Ugh, another homeowner rant.

[Kingcreek]

I’m too old to do concrete and I didn’t like it much when I could. I hired a contractor to take out the old and replace a patio (28x14) poor a new pad at our main entrance (6x8) and poor a new sidewalk going to it. Agreed on a price.
They started bringing equipment in late yesterday afternoon for a morning start today. I’ve been waiting over 2 months I would have liked a phone call giving me a little notice when they were actually coming but that’s minor.
Nobody was there when I left for work so I decided to skip my lunchtime swim and go home to check on it. The old patio was on the dump truck, the sod was up and everything graded by bobcat. 2 guys finishing up ready to leave because of the heat.
They walked me over to the new front entrance and pointed out a stump I had paid to have ground out a year or 2 ago, right in the middle of the sidewalk.
The guy that took down the tree and ground the stump just took it to ground level and put an inch of dirt over it. Concrete guy says we’re gonna have to poor this high so the pad will be halfway up the bottom step. Iow the first step going up with be 3.5” and the next 3 will be 7”.
NO I say. My only choice is to call the stump grinder and beg him to come grind it, again. He says well ok, maybe next week. I say no, I need it gone by tomorrow morning when the forms go in.
He says I’ll see what I can do…
I have a headache.

[Ben]

How big is the stump? If you're not sure the stump guy will get it, if you can have the concrete guys dig down around it while they're there, you can burn it out.

I had to do that with about a 14" stump that was in my cow alley way and was getting in the way of my ATVs. I dug down about 6" below grade, threw one of those galvanized fire rings around it, filled the thing with wood, and me and the dog hung out and had a campfire. The next morning, the stump was ash and charcoal bits, easily busted up.

[Kingcreek]

It from a black walnut that was 22” but the stump base now exposed is about 2’x3’.
I couldn’t burn it out by tomorrow morning even with my propane dragon. I could have my wife hold a Coleman lantern while I dig and axe at it all night.
The guy tried with his tracksteer but he couldn’t get under it. I thought when they grind stumps they always go a few inches down.

[RocketMan]

I sliced up a dogwood stump with a small chainsaw a month or so ago.  Cut vertical slices in it about three inches deep in a crosshatch pattern.  Busted out the exposed chunks with a three pound hand sledge.  The stump was only about 12 inches in diameter, and took me about an hour to get it a couple inches below grade.
Would that technique work for you if you scaled up to fit your larger stump?

[Kingcreek]

I sliced up a dogwood stump with a small chainsaw a month or so ago.  Cut vertical slices in it about three inches deep in a crosshatch pattern.  Busted out the exposed chunks with a three pound hand sledge.  The stump was only about 12 inches in diameter, and took me about an hour to get it a couple inches below grade.
Would that technique work for you if you scaled up to fit your larger stump?

I could wreck a hood saw chain which goes over $50 now. But I won’t have to.
I came home to find the stump ground 10-12” below grade. I feel it should have been better done the first time but I appreciate him dropping everything and getting out here 5 hours or less since I called him. I don’t know what he’ll charge me, if anything. I think I’ll try to find him tomorrow face to face. If I have cash in my pocket maybe we can settle it to everyone’s satisfaction.
Either way, concrete crew will be here early in the morning. They will have to grade some more and put rock base down and compact it as well as set forms. I’m assuming concrete is coming morning after tomorrow.
I don’t fault the concrete guys but if I hadn’t come to check at noon I might not have found out until tonight or after forms were set.
I’m kind of picky, I know, but a flight of steps should all be equal in height. Any shallow or deeper step is a fall hazard and visually disturbing.

[JTHunter]

Good luck with the pour !! 

[Hawkmoon]

I’m kind of picky, I know, but a flight of steps should all be equal in height. Any shallow or deeper step is a fall hazard and visually disturbing.

And for that very reason, any variation in riser height that exceeds 3/8 of an inch is a code violation.

[Bogie]

Have 'em pour so that there's a fire ring spot there. Done.

[Kingcreek]

Update
I called the stump guy at 12:30 and begged him to grind it out before next morning. Got home at 6pm and stump is gone good and deep. Yay. Concrete work progresses on schedule.
Yesterday I called the tree and stump guy and his phone goes to voicemail. I tracked him to a job in town as he was climbing off an excavator. He barked “what do you want?” (Bad sign)
I just thanked him profusely (even though I thought it should have been ground lower the first time but I was at his mercy) and asked him what the damages would be. After a pause he said “ah,..50 bucks”
Cash ok? Sure. Done.
They arrived before 6am to pour today and I’m happy with what I saw before leaving for work.

[Kingcreek]

I have mixed feelings.
The concrete looks good. I really don’t like picking up cigarette butts and a crushed Mountain Dew can left behind.
They took my steps and risers off the front porch as a unit. I went to put them back on today and realized that they didn’t bother to crawl under the porch to get to the screws I couldn’t reach. They busted the tops off on 4 out of 5 risers. I know they didn’t really want to mess with them but I didn’t find out until the night before they were coming. They probably needed to be replaced soon anyway but I wasn’t planning on doing it all just yet. Im glad I removed the vinyl handrail or they might have used hammer removal method on it too.

[JTHunter]

I have mixed feelings.
The concrete looks good. I really don’t like picking up cigarette butts and a crushed Mountain Dew can left behind.
They took my steps and risers off the front porch as a unit. I went to put them back on today and realized that they didn’t bother to crawl under the porch to get to the screws I couldn’t reach. They busted the tops off on 4 out of 5 risers. I know they didn’t really want to mess with them but I didn’t find out until the night before they were coming. They probably needed to be replaced soon anyway but I wasn’t planning on doing it all just yet. Im glad I removed the vinyl handrail or they might have used hammer removal method on it too.

      

[Hawkmoon]

Concrete workers aren't noted for their finesse.