Topsoil can help you establish vegetation. Before planting, you may want to lay down a few inches of topsoil or potting soil above the filled area.Allow the area to sit for a month or two to ensure that a new sinkhole does not form. Ground should slope away from foundation walls, ideally with a grade of 5% over a length of 10 feet. Remember to make sure the land slopes away from the foundation so that water does not pool next to foundation walls. You may want to overfill the hole since the fill soil may compact and settle over time. Continue this process until the depression is flush with the ground.Shovel a few inches of the fill soil into the bottom of the depression and compact it thoroughly with a soil tamper. If you do, water will trickle through the gaps in the gravel and create an even deeper cavity underneath. Do not use gravel or rock as a fill material. Incrementally fill the depression with fill soil that has a high amount of clay and low amount of sand.Try to determine the extent of the hole by careful excavation and probing.Remove any trash, grass or other debris from the depression. Over several years, the soil settles and causes a depression or hole. Sinkholes occurring near outside walls or under outdoor staircases usually develop because the soil along the structure was poorly compacted. Sinkholes Near Outside Walls or Under Stairs » Sinkhole Near Structures, Stairs or Walkways 1. Choose One: Where is the Sinkhole? The Sinkhole is Near Structures, Outdoor Stairs or Walkways. If you think the sinkhole may be contaminated, as may be the case with old underground storage tanks, contact the Fairfax County Health Department (70, TTY 711) and/or an environmental remediation firm. Landscaping companies should be able to do most jobs.
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If you are at all nervous about repairing a sinkhole yourself, hire a professional to do the work for you. The deeper the hole and the steeper the walls are, the greater the danger of collapse.
Never enter a sinkhole that is deeper than chest height. Collapse of the sinkhole walls can lead to injury or death. How deep is it? How wide is it? Is there a solid floor?īe very careful when examining or working in sinkholes. Before any remediation work is done, the extent and cause of the sinkhole should be determined.įirst, use a probe to investigate the hole. In many cases, sinkholes can be repaired by the homeowner. They can have various shapes and sizes and can grow or deepen either slowly or rapidly. Sinkholes may occur along outside walls or in the lawn or garden. Since homeowners commonly call them sinkholes, we will also. These voids can become so large that the soil and grass “roof” sinks or collapses to form large holes. However, water can burrow through loose layers of soil or poorly compacted areas to create underground voids. True sinkholes are formed in areas with limestone rock and karst geology, which can be found elsewhere in Virginia, but not in our region. In Fairfax County, these depressions technically are not real sinkholes. Depressions often develop in suburban yards.