Help sink holes filling my yard
I purchased a new construction home that was built in 1999. Last
summer I had a dump truck full of mulch burry itself to it's axles in my front yard. I thought it might have been from the water line to the street and that the dirt was just soft in that area. Now that the snow has melted my back yard (cleared one-acre lot) is riddled with so many sink holes that I am afraid to let my 2 year old daughter walk in the yard. I talked to my neighbor and he said that instead of hauling the trees off the lot they were burried, leaves and all, in 3 or 4 large 20 foot deep holes. Some of these sink holes that recently appeared are 4 feet deep! I can see large indentations in the soil around the sink holes about 12 feet by 15 feet. What can I do? I was thinking of renting a bulldozer to pack down the areas and top it off with fill but I'm afraid I'd sink the dozer. Is it possible for a dozer to get stuck? Is this something best left to professional and if so do I call an excavator or a landscaper, or? Will I have to do this every spring for the next 25 years? So much for pulling the car under a shady tree in the back yard for a wax job! Any insight, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Geo in Cleveland |
Help sink holes filling my yard
I purchased a new construction home that was built in 1999. Last
summer I had a dump truck full of mulch burry itself to it's axles in my front yard. I thought it might have been from the water line to the street and that the dirt was just soft in that area. Now that the snow has melted my back yard (cleared one-acre lot) is riddled with so many sink holes that I am afraid to let my 2 year old daughter walk in the yard. I talked to my neighbor and he said that instead of hauling the trees off the lot they were burried, leaves and all, in 3 or 4 large 20 foot deep holes. Some of these sink holes that recently appeared are 4 feet deep! I can see large indentations in the soil around the sink holes about 12 feet by 15 feet. What can I do? I was thinking of renting a bulldozer to pack down the areas and top it off with fill but I'm afraid I'd sink the dozer. Is it possible for a dozer to get stuck? Is this something best left to professional and if so do I call an excavator or a landscaper, or? Will I have to do this every spring for the next 25 years? So much for pulling the car under a shady tree in the back yard for a wax job! Any insight, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Geo in Cleveland Well, since it sounds as though much of your development will suffer these problems, I would contact a good construction defect litigation firm. This is obviously going to damage your property value, to say nothing of what might happen when these things start opening under parts of your foundation. In other words, the developer ought to bear the costs of putting things right (I don't think you intended to buy an insurance claim). -- The US government wants the power to read citizens' email, but refuses to defend the nation's borders. What's wrong with this picture? |
Help sink holes filling my yard
I purchased a new construction home that was built in 1999. Last summer I
had a dump truck full of mulch bury itself to its axles in my front yard. Now that the snow has melted my back yard (cleared one-acre lot) is riddled with so many sink holes that I am afraid to let my 2 year old daughter walk in the yard. I talked to my neighbor and he said that instead of hauling the trees off the lot they were buried, leaves and all, in 3 or 4 large 20 foot deep holes You need a lawyer. The buried trees will take many years to rot & settle, & you need to make the contractor dig them up. Also, your house may be built over an underground stream. Get an attorney, fast. Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 "If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming train." Robert Lowell (1917-1977) |
Help sink holes filling my yard
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Help sink holes filling my yard
You need a good lawyer, perferably someone who specializes in real estate.
Talk to the local real estate agents who farm your part of town, for recommendations. Buried trees are bad, they attract termites, and rot slowly, so you may be facing problems with sink holes appearing for the next 20 years. Also check to see if the water table in your area has risen, (call the county water district) you maybe on top of a ground water supply that is eroding the soil under your property. I really hope your homeowners covers that, or add flood insurance or something to it soon. As for dozers getting stuck, probably not in the type of hole you describe. Up in BC, Canada, they have a term known as "equipment line" to describe the rows of sequentially larger tractors and bulldozers that get stuck in the mud. One truck gets stuck, so someone gets a tractor, tractor gets stuck, someone gets a larger tractor to pull the first tractor out, second tractor gets stuck as well, someone gets bulldozer by now you get the idea. Sameer "GeorgeR" wrote in message om... I purchased a new construction home that was built in 1999. Last summer I had a dump truck full of mulch burry itself to it's axles in my front yard. I thought it might have been from the water line to the street and that the dirt was just soft in that area. Now that the snow has melted my back yard (cleared one-acre lot) is riddled with so many sink holes that I am afraid to let my 2 year old daughter walk in the yard. I talked to my neighbor and he said that instead of hauling the trees off the lot they were burried, leaves and all, in 3 or 4 large 20 foot deep holes. Some of these sink holes that recently appeared are 4 feet deep! I can see large indentations in the soil around the sink holes about 12 feet by 15 feet. What can I do? I was thinking of renting a bulldozer to pack down the areas and top it off with fill but I'm afraid I'd sink the dozer. Is it possible for a dozer to get stuck? Is this something best left to professional and if so do I call an excavator or a landscaper, or? Will I have to do this every spring for the next 25 years? So much for pulling the car under a shady tree in the back yard for a wax job! Any insight, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Geo in Cleveland |
Help sink holes filling my yard
On Tue, 18 Mar 2003 09:07:53 GMT, "Snooze"
wrote: You need a good lawyer, perferably someone who specializes in real estate. Talk to the local real estate agents who farm your part of town, for recommendations. Buried trees are bad, they attract termites, and rot slowly, so you may be facing problems with sink holes appearing for the next 20 years. Also check to see if the water table in your area has risen, (call the county water district) you maybe on top of a ground water supply that is eroding the soil under your property. I really hope your homeowners covers that, or add flood insurance or something to it soon. As for dozers getting stuck, probably not in the type of hole you describe. Up in BC, Canada, they have a term known as "equipment line" to describe the rows of sequentially larger tractors and bulldozers that get stuck in the mud. One truck gets stuck, so someone gets a tractor, tractor gets stuck, someone gets a larger tractor to pull the first tractor out, second tractor gets stuck as well, someone gets bulldozer by now you get the idea. Sameer "GeorgeR" wrote in message . com... I purchased a new construction home that was built in 1999. Last summer I had a dump truck full of mulch burry itself to it's axles in my front yard. I thought it might have been from the water line to the street and that the dirt was just soft in that area. Now that the snow has melted my back yard (cleared one-acre lot) is riddled with so many sink holes that I am afraid to let my 2 year old daughter walk in the yard. I talked to my neighbor and he said that instead of hauling the trees off the lot they were burried, leaves and all, in 3 or 4 large 20 foot deep holes. Some of these sink holes that recently appeared are 4 feet deep! I can see large indentations in the soil around the sink holes about 12 feet by 15 feet. What can I do? I was thinking of renting a bulldozer to pack down the areas and top it off with fill but I'm afraid I'd sink the dozer. Is it possible for a dozer to get stuck? Is this something best left to professional and if so do I call an excavator or a landscaper, or? Will I have to do this every spring for the next 25 years? So much for pulling the car under a shady tree in the back yard for a wax job! Any insight, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Geo in Cleveland If the trees were buried 20 feet deep they will not rot due to a lack of oxygen. I have seen such trees and stumps dug up and they look like they were just cut. What has probably happened is that there were air pockets trapped when the holes were backfilled. Eventually, the soil will fill the pockets resulting in a depression at the surface. The easiest fix is to bring in new fill and smooth everything off again. If the pockets have been filled the problem will be over. If not, it will likely recur. I had a 2 acre lot cleared and we buried most of the stumps. That was 11 years ago and I have one sink hole. But it is a beaut! My garden and orchard now occupy that space. I put the bee hives in front of the hole as no one will ever go there anyway. JMHO John |
Help sink holes filling my yard
I'm not arguing that the trees could be causing the problem, but you didn't
mention if you were on a septic system or not. Do you have septic lines running there? When I hear sink holes, my first thought is a water line somewhere leaking. But then my husband's a plumber so that would be my first though. grin "GeorgeR" wrote in message om... I purchased a new construction home that was built in 1999. Last summer I had a dump truck full of mulch burry itself to it's axles in my front yard. I thought it might have been from the water line to the street and that the dirt was just soft in that area. Now that the snow has melted my back yard (cleared one-acre lot) is riddled with so many sink holes that I am afraid to let my 2 year old daughter walk in the yard. I talked to my neighbor and he said that instead of hauling the trees off the lot they were burried, leaves and all, in 3 or 4 large 20 foot deep holes. Some of these sink holes that recently appeared are 4 feet deep! I can see large indentations in the soil around the sink holes about 12 feet by 15 feet. What can I do? I was thinking of renting a bulldozer to pack down the areas and top it off with fill but I'm afraid I'd sink the dozer. Is it possible for a dozer to get stuck? Is this something best left to professional and if so do I call an excavator or a landscaper, or? Will I have to do this every spring for the next 25 years? So much for pulling the car under a shady tree in the back yard for a wax job! Any insight, suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Geo in Cleveland |
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