Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 07, 2011 9:02 pm Hi There After the ridiculous amount of rain we had in the western suburbs of Melbourne over the weekend, we now are owners of a large sinkhole in the backyard. Currently it is maybe 70cms or so in diameter, but if you look under the lip, it extends 2 metres (possibly more!) in one direction. It is about a metre from our back fence, 30cms from the side fence and we have an easement line across the back fence also. First thing springs to mind is when they put the council pipes in under the easement line, they did not pack it back in properly when they refilled it. So what are my options here? Is this a council problem? How would I prove it to be their problem? Any advice would be super Re: Sinkhole formed in backyard - who is liable? 2Feb 07, 2011 9:20 pm The pipe could either be Sewerage for City West Water or Drainage for the council. I would contact both. If its a new estate it may be the developers responsibility but either the council or City West Water should be doing the chasing. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Sinkhole formed in backyard - who is liable? 3Feb 07, 2011 9:44 pm That pipe is leaking not just under compacted. Where you are coming from is where you are going to... Re: Sinkhole formed in backyard - who is liable? 4Aug 29, 2011 5:09 pm Hi all Sorry for not posting an update to this, we've been overseas and I've changed jobs, which has taken over my life. Ok, well we ended up contacting the council, yarra water, and the developer of our estate (Dennis) over and over and over again. It ended up wit Dennis to deal with, and we had a few people come out to check it out (3mths later...). According to them, there were a "couple" of blocks on the estate that also had some "minor" sinkhole problems. Developer and eavesment line contractors came out and agreed that due to the huge amount of rainfall since Feb, the compacting of the soil above the piping was never going to hold the waters weight many times over in such a short period of time. They cannto compact it to heavily or there is a risk the pipes will crack. Blah Blah So the hole ended up being filled with soil and we've had no problems since. I did find out via our neighbours that almost evey second house in our stage has had sinkhole problems (some across the entire back fence line), and some poor couple on the corner spent $4k on decking and landscaping which fell.... So clearly we didn't have it that bad compared to others. Contact me if you need specific details Re: Sinkhole formed in backyard - who is liable? 5Sep 15, 2023 5:22 pm mortgage2009 Hi all Sorry for not posting an update to this, we've been overseas and I've changed jobs, which has taken over my life. Ok, well we ended up contacting the council, yarra water, and the developer of our estate (Dennis) over and over and over again. It ended up wit Dennis to deal with, and we had a few people come out to check it out (3mths later...). According to them, there were a "couple" of blocks on the estate that also had some "minor" sinkhole problems. Developer and eavesment line contractors came out and agreed that due to the huge amount of rainfall since Feb, the compacting of the soil above the piping was never going to hold the waters weight many times over in such a short period of time. They cannto compact it to heavily or there is a risk the pipes will crack. Blah Blah So the hole ended up being filled with soil and we've had no problems since. I did find out via our neighbours that almost evey second house in our stage has had sinkhole problems (some across the entire back fence line), and some poor couple on the corner spent $4k on decking and landscaping which fell.... So clearly we didn't have it that bad compared to others. Contact me if you need specific details Hi, Thank you for sharing this, you probably won’t believe someone me will have the same issue as your in 2023, 12 years later. Could you please let me know who would actually worth to contact? My house like 5 years old and same as your has a sink hole next to the council pipe. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! We bought one for less than a quarter of that price off eBay. It worked really well for us and it's still going now, five years later. After… 1 16716 It's possible but a soak well is usually much larger. Your 'soak well' only holds 424 litres when full. What is your soil type? Soak wells need sandy soils. 10 9013 Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24873 |