Our custom home's geothermal loop field turned into a 4-month nightmare

The plan was a simple vertical closed loop for our heating and cooling system. The driller hit solid granite 80 feet down and had to stop. We spent three weeks getting new permits for a horizontal field instead, which meant clearing an extra half acre we hadn't budgeted for. The excavator then found an old, unmapped septic tank from the 1950s buried in that exact spot. Dealing with the health department and a hazmat crew to remove it added another six weeks of delays and $12,000 in unexpected costs. Has anyone else had their site prep blow up this badly, and how did you handle the cost overruns?

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the_christopher5mo ago

Ever check for old utility maps first?

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caleb_ross125mo ago

Old utility maps are a good start, but they're often wrong. I was on a job in Oak Park last year where the maps showed a gas line five feet off. We still had to pothole everything by hand. The real lesson is that maps are just one piece of the puzzle, not a guarantee. You need to physically verify with a vacuum truck or hand digging before any big equipment rolls in.

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andrew_rodriguez5mo ago

Used to think site prep was just digging holes, but @the_christopher is right about checking old maps. Your story is a brutal lesson in that.

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