Found out my 1950s bungalow's foundation is literally sitting on old coal mine tunnels after digging up city archives

I was doing some research at the Edmonton Public Library last weekend and stumbled on old mining maps from the 1940s that show a network of abandoned coal shafts right under my neighborhood in Beverly, and now I'm wondering if anyone else in that area has run into this when trying to sell their home.

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_nelson26d ago

Laughed out loud when I read this... not at your situation but at myself because I bought a house in Beverly two years ago and didn't check any old maps first. My foundation's already got a couple cracks I've been patching with caulk like a hopeful idiot. Your post is making me seriously question if my whole place is just one bad rainstorm away from becoming a basement suite that's really just a coal shaft. I'm gonna have to dig into those library archives myself now and probably ruin my whole weekend with worry. At least if my house collapses I'll have good records of why it happened.

briancampbell27d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you actually found old mining maps at the library? I heard from a buddy who flipped houses in Beverly that the whole coal mine thing is why some banks won't lend on those older homes. Something about the ground shifting over time and the coal pillars rotting out underground. I'd be real careful with any foundation work or renovations until you know exactly where those tunnels are. Might be worth talking to the city about it before you even think about selling, since that kind of thing has to be disclosed.

skyler_anderson6527d ago

Oh man, that's wild. A buddy of mine tried selling his place in Beverly last year and the buyer's bank backed out last minute because of those old mine maps.