"Why do I see a large sinkhole in my yard now?" Sinkholes can appear in newly built homes 5-10 years after the construction is completed. These holes form gradually, but can appear in the lawn overnight. Sinkholes typically develop where construction crews have buried scrap lumber, trash, trees, or other decaying materials. Another cause may be from the removal of a tree in the yard within the last few years. Stumps, even if ground up professionally, may settle and leave a sink hole.
What To Do
If you have a sink hole in your yard, inspect it carefully to determine if the problem is from an old tree, construction debris, or something else. Before doing any investigating or digging in or around the sinkhole, call 811 to get all the utility lines marked in the area. Once the utility lines are marked, take a flashlight, a shovel, and a probe to inspect the cavity carefully. Enlarge the sinkhole with a shovel taking time to look with a flashlight and probe the sides and the bottom of the sinkhole. If the sides and bottom of the hole are solid, the sinkhole most likely came from someone burying materials there or from an old tree stump decaying.
If you find an irrigation pipe, a sewer pipe, or a septic tank line in or nearby the settling, a break in the line may have caused the sinkhole. Rainwater might have washed soil into the broken pipe. As the soil is taken away, more soil washes in, and the ground above sinks. If you are unsure how to handle these broken lines, contact a landscape professional , plumber, or local municipal authority before proceeding any further.
Treating Sinkholes
1. Confirm the location of buried utility lines before any digging is done. 811 provides this service free for lines installed by the utility companies.
2. Expand the sink hole opening. Confirm decaying materials are the problem and remove and remaining materials in the area. If the materials are not removed, you can expect future sink holes in the area. Large materials may require professional help.
3. Once the sink hole is clean, begin filling the hole by adding loose fill soil in 8" layers. Pack the soil firmly by walking over the layer several times. Repeat this process until the sinkhole is filled to original grade.
4. After filling the sinkhole to grade level, establish grass or a ground cover plant in the area. It's best to wait on planting any large heavy trees or large shrubs for a few years until the settling has been solved.
"Why do I see a large sinkhole in my yard now?" Sinkholes can appear in newly built homes 5-10 years after the construction is completed. These holes form gradually, but can appear in the lawn overnight. Sinkholes typically develop where construction crews have buried scrap lumber, trash, trees, or other decaying materials. Another cause may be from the removal of a tree in the yard within the last few years. Stumps, even if ground up professionally, may settle and leave a sink hole.
What To Do
If you have a sink hole in your yard, inspect it carefully to determine if the problem is from an old tree, construction debris, or something else. Before doing any investigating or digging in or around the sinkhole, call 811 to get all the utility lines marked in the area. Once the utility lines are marked, take a flashlight, a shovel, and a probe to inspect the cavity carefully. Enlarge the sinkhole with a shovel taking time to look with a flashlight and probe the sides and the bottom of the sinkhole. If the sides and bottom of the hole are solid, the sinkhole most likely came from someone burying materials there or from an old tree stump decaying.
If you find an irrigation pipe, a sewer pipe, or a septic tank line in or nearby the settling, a break in the line may have caused the sinkhole. Rainwater might have washed soil into the broken pipe. As the soil is taken away, more soil washes in, and the ground above sinks. If you are unsure how to handle these broken lines, contact a landscape professional , plumber, or local municipal authority before proceeding any further.
Treating Sinkholes
1. Confirm the location of buried utility lines before any digging is done. 811 provides this service free for lines installed by the utility companies.
2. Expand the sink hole opening. Confirm decaying materials are the problem and remove and remaining materials in the area. If the materials are not removed, you can expect future sink holes in the area. Large materials may require professional help.
3. Once the sink hole is clean, begin filling the hole by adding loose fill soil in 8" layers. Pack the soil firmly by walking over the layer several times. Repeat this process until the sinkhole is filled to original grade.
4. After filling the sinkhole to grade level, establish grass or a ground cover plant in the area. It's best to wait on planting any large heavy trees or large shrubs for a few years until the settling has been solved.
Would this treatment information also be true for a large sinkhole–well over 6 ft in diameter and over 1 ft deep? (It’s difficult to measure.) It appeared rather suddenly in my back yard and expanded over about a month or so from an initial small spot to this much larger hole. Where I live in Houston, Texas, we have gumbo soil that does a lot of expanding and contracting in response to heavy rains and droughts. I’d really like to correct it, because my yard is nicely landscaped and used, and this hole presents a bit of danger where someone could step off the brick path at one edge of it. Thank you for any help you can give me.