How do I ask for free dirt?

[Algeria Horan]

Over the years, I have seen people put signs up giving away free dirt, but now when I want some, I don't know where to find it.

I have a long-term need for free "decent" dirt, and by decent I just mean not filled with trees, concrete, junk, or whatever.

It does not have to be top soil, which I think is the cream of the crop, and I doubt that would be free anyway.

It has to be delivered, and they can probably dump 100 to 500 huge trucks worth, and I would still need more for what I want to do.

It's not a critical project, so it's not worth my paying for. It's also not in a location where many people travel so a sign won't reach out very far.

If I put an ad in craigslist, I am not sure what to ask for.

Is just 'free dirt' enough? Or does the type of dirt I want have a name that the people who need to get rid of theirs needs to know (I don't want junky dirt, for example).

[Moe DeLoughan]

"Clean fill wanted". Specify you don't want to pay for it and it must debris free, must be delivered.

[Stormin' Norman]

Ask for "Clean Fill"

If there are any large construction projects in your area, you can stop and talk to the site supervisor and ask if they need to dispose of any surplus clean fill. Most projects either need clean fill or need to dispose of it.

A couple of years ago we developed a five acre site we have owned for many years here on the coast. We had to get rid of 70,000 yards (a lot of dirt), we found a developer who was building a local shopping center and he needed 100,000 yards. We struck a deal, we split the transportation costs and it worked out well for both parties. If we hadn't been able to work it out, we would have had to send it to the local dump which would have cost a fortune.

It is all about timing.

[gfretwell]

A lot depends on where you live. In SW Florida I had an excavation contractor dig my in ground pool, back fill, regrade the yard and haul away the dirt, for the dirt.

[TomR]

I agree in general. Always keep checking the local construction projects. They are often looking for a close-by place to dump the fill dirt for free.

Also, go to the "For Sale" section of your local Craigslist website and do a search for "fill dirt" (without the quotation marks). You will see lots of ads -- some are free, some want money, some will also deliver for free, etc. And, keep checking every week because new ads pop up all the time. For example, one such ad just popped up in my area about a week ago wanting to deliver free fill dirt on October 24 when they were going to be doing excavating.

As far as your Craigslist ad, I would say to just state Fill Dirt Wanted (or Free Fill Dirt Wanted) in the title along with a town location in the title. Don't add other words in the title -- just those words and the town location. Craigslist allows you to put a map location in your ad, so you could add that along with a marker on the map showing the general location.

And, of course, include in the text of the ad that you want it delivered for free along with any other info about HOW it can be delivered. For example, many times the dirt delivery option is via Tri-Axle Truck (as seen in many of the Craigslist "Fill Dirt" ads). Most Tri-Axle Truck deliverers do not want to go over curbs or sidewalks etc. to make the delivery because they do not want the liability for any damage caused by the heavy vehicles. So, if your delivery of free dirt won't involve them have to worry about that, it would be a plus.

[Algeria Horan]

There is a local pool company, lifetime pools, which I think I can ask them.

Thanks for the great idea!

[Algeria Horan]

I don't think I want to pay because it's just that I want to fill in a big hollow that isn't hurting anything being a hollow, but it could take fifty of those big trucks and barely make a dent.

So I'll just have it filled in, over time, which will take decades, but my point is that I can take all the "clean fill" they got. The main problem is gonna be spreading it around, if a lot of trucks come, as I don't have a dozer.

Anyway, if I do end up paying, what's a good rate for clean fill? (I probably won't pay - but I'm just curious in case it comes up.)

That sounds like a great idea to keep it simple and allow a map to show where it is since their cost is in the driving, and I live out of the way on a long 5 mile dead end road.

Oh oh. It's a one-lane windy road. Trucks go up and down all the time, even big cement trucks, but it's not even painted in the middle with the line, it's that narrow. Cars have to pull to the side to let a truck go by.

So the tri-axle may be too big. I think a neighbor got 12 cubic feet at a time though, and that was ok, so is a 12 cubic foot truck big or small as these things go?

[Algeria Horan]

I know of a construction site over in San Jose by the airport, right across the street, next to the new stadium. I saw huge piles of dirt there today as I shopped at Costco just down the road.

I tried to find a "foreman" but I only had a few minutes and they couldn't find him but I'll try again.

Thanks for that idea.

[Algeria Horan]

Ah, that's what I needed, cuz I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

Clean Fill, free, delivered.

That's pretty much it.

Oh, and I'll take all they got.

Does Craiglist work for such things?

[Stormin' Norman]

You can also go down to the building department to identify the owner of the property. I think you are going to have the best luck with a project in the grading phase. If they have made huge piles of dirt, that makes it sound like they have a use for it, otherwise they would have gotten rid of it when they dug it up. It is much cheaper to move the material only once, scrape it up, put it in a truck and be done with it.

[Algeria Horan]

Thanks. I thought about using crud at the bottom, but if I can get "the good stuff", I don't see why I'd want chunks of concrete even if they're covered by a layer of good stuff.

But if I did go for the cruddy stuff, what do you call that officially? Is it called "dirty fill" as you quoted?

Or does it have a different name?

[Stormin' Norman]

Here is an explanation of the categories of fill:

Personally, I would stay far away from demolition material.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Perhaps you should talk to a pro about it. How deep is the area to be filled? What is the best fill for your situation? What is the use of the area filled going to be? Are wetlands involved? Will it divert water flow? Drainage?

You won't want organic stuff that will rot over time and possibly contaminate groundwater. It will decompose and make potential sink holes. While you say you don't want concrete slab, they are stable and may make the ground better over time.

You may be able to do whatever you like but you may have DEP restrictions that could get you big fines if you screw up.

[Algeria Horan]

Interesting the six categories!

Demolition Materials Mulch, Manure, Compost and Other Recyclables Rock (larger than a football) Sand, Gravel, and Small Rocks Organic Clean Topsoil Inorganic Clean Fill Dirt (most common type of free fill)

[gfretwell]

Around here you can get concrete demo material that will have little of anything but concrete and rebar. I imagine they will drop 10 yard dumpsters there for free. They pay a lot to tip it. If you mixed that in with fill dirt it would be somewhat decent fill but you will have some subsiding as time goes by if you do not fill the gaps with dirt as you add it in. You would need some kind of machine to do this. If anyone wants to dig it up later it will be a nightmare, sort of a mini Oak Island.

[Algeria Horan]

It's more than fifty feet deep from the top to the bottom but it will NEVER be filled. All I want to do is make the edges flatter by about 10 feet maybe. There is a dirt track that curves around the edge that is just wide enough for a big truck.

They could dump in the track and I could spread it out along the sides. It would take ten truck loads alone (I'm guessing how much) just to make a visible dent.

Basically, instead of having the side of the dirt track drop off steeply, I just want it to drop off less steeply. It's about 500 feet long so there are too steep areas and not too steep areas, so, we'd approach it in a slow phased manner.

If I get, in the end, a few feet along the side of the track to walk, I'm fine with that. It's impossible to fill the depression, but that's why I said it could take all the fill they can carry.

[Paintedcow]

Most people ask WITH THEIR MOUTH or ORAL CAVITY !!!

[hrhofmann]

If by filling the area in, you cause an increase in rain-water runoff, or runoff at a faster rate, you might be liable for damages to downstream properties if you do not get permits, approvals, etc, from the correct governing authorities.

[Dean Hoffman]

That leads to another question. Does this big hollow ever hold water? You might be surprised what the Feds call a wetland.

[Algeria Horan]

Freecycle is new to me. Thanks!