Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-11-2010, 07:21 AM
 
Location: Dallas
31,292 posts, read 20,753,051 times
Reputation: 9330

Advertisements

OK, this guy dug a huge hole under his house and now the city of Austin is filling it in. What law prohibits a homeowner from digging a hole? Why is this illegal?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-11-2010, 07:48 AM
 
Location: in here, out there
3,062 posts, read 7,037,201 times
Reputation: 5109
He didn't have a permit.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 07:52 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,420,086 times
Reputation: 24745
I think the City is going to regret refusing, after agreeing, to let him get an independent professional engineer's opinion. That is NOT going to look good in court for them. Doesn't look real good outside of court, either.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 08:27 AM
 
Location: Dallas
31,292 posts, read 20,753,051 times
Reputation: 9330
You have to have a permit to dig a hole? What is this world coming to.

And if that is the only problem, why spend $61,000 (plus untold city costs to evaluate the situation) to fill a hole. Why not just issue the permit and fine him for not having a permit?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 08:34 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,420,086 times
Reputation: 24745
Yeah, I was wondering about that one, myself. And do they really think he's going to have $61,000 lying around to pay back the City? Really?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 08:53 AM
 
3,080 posts, read 3,267,041 times
Reputation: 2509
Well one issue was that his "hole" was causing the ground in his neighbors yard to start to cave in. The city is general is claiming that his digging has undermined the foundation of his home and has therefore created a hazardous situation. I'm not a structural engineer so I can't speak for the strength of the cities argument, that's just what they're claiming.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 09:21 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,269 posts, read 35,650,196 times
Reputation: 8617
Does anyone remember that guy and his son that dug a 'basement' a few years back and the entire house caved in, killing the son?

Anyway, I would warrant a guess that you would need a permit to make sure you met building code and the sound engineering practices required for such an operation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 09:33 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,420,086 times
Reputation: 24745
Sure. And I'd think that having an independent engineer inspect it would be a minimum step if there's some dispute about whether it's structurally sound.

There's one family out here who's very very glad their husband and father dug a storm shelter underneath their home (a bucket at a time, evidently). They were one of the very few in the F5's path who survived, for that reason.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 10:03 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,269 posts, read 35,650,196 times
Reputation: 8617
Quote:
There's one family out here who's very very glad their husband and father dug a storm shelter underneath their home (a bucket at a time, evidently). They were one of the very few in the F5's path who survived, for that reason.
Yeah, but that was a pier and beam or trailer home, I don't remember, so digging underneath was not as big a structural issue. I think one of the neighbors took shelter in there, too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-11-2010, 03:20 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,420,086 times
Reputation: 24745
So the gentleman in question was digging under a slab foundation?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:16 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top