Man who dug space under home (Austin, Del Rio: HOA, selling a home, living)

[ladysovereign]

Didn't Dale Dribble do something like that with it leading to under Hank Hill's home?

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by ladysovereign

Didn't Dale Dribble do something like that with it leading to under Hank Hill's home?

Yes. And remember what happened? Hank's kitchen floor caved in.

[ladysovereign]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

Yes. And remember what happened? Hank's kitchen floor caved in.

Yep (as how Hank Hill would say "yep")!

[car957]

The problem is his excavation compromised other houses because of the expansive clays found in East Austin. His mining operation began to compromise other adjacent dwelling foundations. The depth of the excavation and the dimensions he went beyond the footings of the original dwelling could have compromised the street, water and sewer mains in the area. Filling the excavation will be expensive because it requires reinforcing steel (the guy dug 35 feet below grade) and the concrete needs to be pumped.

A lien has already been placed on the property. Is it right? I guess it depends on where you live. For me, no problem. If you live near him, his efforts could damage a lot of infrastructure and other homes.

[Mrs.JT]

LOL...wow....my husband and I were WAY off base. We were quick to assume the ridiculous...."It must've caused such an uproar because he was planning to hide a body there....or hide other illegal activity..." LOLOL Someone please tell us to calm down.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by car957

The problem is his excavation compromised other houses because of the expansive clays found in East Austin. His mining operation began to compromise other adjacent dwelling foundations. The depth of the excavation and the dimensions he went beyond the footings of the original dwelling could have compromised the street, water and sewer mains in the area. Filling the excavation will be expensive because it requires reinforcing steel (the guy dug 35 feet below grade) and the concrete needs to be pumped.

A lien has already been placed on the property. Is it right? I guess it depends on where you live. For me, no problem. If you live near him, his efforts could damage a lot of infrastructure and other homes.

The danger of this hole has been hugely exaggerated. As an architect I have taken enough structural engineering and soils classes to be able to say that it looks to me like the only structure that was at risk from the current configuration of the hole was his own. If he had continued to expand the entire excavation to a depth of 30' then it might possibly have threatened the adjacent structures.

Look at the diagram below. The majority of the excavation below his home was only about 10' deep. A much smaller area below that was about 20' deep and a very, very small shaft was about 30' deep.

If the sides of a hole 10' deep collapse, how could it possibly cause the earth to shift as much as 30'-35' away as was suggested in the newspaper. At most a small area of the neighbors driveway on the East might have settled.

You can look at this guy's yard in google maps street view and see the house sits roughly 35 feet away from the street. I find it highly unlikely that it endangered the street or utilities in it.

The price of the fill does seem absurdly high. What they pumped into the hole was not concrete, it is what is known as flowable fill, a wet mixture of sand and cement that is commonly used in the City for back filling utility trenches. It's big advantage is that it does not need to be compacted as the hardening of the cement takes care of that. There was NO reinforcing steel added to the fill in the hole, I don't know where you got that idea.

2006 Canterbury St, Austin, TX 78702 - Google Maps

http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/dynamic/00462/web0611CanterburyBu_462015c.jpg (broken link)

http://www.statesman.com/multimedia/dynamic/00462/web0611CanterburyBu_462015c.jpg (broken link)

[Mike78613]

Originally Posted by Roadking2003

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?

Good to know what we pay taxes on.....

[G Grasshopper]

Does anyone know why he was digging this? Was it more living space, or something more obscure? Just curious.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

Does anyone know why he was digging this? Was it more living space, or something more obscure? Just curious.

I don't want to make assumptions here, but when someone digs a multi level dungeon in their basement, and fills their house with firearms and grenades, I tend to think that they are either like that scary dude in Silence of the Lambs OR they are preparing for a revolution.

I think there is actually a mental disorder that afflicts people where they are sure society is on the brink of collapse and a new age of anarchy is going to replace it. So some people prep for that. I guess it's good to always be prepared.

I mean, it's one thing to have a first aid kit and clean fresh water and canned food available. It's another to build a subterranean kingdom so that you can rule benevolently over the morlocks.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

I don't want to make assumptions here, but when someone digs a multi level dungeon in their basement, and fills their house with firearms and grenades, I tend to think that they are either like that scary dude in Silence of the Lambs OR they are preparing for a revolution.

OMG! I hadn't ever heard much about whole story.