Sinkhole Repairs begin today!!

Good Morning Folks......

I am awaiting the arrival of a slew of peeps from the sinkhole repair Company, and the engineering firm. On Dec 28, 2010, I awoke to find that something strange had happened overnight. Part of my kitchen cabinets had dropped from the ceiling enough, that the light from the kitchen was shining above them, and could be seen in the living on the ceiling.....

Upon further inspection, I had cracks between the wall and ceiling in several rooms on one side of the house.....along with a host of other issues.....cracked tile, sliding doors not able to lock, built in floor to ceiling pantry getting wommpy and all the doors shifting.......

Then, I went outside.....I was shocked to find lots of cracks in my stucco.....all the way around the house.......the pool deck, driveway, and sidewalk leading to my porch also were cracked........

Now, you are probably scratching your head, and trying to figure out why one year and 7 months later, this is just being fixed........that would be an Insurance issue.......I have fought and battled with them since this started.......They even made me go through a procedure called an Exam Under Oath......kinda like a deposition, but my attorney was not allowed to object to anything, and I had to answer any question, regardless of it's relevance to my sinkhole........their attorney is allowed to ask anything.....could have asked me how many pairs of boots I own, and it would have been legal!!!!

So......today, they get started...finally!!!! I will try to upload pics, as they go through the repair process.....3 weeks, if weather is good....(keep the high over us, please).......

Good Luck San.

Seriously, what the hell is the purpose for this " Exam Under Oath ". What a crock. Well anyways, I am glad you are finally going to see some work to solve the problem. Hope the weather cooperates.

First Update:

They have the first 6 ft long pole in the ground per the engineering spec at angle, etc.....this is what they pump the grout into under pressure down into the ground.........so they were talking, and I heard them say....."If the hole yard is this way, it will be great, we will have an empty trailier

Being me, I asked them what they meant.....usually when they put the pipe in under pressure, backwash comes up...sand and soil, and they have to haul it by wheelbarrow to the trailer....but none came up with mine, it fell down into a void......bwaaaa......Now, I'm no engineer, but I think it's possible that they might need more grout than the amount they have estimated......

Oh, and btw.....the engineer who has to be onsite that is hired by the Insurance Company to monitor the whole process......he is sitting in his car parked on the street, where he can visualize them, at this point!!! He did not even bother to get out of his car upon arrival, and come introduce himself to me!!! Engineering Company is Geohazards - I believe they are out of Gainesville.

Are you serious. Go knock on that man's window. Drag his butt out of the car.

Can you image this happening to San while pushing a lawn mower in her yard. LMAO

Sorry you're having to deal with this. Hopefully it will be over with soon.

Keep the updates coming, san. Good Luck!

OMG e!!! I can't believe she stepped on the exact spot.....

So......I have one week under the belt......the crew has finished drilling the pipes into the ground........the next step, I think, is they start pumping grout into the pipes under pressure........

There is an estimate of how much grout will be required, based on the testing from Feb of 2011. The best way I can explain the sinkhole, and where the grout goes is using the analogy of a lake with creeks coming off of it..........

Picture a lake, and little creeks or rivers coming into the river. When they pump this grout down under the house it will go to where there are voids - the little creeks and rivers......it will continue to flow into these voids, until it stops....and then it will fill up the sinkhole (lake)...........

They will do this with each of the pipes they have drilled into the ground. The pipes are at different levels around the house, depending upon when they hit the limestone (my understanding)........so some may be at 35 feet, and some may be at 15 feet below the ground level......

Here are some pics of some of the pipes, and the machinery used to put them into place.........

Galvanized pipes in the front porch area....drilled through the concrete porch in one area, only....the others were in the landscaping beds....they all have yellow caution tapes attached to them.



This was the one drilled through the concrete....


Here is the machine on the pool deck.....they took the door off of one side of my pool enclosure, and were barely able to bring it in there, after removing implements........I held my breath the whole time.....lol


And another....with the engineer's representative (monitor) in the far end of the pic.



This is one of the three pipes on the pool deck....appears they started in one spot, then moved over, for some reason......


Now, that machine that drills the pipes in raises up real tall, so they had to cut the screens above the areas in order to install the pipes.......they cut them all in a big X, and then duct taped them back together, so the black racer snake can't get in to the pool enclosure....lol.......they also put the door back on!!!!



Next week, I will update, and post pics of the grout being pumped into the pipes...

Keep the updates coming, san! Thanks for the pics!

they are going to rescreen your deck and get the Bubba out(duct tape)I hope?...Seems the insurance company needs to see these pictures. I guess they will add a sink hole deductable along with the hurricane..You know they will find a way to make you pay for it...LOL

The best part was that none of the guys showed butt crack san!

Great shots san. Thanks for them.


Trop the fact that you actually looked for them is a little scary..

Dang San, what a nightmare. LMAO at the engineer dude sitting there with his big hat on in his folding chair. What a job...

Trop....I have a deductible for sinkhole.....$2500....and I might add....they changed the laws to read it is illegal and a chargeable offense for a contractor to offer the homeowner any rebate back.....or something to that effect......they want the homeowner to not be able to do anything without paying for the deductible portion!!!

That's not right. How can they do that?

LMAO Grill.....it is called "Lobbyist $$$$$$"...........2011 there were wide sweeping changes made by legislature.......I followed it closely, as they were also trying to say these were not new laws, they were spelling out the laws more specifically from 2003 (I believe)....so that they could make it retroactive, and anyone with a pending claim would be affected....

One of the changes was that they would only cover cosmetic repairs to the primary housing.....if your driveway, pooldeck, sidewalks, storage buildings, etc were damaged, they are not required to fix them now.........

A little update this morning......

One of the screens with the duct tape closure is wide open, and tape is hanging down......I can only assume that something heavier than a little bird was on top of it.........Don't even want to go to the other corner of the pool deck, where they put all the furniture from that end....skeered of what I might find...........lol

Latest update.......No one showed up yesterday......so I called around 3ish.....was told Cemex could not start till today....they apologized for not informing me......okay....I was just happy I did not have a Port-A-John in my front yard..........

This morning, a full crew showed up......they were working in the front yard, getting everything ready, and I was on pool deck.......around 11:15am, I went looked out the window from the office, and, low and behold.....not a sole in site!!!!! All peeps, all trucks, all equipment was gone, except for a trailer, that they actually parked on my yard, instead of in the driveway!!!

So, I call a bit ago......."Oh, yes......the pump on the machine broke, so they had to take it in, and call everyone off of the job.......oh, so sorry no one informed you!"

Let's see what tomorrow brings..........

The nightmare continues. What jerks. And they are making how much money on this job?

It depends on how much grout is actually used......estimate is around 80K

Good Lord San. This is not right. You as the homeowner have the right to know what is going on with the work on your property. Sounds like you may need to start cracking a whip with these guys.

UPDATE:

Yesterday, the crew showed up with bells on!!! I was a happy camper.....long about 3:15PM, I started hearing some very loud popping noises in the house......no biggy, since I had become accustomed to that happening over the last year and a half....

Within five minutes;, however, I started becoming anxious.....pictures were moving on the wall in the living room, and the popping noise was getting REALLY loud!! I decided I needed to go see what the hell was going on, and as I walked from the living room, though the large kitchen eat in area, I saw lengthy areas of texture/tape pulled off, and cracks on the ceilings, and on the living room wall.....

So, I went on outside, and talked to the crew chief and the engineering monitor......By the time I walked back up into the courtyard to the front door, a long 12-15 foot horizontal crack had shown up on one of the exterior walls about 18 inches up from the ground.........hollered at the the peeps, and they came and looked, and said it literally had to have just happened while I was talking to them..........

So, I go inside, and shut my front door.....oh, I meant to say, TRIED to shut my front door!!! Could not shut it, or lock it........by the time they left yesterday evening, I was able to shove it in far enough, so that I could turn the deadbolt (not all the way) enough to secure the door......

This morning, I opened the door to a new engineering monitor. I am not sure why the change, but there was one......She came inside, and took pictures of the additional damage that occurred, yesterday afternoon. She told me to come tell them, if the popping starts again.......okay, no problem.....

Fast forward a couple of hours...........I receive a phone call from the owner of the Sinkhole Repair Company...........Citizens Insurance has not paid them the 1/3rd commencement payment that was due prior to starting the job. This is HUGE!!! They went ahead and started it, in good faith.........and not only have they not been paid the initial payment, no one from Citizens Insurance will respond to them........They have sent emails, and made phone calls........oh, and btw.......there is now another "new person" handling the claim!!! LAMO.....that makes this Citizens Inside Adjuster # 4, I believe!!!!!!

So, their next step, is they will have to send a certified letter informing Citizens that they will stop the job!!! OMG!!!!! I am beyond pissed!!!! I have received nothing from Citizens Insurance, except for total disrespect, intentional delays, and complete ineptness on their part!!!!!

So, I now have a call into PA (Public Adjuster) Mike, before I start making phone calls. I have had to ask my State Senator, Mike Fasano's office, to intervene once before, and if I have to, I will go down there, and ask his office for assistance again.

Oh, and also they changed up the way they will complete the filling of the grout under the house......I don't know if this, along with the monitor change, was a response to yesterday, or what........as Geohazards (Engineering Firm out of Gainesville) does not inform me of anything........

San...I would hope the damage warrants a total pay off on the house. That way you can move. Something about living that close to the edge is scary

Damn San, I feel so Sorry for you and what you are going through. He is my suggestion and is what I would do. I would contact what ever news agency has the best consumer watchdog reporter on staff. Around here it is WFTV Channel 9. They get the cameras in people's face, including government agencies. I have personally seen them do one on Citizens before, just after the 2004 Hurricane season. Call them and tell them your story. You will have to go on the news but it is worth it. I guarantee you will get results. These businesses HATE bad media coverage, especially the fing idiots ( State of Florida ) who run the Citizens Insurance Group

I'm sorry san. I agree with E and the media. Someone needs to light a fire under their azz.

Wow, san; this is just totally unbelievable. You certainly don't deserve to go through this, and sounds like Citizens doesn't deserve to be in business.

Have to add my two cents and agree with the concensus to go to the media with this.

UPDATE !!!!!

So, about one hour and 15 minutes after my voice mails were left, I received a call from Citizens Adjuster # 4 !! I have to preface this with, THAT IS FREAKIN RECORD!!!! It usually takes multiple calls and days, before I get a response.......

This was the first time I had spoken with this "new adjuster" handling the claim. He is just like the rest of them.........

Long story short.........he claims that he is not in possession of an invoice from the sinkhole repair company......bwaaaahahahahaha......maybe he should check the file, or, I don't know one of the previous adjusters desk!!!!

He had already called the Company, before he called me.......and they have emailed him the invoice, directly......now mind you, he did not offer this information, when I answered the phone......He just plainly stated that he was returning my call........so, after I blasted him.......he had no response......and so I asked him how this would be resolved, and would it be today?........That is when he finally told me that he had called Wisdom Structural............I was pissed!!! He should have made that his first sentence to me...........

Anyways....they have been told that their 1/3 commencement check should be in their office by the end of next week.

I did call and speak with the admin asst. at Wisdom.....she confirmed the conversation........so, FOR NOW......we are continuing!!!!!!

Jeez, what a bunch of jerks Citizens is.....

Damn San, what a pain in the a**. I agree with everyone else, call the TV station, they love stories like this, and they WILL get a response.

gomexwx wrote:San...I would hope the damage warrants a total pay off on the house. That way you can move. Something about living that close to the edge is scary

I wish, Gomey......I would move in a heartbeat!!! But, don't think they want to pay me around 300K to make me go away..........my house is not valued at that on the tax rolls for market value, but they forced me to insure for that.......I fought them tooth and nail, to no avail!!!

UPDATE: (Hence, e's post up above....)

Looked out the sliders in the back yard, and saw the sinkhole guys here.....I was surprised....did not know they would work on the weekend!!


So, I go out there, and say hello.....ask them about working weekends, and they say, "No.....they are only here to remove equipment from the job." They will not be returning, until the issue of payment with Citizens is resolved!!!

I was freakin floored!! The last contact I had with their office was on Thursday, around 2:00pm EDT, after I had spoken with the adjuster, from Citizens......I was informed that all was a go, and there would be no hold up!!!

Well, obviously, between then and this morning, Wisdom made the decision to halt work on my sinkhole repair. I, personally, understand that this is a business decision, as they are out a large amount of money, that should have already been paid to them.

What I am sorely pissed about, is no one from their office called me after Thursday at 2:00pm, to let me know that this issue was not resolved to their level of acceptance.

Needless to say, I asked the guys to call the owner, and ask him to call me, but I have yet to receive a phone call from him. I hope his has the courtesy to call me today, as I AM his customer.....regardless of where the check comes from!!!!