# Why not use this sinkhole? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413 "2017-07-16T17:09:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/21 "2017-07-17T17:02:37Z")
To me this is like asking why you wouldn’t build a sand castle where your old one washed away. The sinkhole is unstable by nature, who would risk lives and money on a piece of land that has sunk before? All you would be saving is excavation costs, and spending a ton of money on engineering a sinkhole basement. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/22 "2017-07-17T19:01:01Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The article and video indicate that the hole is spreading horizontally but not vertically. So if the sides could be stabilised then it would stop spreading. I think you need a basic course in the uncertainties of unstable geology. They already thought they’d stabilized this plot some years ago, and now there’s a giant hole there. The uncertainty for the future is just as large. Plus it’s not cheap to prevent water intrusion when the water table is so high. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/23 "2017-07-17T19:27:59Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Except when it’s Texas. [Or Louisiana.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgYItiehtDM) :eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/24 "2017-07-17T20:04:39Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > To me this is like asking why you wouldn’t build a sand castle where your old one washed away. The sinkhole is unstable by nature, who would risk lives and money on a piece of land that has sunk before? All you would be saving is excavation costs, and spending a ton of money on engineering a sinkhole basement. But what if we built a _third_ castle where the other two sunk? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/25 "2017-07-17T20:30:13Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > But what if we built a _third_ castle where the other two sunk? It would burn down, fall over, then sink. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/26 "2017-07-17T20:41:58Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > It would burn down, fall over, then sink. But the fourth one will stay up. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/27 "2017-07-17T21:13:40Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Not a whole lot of basements in Florida. Lots of pools! These two facts are not unrelated. They’re unrelated. There are lots of pools in Florida because it’s Florida. The high water table actually makes it expensive to build pools below a certain depth because building below the water table is more difficult. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/28 "2017-07-18T02:51:16Z")
Let’s go to the sinkhole and build stuff down there! How do properties near sinkholes usually mitigate that risk once it happens in a neighborhood? I presume nearby house prices go down the sinkhole too? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/29 "2017-07-18T03:36:24Z")
Dig your own stinkhole. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/30 "2017-07-18T05:25:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > They’re unrelated. There are lots of pools in Florida because it’s Florida. I meant the reasons behind the two facts are related. > [@](#): > > The high water table actually makes it expensive to build pools below a certain depth because building below the water table is more difficult. Most of Florida, and specifically the most populated and “pool-pulated” parts, have an _extremely_ high water table. Yet lots of pools and no basements. Why? In that environment, pools have the benefit of a few things that make them practical that basements do not share. First of all, it’s already full of water, so no need to worry about flooding! 😉 But the water also both reinforces the walls of the pool, and crucially, weighs it down. An empty pool would crack and/or float up right out of the ground if it were not for the safety feature of a properly operating hydrostatic valve that lets the water table water flood in to equalize the water level. You wouldn’t want a hydrostatic valve to do the same in your basement, which is essentially an empty pool, after the extensive waterproofing that would have been required. So you would need to account for those same forces by extensive reinforcement and anchoring. So, by the time you cost out a properly built basement in Florida, you could probably just add an extra story to the house _and_ a pool. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/31 "2017-07-18T10:33:22Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I think you need a basic course in the uncertainties of unstable geology. I am not a geologist, as you may have gathered! ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/32 "2017-07-18T11:25:53Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > But what if we built a _third_ castle where the other two sunk? The third one, as the youngest brother, would be guaranteed to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/33 "2017-07-18T14:51:45Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Since he was conveniently buried in the hole, why would we need to pull him out and bury him in a different hole? 😛 I like yer attitude. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/34 "2017-07-18T15:00:46Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > 1 word. > > Karst. […] So it is not Cthulhu? That’s good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/35 "2017-07-18T15:59:39Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I am not a geologist, as you may have gathered! See, if you build a waterproof underground basement in Florida, what have you built? A really shitty boat. Your basement will literally float off its foundation. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/36 "2017-07-18T17:45:08Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > And now, wedged somewhere in the water table, Floridians slowly drink his essence like a weak tea. Are there any homeopathic cures that involve human essence? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/37 "2017-07-19T03:58:48Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Are there any homeopathic cures that involve human essence? All homeopathic cures include George Washington’s human essence, just in undetectable amounts. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/38 "2017-07-20T20:28:59Z")
Oh yeah? I got yer “human essence” right here, pal. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/39 "2017-07-21T18:09:03Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > And now, wedged somewhere in the water table, Floridians slowly drink his essence like a weak tea. How many Floridians are wedged down there??!??!! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413/40 "2017-07-21T21:45:11Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > How many Floridians are wedged down there??!??!! I dunno, do Ponce de Leon’s conquistadors count as Floridians? They were a bit too eager… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-use-this-sinkhole/791413.md?page=1)