Father Knows Best wasn't just the title of a popular radio and television series.

It's not too late. But if your contract isn't explicit on what was to be done with the excavated material you may be out of luck.

Unless your contract called out for sodding or seeding (or other restoration of the landscaping) to restore the yard, you are on your own.

thanks...my contract didn't specify if or how the dirt was to be removed. but i would assume removal of several tons of dirt would be part of what's included. my question is that shouldn't the contractor have asked me if or how we wanted the dirt removed instead of pummelling my lawn with it (aka spreading the dirt all over my once beautiful lawn and then packing it in)??? they didn't just leave the mounds of dirt there they purposfully spread it out amongst my lawn. my question was related to if something like this (grading type of issue) is common practice when building an addition. leveling the ground off/grading it around the new structure. and if not, shouldn't the contractor have either removed the mounds of dirt or given us the option to?

When we added a porch, the landscaping work was not included. We needed to have some largish rocks moved out of the way so the skirt of the porch would be level along the bottom, and we did that ourselves.

I think it would have been "nice" to ask if you wanted to pay extra to have the extra dirt removed, but it's not standard procedure.

Removing several tons of dirt would likely have blown your entire budget. It is usual to regrade the dirt (over your yard) to save on that expense if it is possible to do (some places don't allow changes of grade).

We had a large addition done 2 years ago, and our backyard is still recovering.