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Spent 2 full days trying to fix a drainage problem on a simple slab pour

Last week I had a job pouring a 10x12 patio slab. Simple stuff, right? But the ground had a weird low spot that kept filling with water every time we prepped. I kept thinking a little grading would fix it, but after 16 hours of messing with it across two days, I finally just called in a mini excavator for 90 bucks and dug a proper French drain. Has anyone else wasted way too long fighting a simple issue before just throwing the right tool at it?
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2 Comments
holly_price
Right on. The way that snowballs from a tiny thing you think you can handle into a whole day wasted is real. It's almost like your brain locks onto the cheap fix and refuses to let go, even when the ground is laughing at you. I have a similar story with a retaining wall. Spent three weekends trying to level it with hand tampers and gravel, never got it right. Then I rented a plate compactor for like 40 bucks and had it solid in an hour. Sometimes the right tool just makes the job go from a headache to a done deal.
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anthony_jenkins61
Plate compactor was the wake up call I needed too. Game changer.
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