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Chopper over sinkhole area in buttonwood this morning. Another cavein?

That's what I was wondering. The choppers are hovering and woke me up.

It's on the news again! Says the sinkhole is growing. Channel 9.

The fill that was put in has dropped 6ft and the hole has expanded (according to Channel 9). Chalmer Terrace is closed and the fire dept is on site.

If you put a 5 million pound plug in a hole, what do you think will happen?

Is there not an official from the company reporting or just a news guy

Video shows the drop. But, maybe that was expected by the company. I too would rather hear from them.

thanks bogie i would think that there would be a drop as the concrete settles in and around the sink hole as the concrete cures

The problem is not that you can change what is going on, but that you can not always get insurance for the problem and could easily be on the hook for $100,000 dollars if your home is not condemned

I'm in California - waiting for this house to sell so I can move and join the fun but saw on Good Morning America that the sinkhole of a few days ago has reopened, even with the cement in it, and is even deeper. Does anyone know if this is true? And if so, is this the village where most of the new homes are being built? Thanks. I'll be there soon sinkhole or not!

Photos:

Photos: Villages sinkhole opens up again | www.wftv.com

Not to worry - Helicon's work guarantee will cover the additional cost.

Anybody want to buy a bridge?

.

It can be fixed and made inhabitable again. It will also be the safest house when it comes to sink holes. The problem is can you convince an insurance company or a buyer? Not only will the two homes involved suffer but the surrounding area takes a hit. Unfortunately building a home in Florida means you are willing to take on this risk. I like it here so I'll take the risk.

We only live once and we can't take it with us. There are over 50,000 homes in the Villages, so the chances are slim that you will have a sinkhole.

And as always, a person would be wise to buy a home of value they can afford to lose in case of an unforeseen event for which they do not have insurance or cannot get it.

I think many are buying far more house than they need and might be able to afford in the future. I'd err on the side of smaller and more affordable and fixed up really nicely, just for the eventuality of sudden skyrocketing inflation or other economic disaster that could make all the wheels fall off at once.

I feel so sorry for the families that have experienced sinkholes, and their neighbors.

Sinkholes happen rarely, but they are alarming. They attract a lot of attention and media coverage. People worry. The sites of sinkholes seem random to me. As jwscp said, chances are slim that you will have a sink hole, and life is too short to worry about it.

The sinkhole story of The Villages was just on CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. Ouch!

There go the local TV homeowner insurance premiums--not just for sinkholes, but overall. (I did see the separate thread on sinkhole insurance, btw).

The Villages hasn't had this much press it was noted that TV had more cases of STDs than Uganda!

(kidding, all!)

A loss is a loss
 

Perhaps it can be fixed but who of us would buy it? In my hometown our school succumbed to a sinkhole and the "experts" said it was safe to build a new school on the site. It too had to be demolished.

Needless to say lawyers made a lot of money from the disaster.

If these homes are declared uninhabitable their insurance should cover the enormous expenses in filling up the sinkhole. Its a tragedy and our prayers are with the owners and the neighborhood.

Another one reported in The Village of Mallory Square. Smaller but still affecting the properties there.

http://www.**************.com/anothe...allory-square/

Story hit the national news tonite! Ouch!

Can you give us a clickable link, or an address?

...

Wow, the news at it's best….I think not! Terrible reporting.

Do home inspectors look for these early signs?
 

As per this Orlando Sentinel article....I just learned that there are not always symptoms that are visible such as the recent obviously seen sinkholes.....so my question is "Do home inspectors look for all the signs that a sinkhole could possibly be imminent?"

""Rather, the symptoms are cracks, doors that don't want to open and shut properly and nails that pop out of wood floors, said Jim Flynn of LRE Ground Services, a Brooksville company that fixes sinkholes across Central Florida and in Lake County.

Rainfall oozing through the soil picks up acid, which slowly dissolves the limestone underneath most of the state. As the limestone dissipates, pores and cracks are enlarged, and holes form in the rock.

Take away the water because of a drought or pumping from development and agricultural use nearby, and the rock collapses on itself.

Throw in heavy rains after a drought, and you've got the recipe for the most active sinkhole time: The pressure sends the surface tumbling into the earth.

Isn't Florida a fun place to live? Don't forget that geological experts also say the state is simply shifting underground because of the amount of development on top.

And now, the companies that repair sinkholes are seeing an increase in complaints in Lake.

"The Tampa Bay area is the worst, but after that the sinkholes in Marion and Lake have definitely got everyone's attention," Flynn said. "It's not just our own experience — the engineers we work with on projects have echoed the sentiment about the increase in activity."

But are sinkholes increasing? Or is that more houses are being built over areas prone to them, such as The Villages? Anthony Randazzo, president of Geohazards Inc. in Gainesville, leaned toward the latter.

"We've known about sinkholes at The Villages for many, many years. We've done numerous investigations, and they're a lot more common than people are led to believe by real-estate agents and developers," said Randazzo, professor emeritus in geology at the University of Florida.
Oh, dear. If a sinkhole decides to visit your property, count on a headache — even if you have sinkhole insurance.

Over the past year, King said, a Land O' Lakes company doing his repair had to tear up his landscaping and pull his back porch off to get close to the house.

Nineteen truckloads of cement were pumped through a high-pressure hose fitted with a drill bit under his home in an attempt to stabilize the ground underneath. The machine blew the cement into depths of 20 to 65 feet so far, and the company has yet to come back and inject more cement closer to the surface.

Cost? At the most recent count, King's insurance has paid $32,000 to repair the interior of the house. He has banked the bucks and is waiting for the sinkhole company to finish its work. About $50,000 has gone to the company for the underground work, for a total of $82,000.

And the result? King said the movement under his house appears to have stopped, but the value of his home has plummeted. He estimated the structure alone, which features a dramatic stone fireplace in a sunken living room, was worth $140,000 to $150,000 before the shifting started. And now, he said it's worth about half — between $70,000 and $80,000.
"That's not because of the damage," King said. "It's just the stigma of having a sinkhole."

The only upside is that sinkholes, like hurricanes, can't effectively be prevented. It's best to do the same thing under either condition: fortify oneself with a beverage of choice, sit back and sip.""

sinkhole
 

One of the advantages to buying a new house is you can purchase sink hole
home insurance sure could be worth the money

The admins of this msg brd do not allow links to that site to be "clickable"

From Ocala.com: Ryan Gummer, President, Secure Restoration Systems, a Ocala company specializing in sinkhole remediation or stabilization of the foundation, "drought conditions, infrastructure AND growth" are factors in sinkhole activity, Gummer said. He also cited well pumping,which reduces underground "hydraulic pressure AND thus weakening underground cavities while putting the weight on top with irrigation. Gummer ALSO said, a soil penetration test PRIOR to construction COULD SPOT sinkhole activity, BUT "it's COSTLY & NOT REQUIRED".

"King" ???
 

Who is King? Where does he live?

That's great that you have that coverage on your home. However, have you weighed the pro's and con's of that coverage. Please look into it to see if its as valuable of a coverage as you think. Some people do not actually know what the coverage really is and how it will benefit them. I know sinkholes are on all our minds and we want to make sure we are all protected. Just check the real costs of that protection and see if its worth it.

Sinkhole reopens in The Villages - Daily Commercial: News


According to this article in today's Daily Commercial, crews are working around the clock filling the 65 feet wide by 70 feet deep with dirt trying to stabilize the hole. The work started yesterday and is expected to take 24 to 48 hours to complete.

The crews are working diligently to save the two houses, which so far show no signs of cracking or other damage. Nobody has been inside either house since Saturday.

Crews are also standing by to cut off the water if the hole spreads to the street.

coverage
 

checked it is

Re: Who is King and where does he live......from the article posted in the Orlando Sentinel.

King, who owns a property-appraisal business in Leesburg, noticed the first crack in his 30-year-old home about two years ago.

Now cracks in King's home south of Leesburg near U.S. Highway 27 gape a half-inch and have gone the whole way through the concrete block, tearing drywall and leaving ajar doors and the spots where walls meet ceiling.

King, 76, is not alone, and chances are pretty high that a rising number of homeowners, especially in and near The Villages retirement community, will be in the same situation when summer rains start.

What's going on under that shifty Florida soil? Answer: sinkholes. Big cracks in homes now are often diagnosed as nascent sinkholes, thanks to ground-penetrating radar and other new technology.

That's what happened at King's house. There aren't any actual depressions in the ground where the earth has collapsed on itself, the traditional mental picture of a sinkhole.

Rather, the symptoms are cracks, doors that don't want to open and shut properly and nails that pop out of wood floors.

What is the rationale
 

Can someone tell us what is the rationale for an insurance company to insure a new home in TV and not a resale.

I'm not the brightest bulb in the ceiling but this makes no sense to me. The risk appears to me would be the same. :read:

Jim, could you please explain why you think that sinkhole insurance is available for a new home and not for a resale?
We had a CYV and had sinkhole insurance on it. We sold it and purchased a larger home, and we have sinkhole insurance on this home also.

Was this before or after 2012 when the new law took effect?

I took the advice of several TOTV members and called an insurance agent to ask my questions regarding sinkhole insurance. I just spoke to an agent in the Allstate office who indicated that they have been flooded with calls from people who already own property within Villages and people considering buying property in the Villages.

As most of you know, catastrophic sinkhole insurance is part of your homeowners policy, however, MOST incidents of sinkhole damage is not catastrophic. They currently will write a policy with a 10% deductible and pay up to a policy's limits. The homeowner is responsible out of pocket for everything under the 10% and anything over a policy limit. But he also said that he understands that in the very near future, even the 10% deductible will not be offered and there will be no sinkhole insurance available except catastrophic. He also said that if you currently have a policy with a less that 10% deductible, chances are that upon renewal, it will be hiked to the 10% or dropped altogether. He has heard of cases where the hike has occured after 5 years on new construction, but the more and more insurers are getting out of the sinkhole insurance business.

He also said that if your home is within one mile radius, your home is attached to that sinkhole as far as insurance and how it will be rated. It will also be noted on any inspection report if you go to sell your property.

I did call another Agency called Town and Country, but they said that no one was offering sinkhole insurance in Florida. They would not engage in any conversation and cut me off so I couldn't ask any questions.


Has anyone here experienced their sinkhole insurance dropped or changed? Or not being able to get it at all?

So sorry if I misled anyone.
Our insurance policy has been renewed since 2012.
But the policy was first purchased prior to 2012.
So perhaps sinkhole insurance is only available to previous customers.

Oh, that darn rain again.