Suquamish: A Hole or Sunken Spot Opened Up in My Yard

Why this happens in Suquamish

Start with a leaking water service line washing out the trench. The most common cause on a sunken trench line. Around the museum and Augusta Avenue the housing dates from mid-century village homes ringed by 1970s-to-2000s construction, which makes this the likeliest answer to sinkhole or sunken spot.

Then an old dry well, cesspool or septic component. Older properties have forgotten structures that eventually cave. We've seen it near Augusta Avenue more than once, usually on poly along Totten Road.

Don't overlook a collapsed or separated drain line. Old clay tile or crushed corrugated pipe lets water wash soil into the pipe and away. On Suquamish properties from mid-century village homes ringed by 1970s-to-2000s construction it comes up more than you'd think.

Before you call

Suquamish locates start with confirming which utility serves the parcel, Kitsap PUD or the Tribe's utility, because the meter is where we begin.

First steps for sinkhole or sunken spot near the Suquamish Dock: do the meter test. Keep everyone off it and mark it. Note whether it appeared after rain or in dry weather. Then call; the rest is a locate through till under the village grid, not guesswork.

What happens next

When it's the buried line, the fix in Suquamish is underground water leak detection: we trace the line, correlate through beach deposits near the dock at the marked spot on waterfront lots on Agate Pass, and confirm there is a leak. Probe rods and marking and the mini excavator ride on the first trip so it's finished the same visit.

Sandy Hook, the Suquamish Dock, Agate Pass: near any of them, sinkhole or sunken spot gets the same crew and the same equipment. Twenty-five minutes via Highway 305, day or night, with the mini excavator on the trailer for parcels along Augusta Avenue.