. Exactly like quinn said with those moisture meters, it's all about knowing what's actually happening deep down, not just what's on the surface. I had a similar deal once where the report said the soil was at 12% moisture but it was actually closer to 20% when we dug in. We ended up having to spread everything out and let it bake in the sun for a week before we could even think about compaction, which killed our schedule. It's crazy how one little number in a lab can throw off thousands of dollars and weeks of work just because nobody double checked the ground with a simple test first.

sarah_brown2mo ago

Ugh, my last houseplant died from overwatering, so maybe I'm not the one to ask about soil issues...

quinn5822mo ago

Been there, killed a peace lily the same way. What finally worked for me was getting a cheap moisture meter from the garden center. Stuck it in the soil and only watered when it read dry, not just when the top looked dry. Turns out I was watering way too often. That little tool saved my next few plants.