Sinkhole or sunken spot in Lofall, WA

The likely causes here

The most common cause we find in Lofall is an old dry well, cesspool or septic component. Older properties have forgotten structures that eventually cave. On parcels along Highway 3 with bluff clay on the Hood Canal shore underneath, that's where we look first.

We also check poorly compacted backfill from an earlier dig, because in Lofall it explains a real share of sinkhole or sunken spot calls. A trench that was dumped full and never compacted settles for years.

Finally, a leaking water service line washing out the trench. The most common cause on a sunken trench line. Worth five minutes before anyone digs beach deposits below the bluff.

What to check first

Lofall is well country.

Before we arrive in Lofall, three things you can do: do the meter test. Don't fill it until the cause is known. Note whether it appeared after rain or in dry weather. None of it requires tools, and all of it helps us correlate faster on small farms off Pioneer Way.

The fix in Lofall

Fixing sinkhole or sunken spot here usually ends with underground water leak detection near Kitsap Memorial State Park: correlate with pipe and cable locator, listen on waterfront on Hood Canal, trace the line. One crew, one visit, roots and till along Pioneer Way put back the way it was.

We've handled sinkhole or sunken spot near Hood Canal where the cause was 200- to 400-foot poly well lines, and near Port Gamble where hardpan a foot down on the uplands was hiding a drain failure. About half an hour north of Poulsbo; we schedule Lofall so you aren't waiting a whole day.