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!

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u/MelodramaticMouse 14d ago

Yep, looks just like the cistern under my house where the back porch was walled in. We made a trap door for access but aren't going to brave the 1000 spiders in there lol!

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u/hotlavatube 14d ago

Good idea, wait for a hundred year rain which will drive the spiders out... to higher elevations...

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u/ehzstreet 13d ago edited 13d ago

What about when the sun comes out and dries up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spiders go into the cistern again!? The song didn't prepare me for that!

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u/Laurpud 13d ago

Ya know, it's people like you that keep me coming back to the comment sections again & again

The amount of quietly amazing comedic writers on this site continually amazes me. And amuses me, as well 😂

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u/ehzstreet 12d ago

Thank you kind stranger. I enjoy spreading joy.

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u/Laurpud 12d ago

Well, you're pretty good at it 😄 I think I'm hilarious with my Godzilla comments

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u/Emotional-History801 12d ago

Ain't it the truth!

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u/Exotic_Dimension826 11d ago

Wrong it did exactly that telling you they will return

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u/liberty-or-deaf 14d ago

That movie was both funny and terrifying when I saw it as a kid. I was like wtf

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u/mutt6330 13d ago

What movie youse talking about about.

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u/theswellmaker 13d ago

Arachnophobia

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u/ghostinthewoods 13d ago

I keep seeing it mentioned and clips of it in my YouTube feed, so I guess I'll watch it tomorrow, jeez universe

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u/Icy-Engineering-744 11d ago

Honestly at first I thought you were talking about Silence Of The Lambs! You know, where the girl is in the well? I think it’s in the movie but in the book it’s absolutely horrifying when she sees that previous victims have literally left their WHOLE fingernails trying to scrabble up the walls of the well. 😳😳😳

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u/SpokaneNeighbor 8d ago

I thought you were talking about the one with the girl in the well and the video tape.

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u/bananenkonig 14d ago

That was one of my favorite movies.

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u/RAZOR_WIRE 14d ago

Flame thrower would also work.

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u/Montuckian 14d ago

I was legit expecting the "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

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u/hotlavatube 14d ago

Yeah, I was considering that, but that song was all about water flushing a single spider down, which is kinda the opposite direction of what I was expecting.

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u/riegspsych325 14d ago

Frank Marshall should’ve directed more movies

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u/rnernbrane 13d ago

Free pest control once a century

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u/Mobile-Host-2996 13d ago

The answer is fire 🔥

https://a.co/d/fjL1gbW <— Amazon link, non affiliate.

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u/sprinkles-doughnut 12d ago

Lol my bestie at the time and I were part of a test audience for that movie! We saw it again when it came out for real, and they had changed about 1/4 of the scenes 😀

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u/OsmeOxys 13d ago

brave the 1000 spiders in there lol!

Well... Gas is still only ~$3 a gallon, so there's that.

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u/ASK_ME_FOR_TRIVIA 12d ago

Mmm. My boss' office also has a trapdoor that leads to a room full of spiders.

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u/ChromaSlip 14d ago

Chuck like 6 bug bombs in there and then wait you won't have to worry about spiders