When the rainy season hits, homeowners in the Florida area are wary of common sinkholes that form due to the composition of limestone in their soil. When the rainwater pools underground, it dissolves the limestone slowly, leading to a collapsing landscape. Here in Georgia, we don’t have the same worry with limestone, but contractor sinkholes are common in Marietta and surrounding areas.

Contractor Sinkholes

When many of the neighborhoods were built in Marietta, contractors would simply dig holes where they would deposit all of their trash, unused materials, and landscape debris. The contractors would then backfill the holes with loose soil, leaving air pockets and wood that will eventually decompose. When the soil starts to fill in the air holes and the landscape debris decomposes, this is when the surface of your yard will fall in and voila – sinkhole.

Rainfall and Sinkholes

Several days of heavy rains exacerbate the sinkhole problem. Rain water finds its way down into the contractor dug trash holes and helps all of the debris settle, makes the soil settle down into air pockets, and encourages further decay of any landscaping debris. As the earth settles on itself below, you will begin to see ground level symptoms such as collapsed areas of your landscape, or new, deep holes throughout your yard.

Once a sinkhole has been found, it is essential that it is correctly remediated. C&M Residential has been working on sinkhole repair for over twenty years and correctly addresses the problem by digging out the hole and all of its contents, backfilling it with concrete or other substrate that will not again decay, and covering it with hard packed soil. If you have started to see signs of a potential sinkhole in your Woodstock, GA landscape, call us today!