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The Septic System
This job was done by:
Tim Bennett Plumbing
3000 Sherries Lane,
Imperial, MO 63052
Phone (636) 296-4994
The Septic System
In July, the second “General Contractor” Mr. Zysk, brought a plumber to give us a bid on doing the Septic System.
On Mr. Zysk’s recommendation, I signed with this plumber to install the Septic System.
When the Plumber, Mr. Bennett, and I walked over to the job site (Mr. Zysk had left, saying he needed to go do a bid on another job) Mr. Bennett said: “I’m going to put it down there between those two trees.” …. I answered: “No, you don’t put that down there! You would kill those trees!” … He answered: “Nah, I won’t dig down far enough to disturb the roots.”
I said: “When they put the septic system in at my current house, they killed two trees back there, and the lines didn’t even run that close to the trees!”
I continued: “I have had to take down 25 trees from this property in the past year (they had been invaded by carpenter ants) and I don’t want to have to take down any more!” I continued: “Those two trees down there are over a hundred years old and they’re healthy! Put that (the septic system) up here!” And I pointed to where the plans showed them to be installed!
Then, Mr. Bennett cheerfully said: “Well, we should be able to start by the middle of next week. I have a job I’ll be finishing up Monday and Tuesday so we should be able to start here Wednesday.” Believing I had made very clear what I wanted him to do, and believing that he was cheerfully agreeing to do it, I said: “OK.”
That was on Friday, July 14th. I didn’t think I would be seeing Mr. Bennett or any of his crew, until the following Wednesday, July 19th . However, on Saturday morning, July 15th I woke up to noise coming from over behind the new house. … I was perplexed, as there weren’t any contractors scheduled to work that day.
I walked over to see what was being done, and saw someone in an excavator, moving dirt and rock. I walked to where I thought the person could see me, but they never acknowledged my presence. I stood there for a few minutes and got the impression that they were leveling off the spot where I had told Mr. Bennett to put the Septic Units.
Since they were raising up a huge amount of dust, and the “scritching” sound of the rock they were moving, was “like chalk on a blackboard” I just turned and went back to my house.
After they left, I walked over to the side of the house, and just saw what looked like a lot of rock and dirt pushed around. I did not see any holes dug. I didn’t “inspect” the site because number one, I had no reason to expect that anything different than what I had requested had been done, and two, because walking across all that loose rock would have been unsafe.
No one worked Sunday. … Monday and Tuesday I was gone most of both days, shopping for paint colors, etc.
Wednesday morning, I went over to the new house. When I looked out the window to see what they had worked on and saw what they had done, I was totally shocked. They had put the Septic System Treatment Units exactly where I had told them NOT TO PUT THEM! !
This was like “DeJa Vu allover again”. They had pulled the same sort of dirty tricks that Mr. D, the foundation contractor, had. IE: They had done the exact opposite of what I had told them I wanted done
Later, when my Son looked at the installation closely, he saw that the “drip lines” (that carry liquid from the tanks to the surrounding ground) were just a few inches under the surface. … In looking online about this system previously, I had read that those lines were supposed to be 6-8″ below the surface.
My Son called the county inspector, who came out and looked at the lines, which we had measured at 3 and 4 inches. He saw that the lines were 3-4 inches and said to my Son “Oh, that is not good. Those are supposed to 6-8 inches down.” … He told my son: “I’ll talk to Mr. Bennett about it. He’s a nice guy.”
What happened next? … When my Son called to check what the inspector had discussed with Mr. Bennett the County Inspector informed US that WE were “in violation of county code for disturbing the drain field.” How did WE “disturb” the drain field? By moving a little dirt aside to take pictures of the 3-4 inch depth of the drip lines.
Photo 1. … Septic tanks exactly where I had told Mr. Bennett NOT to put them!
Photo 2.. … 3″ drip line.
Photo 3. … 4″ drip line.
Photo 4. … Tree that has already died, due to Mr. Bennett digging too close and injuring the roots.
There will be more too come on Mr. Bennett
1. This is a copy of the original contract I entered into with Tim Bennett. I did so on the recommendation of Mr. Paul Zysk, who was acting as General contractor at that time.
Photo 2
This is a copy of the original deposit to Mr. Bennett.
Photo 3.
This an invoice for the remainder of the Bennett contract. Because of Mr. Bennett putting the System where I told him not to, I asked him to remove the system. He refused. I made him several offers, even offering to pay him the remainder of the contract if he would just take everything out. Again, he refused.
I decided to go ahead and write him a check for the remainder of the Contract, with a notation on it that I was paying under protest, due to him ignoring the County Approved plans, and putting the septic system where it was not designed to go, and where I had told him not to put it.
Photo 4.
Payment for the remainder of the Tim Bennett Contract.
Mr. Bennett has not cashed this check.
Instead of cashing Check # 1093, written on 10-1-2017, which was payment in full for Mr. Bennett’s invoice, Mr. Bennett claims that he was not paid and filed a lien on my property.
He further filed suit against me for the $7,955.51 “plus interest” for a total amount of $10,444.24. Even though he had already been paid in full on 10-1-2017.
When I called Mr. Paul Zysk and talked to him about all the above, Mr Zysk said to me:
“Well, you know if you don’t want to deal with this lawsuit, you can just write Tim a check for that $10,000.”
Outrageous?