Prepping for Collectors: The Underground Mystery Threatening Our Backyard

When your goal is to open your doors to high-end art collectors, property presentation is high on the agenda. At The Art Shouse Studios, we’ve been working tirelessly to get our tropical Far North Queensland block ready for exclusive studio visits. We wanted to create a first impression that is indicative of the work we do, an environment that showcases far north Queensland. Part of that required a garden revamp, we recently added a beautiful, raised feature garden bed to elevate the backyard.

We thought we were taking a massive step forward. Instead, we woke up to an absolute nightmare: the centre of our brand-new garden bed was suddenly sinking into the earth.

If you want to see the shocking footage of the collapse and see the damage for yourself, watch our quick mini-vlog breakdown below:

[EMBED YOUTUBE MINI-VLOG HERE]

Living in Far North Queensland means managing torrential stormwater flooding isn't a minor detail - it's a necessity. Following our recent $13,000 stormwater plumbing upgrade, we thought our underground systems were finally secure.

But the tropics have a way of testing even the best-laid plans. Underground infrastructure zones are incredibly sensitive, and when you combine shifting tropical soil with massive volumes of water, things can go wrong fast.

The compounding factors point to a classic environmental battle:

• The combination of extreme soil saturation and natural ground settling under a new garden layout appears to have compromised a buried line.
• Once a pipe integrity is lost underground, the heavy torrents of FNQ stormwater begin escaping into the surrounding earth and through the exposed drainage system.
• The rushing water quickly washes away the soil from the inside out, creating a hidden subterranean cavity.
• With the foundation washed away, the ground gave out, creating a sudden sinkhole.

It is incredibly frustrating to watch your hard work and vision for the property literally sink into the ground. However, building an art destination is all about adaptation and awareness. You observe how the land behaves, you respect the underground infrastructure, you educate yourself... hah... perhaps that bit comes first... and you pivot.

Suffice to say we can not invite art collectors to a studio that is dealing with unpredictable erosion or random, car park-able holes. Moving forward, our entire landscaping strategy for this specific zone has officially evolved. We are checking our site plans for waste lines and completely abandoning heavy, permanent backyard features over infrastructure lines. We will not be going near this sensitive drainage zone with anything other than light, shallow-root planting to ensure the underground lines remain completely undisturbed and free to do their job.

Right now, the dust has settle, the council was answering our distress call before we had barely hung up the phone. For them, this is not uncommon, which would make it no less frustrating, but they sorted the issue by the end of the day. For us, moving forward we just need to concentrate on diverting the surface water before the next tropical downpour... and don't put heavy stuff on underground waste lines.