Getting rid of the mount of dirt after filling in a trench

isubeatle

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Aug 9, 2006
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So today I had the sewer line replaced for my house and they had to dig a large trench through the front of my yard. They have filled it in, and I expected a mound, but it's a few feet high and i have no idea what to do.

Someone told me if you run water into the mount for long enough it'll sink?
 

chuckd4735

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Mar 29, 2006
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Spring thaw will probably sink it some, if you're willing to wait that long...
 

Incyte

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Apr 12, 2007
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I would let it settle until late spring and then level it off. Or you could take a pocket-full into work each day and dump it into the trash. Should be done by 2015.
 

abcguyks

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Apr 11, 2006
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It's too late now, but they should have compacted the dirt as they placed it back in the trench. Apparently they just pushed the dirt back in the hole when they were done. If you were lucky, they might have "wheel rolled" the backfill in the trench before creating the mound, but I doubt it.

Watering the trench will help, but that process will take a LONG time and a lot of water.

You'll be fighting this for many many years. My house was built twenty years ago and my yard is still settling where the sewer line entered the house.
 

clone319

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Nov 27, 2010
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Yeah, it will settle around the pipe. You could use something to pack it down as well (i.e. riding lawn mower or roller)
 

CtownCyclone

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Just consider it a "bonus hill" and be done with it.

As those before me noted, should have been compacted during the fill operation, but that takes more time than just piling it back in the hole.
 

Senolcyc

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Apr 20, 2010
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So today I had the sewer line replaced for my house and they had to dig a large trench through the front of my yard. They have filled it in, and I expected a mound, but it's a few feet high and i have no idea what to do.

Someone told me if you run water into the mount for long enough it'll sink?


Let it be for winter, see how much it settles on its own. Come spring, hire someone with a bobcat to drive on it and pack it down as much as possible and then scoop off the excess to use elsewhere in your yard. No reason not to keep a pile of utility dirt if you have a place for it.
 

azepp

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Dec 9, 2009
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Ankeny
So today I had the sewer line replaced for my house and they had to dig a large trench through the front of my yard. They have filled it in, and I expected a mound, but it's a few feet high and i have no idea what to do.

Someone told me if you run water into the mount for long enough it'll sink?
It's not a mound, it's a berm. They're all the landscaping rage these days. Plant a couple flowers, maybe a small tree, and cover it in mulch. You just added another $10k to the value of your house.
 
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fatkid1974

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Apr 3, 2010
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It's too late now, but they should have compacted the dirt as they placed it back in the trench. Apparently they just pushed the dirt back in the hole when they were done. If you were lucky, they might have "wheel rolled" the backfill in the trench before creating the mound, but I doubt it.

Watering the trench will help, but that process will take a LONG time and a lot of water.

You'll be fighting this for many many years. My house was built twenty years ago and my yard is still settling where the sewer line entered the house.

This +1. I do believe it's in the plumbing code that the trench needs to be compacted every 2 feet of lift. I'm sure you can find it somewhere on the internets if you really want to be a **** and have them come out and compact it. FYI, I've laid alot of sewer & water lines and if it's compacted properly you won't have any more than a small mound, no more than 6 inches. Even though any contractor worth a **** and worried about their workman ship would have leveled it and hauled out the extra dirt if you don't want it.
 

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