Think you've been inconvenienced by I-15 reconstruction?
You haven't talked to the folks on the west side of Argyle Court in Salt Lake City.The settlement of an earthen retaining wall turned life upside down for four families on Argyle Court (640 West and about 300 North).
Beginning in January, residents noticed cracks in their walls, windows and driveways. Their garages even were separating from their homes as the weight of the 30-foot-high mound caused their backyards to sink toward it.
The effects of settlement were bad enough. But then in March, the homeowners endured three weeks of invasive repair work as a subcontractor installed structural underpinnings and took other steps to prevent further damage to the homes.
To complete that work, crews had to tear up backyards, driveways and even garage flooring, forcing homeowners to cope with a quagmire of mud and dirt.
"My wife was having a hard time with dirt getting tracked into the house and putting up with the trucks in the backyard," said David Hall, one of the homeowners affected by the work.
Residents complain they lost time from their jobs, their homes were left unsecured while they were gone, they had to keep their animals in kennels or inside their homes, which caused more problems. They also say their children may have suffered hearing loss.
"We've had to keep our dogs indoors so everybody has ruined carpeting, and it's just been one thing after another," said another resident whose name is Sherri. The Deseret News agreed not to use the family's last name, not because of the housing problem but because of employment in law enforcement. "They've dug up our lawns, they've damaged the siding. My dog has destroyed everything (inside). . . . We were living in a mud pit.
"We couldn't even go outside. The noise was like nothing you'd ever heard. They (workers) all had ear protection."
Wasatch Constructors, the I-15 reconstruction contractor hired by the Utah Department of Transportation to rebuild 17 miles of the freeway, paid to have the one family's carpet and couch cleaned.
Wasatch also promises to repair all of the cosmetic damage and any remaining structural problems when the settlement is complete. That should be sometime in August, according to Wasatch spokesman Brian Mauldwin.
But the four families aren't taking anything for granted. They plan to pool their money for an independent assessment of the damage. They've also hired an attorney and prepared a document outlining their demands.
"From what (the attorney) says, it sounds pretty good," said Hall, who wants to be sure his home's damaged siding, walls and light fixtures are fixed. "He can basically get whatever he needs to get us, just by sending (Wasatch) a paper."
Sherri's husband isn't so sure. He definitely doesn't want to take Wasatch's word that repairs will be completed. He and wife feel, too, that they deserve some cash compensation for putting up with the burden of I-15 reconstruction.
"I just don't trust those guys as far as I can throw 'em," he said. "It's not like we're asking for the world here. We're just asking for reasonable compensation."
Mauldwin said such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. He said if the family believes it deserves payment for being inconvenienced - something beyond what Wasatch will spend to restore their property - the contractor will consider it.
Mauldwin characterized the Argyle Court ground settlement not as a bad situation but rather as a good example of how a forward-looking contractor and state agency took proactive measures to prevent what could have been a more severe problem.
A team of Wasatch and UDOT employees, Mauldwin said, identified the neighborhood as an area where settlement could be an issue long before the problems surfaced. They made regular contact with residents by mail and through neighborhood meetings to keep them informed, he said.
"Wasatch was committed and is committed to providing appropriate mitigation for the residents as a result of any settlement that might have occurred in connection with the adjacent construction," Mauldwin said. "From a project perspective, we feel comfortable that we have been responsible."
For the Halls, Jim and Janet Fisher, and Linda Hanson-Dorst and Gary Dorst, the worst appears to be over. The settlement has decreased. Wasatch only monitors it monthly now, and by the end of the summer the neighborhood could be back to normal.
For the moment, residents have only an unfinished retaining wall that is closer to their homes than they expected. Along with tiny backyards, they are left with big worries - that it could take a long legal fight to get what they feel is fair or that they'll never get back what they lost.