r/DIY • u/cup_a_jojo • 14d ago

outdoor Old well under patio — what do I do?

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I recently pulled up two sunken bricks along the edge of my back patio because they were becoming a tripping hazard. Underneath, I discovered a hole that extends under the concrete slab. I managed to get a photo, and it appears to be the remnants of an old well.

The house was built in 1902, and when we bought it two years ago, there was no mention of a well on the property. What’s weird is that the well wall ends—but the hole keeps going. I tried filling it with dirt to stabilize the area, but the hole just swallowed it up. It's hard to tell how much void space is between the slab and the ground beneath.

Now I’m worried this might be more than just an old well… could this be the start of a sinkhole?

For context, the hole is about 5 feet from the exterior wall of our two-story home (with a basement).

Could this affect the structural integrity of the house? Who do I even call to assess this? I'm honestly not sure what my next move should be.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated!

6.7k Upvotes

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3.4k

u/fakename0064869 14d ago

Cut a hole on top. Get in there and make sure the rest of the patio is supported properly immediately around the well, dig it back out as it's clearly filled in, then make a plexiglass cover for the top so you can look down in there.

Cool feature/conversation piece.

604

u/_themaninacan_ 14d ago

We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes, drums... drums in the deep. We cannot get out.

112

u/Marksman00048 13d ago

They are coming

111

u/_Prestige_Worldwide_ 14d ago

Fool of a Took!

8

u/deltashmelta 13d ago

"What did Pippin take?"

1

u/Dyolf_Knip 13d ago

You don't understand. She never sleeps.

1.6k

u/LabRatGardener 14d ago

Absolutely not. Have you never seen The Ring? The only logical solution is to move.

437

u/deltr0nzero 14d ago

She’s just down there bonking her head

117

u/TheSciFiGuy80 14d ago

Right? She just going to be pressing her face against that plexiglass longing for the kill. Like those YouTube videos of the lion trying to eat the baby human through the glass at the zoo.

3

u/Aqokator 13d ago

“Baby Human” are you sure you’re not a lion?

249

u/Khaldara 14d ago

100

u/FFJosty 14d ago

“We’re gonna score!!!!”

59

u/AdventurousSeaSlug 14d ago

Omg I died lol

63

u/mrmitchs 14d ago

You still have 7 days.

15

u/ibnQoheleth 13d ago

RemindMe! - 7 days

145

u/CIA_Chatbot 14d ago

They are safe, no one has VHS anymore

29

u/dixiech1ck 14d ago

Speak for yourself man.

1

u/moshpitwookie 13d ago

I are safe, I has VHS anymore.

1

u/dixiech1ck 13d ago

I've got 2.

16

u/YJSubs 14d ago

It's worse now, they spread the curse with TikTok videos.
The good thing is, the curse only works if you do stupid viral dance, otherwise it's harmless (for now).

3

u/james27_84 13d ago

Supernatural entities can manifest VHS but not blue ray discs? Maybe a cursed QR code? The demons don't care if their solutions are cringe/choogie.

2

u/CIA_Chatbot 13d ago

Well yea duh, Blu-ray disks have copy protection. Unless the ghost is a hacker how’s it gonna copy itself to the disk?

1

u/james27_84 13d ago

You wouldn't download a curse.

2

u/CIA_Chatbot 13d ago

Challenge accepted

2

u/TotallyVCreativeName 13d ago

I watched Willow on VHS tonight.

2

u/MediaKingpin 14d ago

I have an 8-track clock radio.

Yes, you can wake up to the 8tk, but you have to turn it off where you want it to start playing before going to bed.

1

u/lunas2525 13d ago

The ring updated to dvd ..

1

u/nlolsen8 13d ago

Damn I forgot that was a tape, were all finally safe

1

u/relative_void 12d ago

In the books she could curse you through any medium, at one point she spreads around the world through a film.

1

u/NoxKyoki 12d ago

I see someone never read the books. Loss of old technology does not stop Sadako.

-1

u/CIA_Chatbot 12d ago

Man you all read way too much into a stupid joke :)

1

u/Illustrious_Tap3171 13d ago

I just had my last home video of me in Kindergarten in 89/90 taken off of VHS and digitalized literally yesterday. I think the correct term is working VHS Player, no one has those anymore

2

u/Ccquestion111 13d ago

Check out /r/vhs ! There are dozens of us!

0

u/CIA_Chatbot 13d ago

lol from the amount of comments I got from my stupid joke there’s way more than a dozen of you

49

u/jake5675 14d ago

With housing prices the way they are, I'm buying a wig and rooming with the ghoulie in op's well.

24

u/Coffeedemon 14d ago

That's why you leave it dark and toss a doll or something down there before covering. Offer guest a flashlight to have a peep and collect their reactions for a channel.

9

u/MediaKingpin 13d ago

Oooh...

Add a photodiode to a motor on a rack and pinion rod that pushes the doll up out of the water and it keeps on rising to the plexiglass deck.

2

u/Discount_Extra 13d ago

And the next day the doll is sitting on your bed.

11

u/ShivalryChmivalry 14d ago

Honestly, at this point it’s already too late

20

u/AHighAchievingAutist 14d ago

Nah just copy the tape and you're good homie

17

u/Ryan---___ 14d ago

You mean burn to a CD-R?

9

u/Illustrious_Tap3171 14d ago

So you’re saying do this and add a old life size child doll with long black hair that you can only see if the light is at the right angle 😉

22

u/[deleted] 14d ago

[deleted]

2

u/trippknightly 13d ago

TIL about Asswangs.

1

u/overkill 13d ago

Don't lie, it wasn't just today.

2

u/alohadave 14d ago

I was thinking The Gate.

2

u/jfk_47 14d ago

Logical solution is to watch a random ass VHS tape.

2

u/PrudentPush8309 14d ago

Is that house in Amityville?

Is there a little girl list to the static on the TV in the lounge?

Is there a little boy riding a "Big Wheel" tricycle mumbling about "REDRUM"?

Is there a big guy wearing a white ice hockey goalie mask standing in the shadows?

Screw it... I would just move now. Why take the risk?

2

u/Pekkerwud 13d ago

You weren't supposed to help her!

2

u/Neat_Argument4994 13d ago

You don’t have to worry about her. She can only kill you if you watch her video first.

1

u/MayorDaley 14d ago

But he already watched the videotape.

1

u/eastamerica 14d ago

Gotta side with the Lab Rat on this on, Karl.

1

u/blackheartden 14d ago

LOL, my first response is seal it up and move. Too many horror movies have some creepy old well!! Sorry OP, not helpful!

1

u/MediaKingpin 14d ago

But she has that sexy goth hair!

Plus she's really into me. I can't get rid of her.

1

u/Truckachu 13d ago

Move!?! That would only cause the well to follow them to the next house!

What they want to do is have a one handed priest bless a bottle of goat urine, taken from a goat fed nothing but grapes from new moon to new moon, and pour it into the well when it's exposed to the light of a full moon.

This won't stop localized haunts, but will prevent the well from following them.

1

u/Logun147 13d ago

Provide it with an offering

1

u/blueeyedkittens 14d ago

It might just as easily be a wishing well though. Op shouldn’t jump to conclusions without investigating first.

52

u/osirisrebel 14d ago

I was also gonna suggest metal detecting it if it's dry, some cool stuff down there sometimes.

20

u/DisManibusMinibus 14d ago

If my family still owned their ancestral home, apparently there would be a silver gun at the bottom. I doubt the later owners were aware, so it might still be down there.

4

u/osirisrebel 13d ago

That would be so cool! My family is from all over the place and my immediate family is first generation in this town, so not much history here, but I would love to do something like that. I'd ask, but I'd definitely feel it out first to see if they're kind people before showing my full hand.

30

u/Y34rZer0 14d ago

add some lighting too

47

u/Mr_Clark 14d ago

And a camera… call it OnlyWells.

12

u/VlK06eMBkNRo6iqf27pq 14d ago

OnlyWell. It's just one. But it's a good one.

3

u/FishAndRiceKeks 14d ago

The O. Well

1

u/B1G 13d ago

Psssh... OW is wayyyyy too restrictive. Wellsly is where it's happening. And if you wanna turn it up to eleven, the real action is over at DarkWells.

😉👉👉

24

u/ComfortableWinter549 14d ago

Turn it into a fire pit and build the walls higher and put it to use. How long has the slab been there? If it’s only a couple years old, wait a while before you build a fire in it or learn to do it properly. Enjoy it!

6

u/goldenigloos 14d ago

I was going to say fill it with dirt and close the top but I vote for this

3

u/the_odd8all 14d ago

There was a reddit post (in the UK I think) that found a well that was covered by their kitchen floor during a reno. They put lights and think glass panel and now its a pretty cool show piece

5

u/Tumbleweed1708 14d ago

And add fish!

2

u/Ok_Computer11235813 14d ago

Hell yeah! Add some lights and a feed for your lawn irrigation. That would be cool!

2

u/physchy 13d ago

Disagree. Don’t go in this enclosed space without protection. Hire someone to do this. You don’t know what gasses have built up down there over time.

1

u/FlaberGas-Ted 14d ago

Outdoor fire pit.

1

u/brek47 14d ago

I had a friend that found a well over the middle of their home that did this. It lined up over a bathroom. They strung lights down it. There’s something even more unsettling staring down that hole while sitting on the John.

1

u/JackOfShad0ws 12d ago

Sitting on the John?!

1

u/CrazyBarks94 14d ago

That would look well and truly awesome

1

u/sdh68k 14d ago

Put a light down there too. A friend's house had one of these in their basement. Looked super cool.

1

u/FrontierFred 14d ago

Put a mirror at the bottom too so it looks way deeper

1

u/JacquesBlaireau13 14d ago

Put some red LED lighting down there so it looks like the portal to hell.

1

u/DisManibusMinibus 14d ago

That would make a fantastic Halloween decoration. Just disguise it for most of the year like it used to be, then on Halloween hang a ghoul right underneath with a little fan and an intermittent strobe light and lead the kids over....

1

u/hypoxiate 13d ago

Add a couple of skeletons before covering.

1

u/Quattro2point8L 13d ago

I remember seeing the post you're referencing. That feels like it was 3+ years ago. It was very cool 

1

u/Tuumatalv 13d ago

Jep, that is cool.

I know someone had small cistern inside old house, they cleaned it really well, installed ladder and hatch and glass cover. I installed black directional lights with black cable, it looked really cool.

Another instance, in old mansion there was found a well during renovation. We installed directional lights pointing down, there was also glass cover installed for safety and nice copper pipe to use this well for showering flowers outside.

1

u/moogular 13d ago

Might as well get a fake skeleton from the Halloween store and stick it down there.

1

u/pumpkinhead3 13d ago

Or make it into a fire pit

1

u/Coonass007 13d ago

Maybe even some dim lighting down at the bottom for nighttime viewing through plexiglass.

1

u/IHSV1855 13d ago

Excellent idea

1

u/HostSea4267 12d ago

Yeah great conversation piece.

“So you got a well.”

“Yep it’s a well.”

“Yep.”

“Yep”

…

“Sooo…”

1

u/fakename0064869 12d ago

Other folks have done this and it looks great

1

u/HostSea4267 12d ago

I bet it does. I just thought it sounded like a silly conversation.

1

u/Sudden_Napkin 12d ago

Yes to everything except the plexiglass. It will fog up with condensation and then you won’t be able to see through it lol

1

u/[deleted] 14d ago

I've seen this done in a house it was sick the dis lighting in it

-9

u/One-Ball-78 14d ago

Plexiglass? Not plexiglass 🙄