A Hole or Sunken Spot Opened Up in My Yard
A sudden depression or an open hole in a lawn or drive is usually soil washed out by a leaking pipe or a collapsed drain line. Keep clear and get it located.
A spot in the lawn that's suddenly six inches lower than yesterday. A hole that appeared after a storm. A trench line that has been sinking for years and finally gave way. The Kitsap Peninsula doesn't have the limestone that makes true sinkholes; what we have are pipes. Water from a leaking service line, a broken drain line or an old septic component washes fine soil away underground until the surface can't bridge the void and drops.
The first thing is safety. A sunken spot over a washed-out trench can keep collapsing, and the ground around it is loose. Keep people, pets and vehicles off it and put a cone or a chair on it. The second thing is not to fill it in and hope, because whatever washed the soil out is still running, and the hole will be back.
We find out what's under it. The meter test says whether a pressurized line is losing water. If so, acoustic locating finds the break, which may or may not be directly under the hole. If the meter is still, it's a gravity drain, a downspout line, an old dry well or septic component, and we trace and probe to find it. Then we open the ground at the cause, fix it, backfill in compacted lifts, and the surface stays put.
What it usually means
A leaking water service line washing out the trench
The most common cause on a sunken trench line. The meter moves with the house isolated.
A collapsed or separated drain line
Old clay tile or crushed corrugated pipe lets water wash soil into the pipe and away. Shows up after storms.
An old dry well, cesspool or septic component
Older properties have forgotten structures that eventually cave. Common in Indianola, Keyport, Manchester and older Bremerton.
Poorly compacted backfill from an earlier dig
A trench that was dumped full and never compacted settles for years. Annoying but not dangerous once it stops.
What to check first
- Keep everyone off it and mark it.
- Do the meter test.
- Don't fill it until the cause is known.
- Note whether it appeared after rain or in dry weather.
When to call
- The hole is growing
- It's near a foundation, driveway or slope
- The meter moves
- You want it located and fixed, not just filled
The fix
When it's a buried line or an exterior drain, the fix is underground Water Leak Detection: we locate first, open the ground once, repair or replace, and put the surface back. One crew, 24 hours a day. (206) 354-9906.
What it looks like when we find it
Sinkhole or sunken spot, town by town
The likely causes shift with the ground, the housing era and the water utility. Pick your community.
Bremerton
The shipyard city's older galvanized lines fail quietly and show up as a wet lawn or a water bill nobody can explain.
Silverdale
The 1980s and 90s subdivision boom around the mall left thousands of polybutylene service lines that are now failing on schedule.
Port Orchard
The county seat's hillside lots and clay soils turn small leaks into slope problems, and long rural runs hide breaks for months.
Poulsbo
Little Norway's mix of century-old downtown lines and fast-draining bay-side outwash means leaks hide well and fail suddenly.
Bainbridge Island
Clay soils and 500-foot driveways make island leaks slow to surface and expensive to guess at, which is why we locate before we dig.
Kingston
Ferry-town acreage with long wooded service runs where a leak can hide under hardpan for an entire winter.
Keyport
A century-old Navy village with short lots, old lines and shoreline clay that keeps everything damp.
Tracyton
Bluff-side lots over Dyes Inlet where seeps and springs make it easy to mistake groundwater for a leak and vice versa.
Hansville
Beach cabins at the tip of the peninsula with shallow lines, high water tables and a long drive for anyone who isn't already in Kitsap.
Indianola
A century-old summer colony where shared lines, easements and bluff clay make leaks a neighborhood puzzle.
Suquamish
Two utilities, mixed-era housing and Agate Pass shoreline clay in the heart of the Port Madison reservation.
Manchester
Rich Passage waterfront lots where the service line runs downhill and every leak finds the beach.
Enetai
East Bremerton's bluff-side neighborhood where mid-century copper lines fail on slopes that drain toward the bay.
Lofall
Rural acreage between Poulsbo and the Hood Canal Bridge where well lines run hundreds of feet through hardpan.
Olalla
Well country at the south end of Kitsap where a leaking line shows up as a pump that won't shut off.
Seabeck
Hood Canal forest parcels where boulders, hardpan and long well lines make guessing at a leak an expensive mistake.
East Port Orchard
South Kitsap's 1970s and 80s subdivisions where copper and poly lines are reaching the end of their run.
Rollingbay
The northeast corner of Bainbridge where clay slopes, long drives and small community systems keep leaks hidden for seasons.
Port Townsend
A Victorian seaport where 1890s service lines sit under historic sidewalks and the gravity pipeline from the Quilcene delivers the water.
Questions
Is it dangerous?
What fixes it
Underground Water Leak Detection
Acoustic and correlator leak detection that pinpoints a buried water line break before anyone digs.
Read more →
Exterior Drain Line Repair
Dig out and replace collapsed, crushed, root-bound or clay exterior drain lines and yard drains.
Read more →
Water Line Repair
Spot repair of a broken or leaking underground water service line, from excavation to restoration.
Read more →Something underground isn't right?
We answer 24 hours a day. We locate before we dig, and we handle the whole job with our own crew and equipment.