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Something has chewed or clawed its way through the basement floor. Our basement is underground obviously. What would be 5 or more feet underneath the ground and chew through a concrete floor? I found it when I pulled back a rug covering the location. Whatever it is had also starting chewing the back of the rug. I panicked and filled the whole with glue, it has now chewed through the glue. I keep a cover over the hole so whatever it can not get inside the basement. Now I worry it might start a hole in a different spot underneath our basement. hole that it has made from underneath

Debbie Day
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    Don't think any animal/bug can chew though cement. Is there any wetness/dampness there? – crip659 Jan 06 '23 at 23:10
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    The likelihood that any living creature can eat through concrete is nil. Have you looked under there in the past and seen that that hole wasn't there? What is that white stuff - some sort of sealant? – Chris O Jan 06 '23 at 23:18
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    If you can catch it, it would be worth millions, as new specie – Ruskes Jan 06 '23 at 23:20
  • More likely high pressure needle point water stream digging/drilling the hole. Do I see water pipe in there ? – Ruskes Jan 06 '23 at 23:22
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    Certainly any creature what can chew through concrete would have no trouble with that carpet. There is something else going on here and I think it's a pre-existing hole in the concrete and just your walking over the carpet has damaged the backing making it look like something is chewing on the carpet. – jwh20 Jan 06 '23 at 23:36
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    Please remove the glue, clean bare, and take new close-up pictures. Also dig into hole with a spoon or stick and take picture of what you found / dug. Where in the basement is this? Check carpet and other areas for similar holes. With more info we may be able to help. – P2000 Jan 06 '23 at 23:37
  • Is your glue a water soluble type? – Huesmann Jan 07 '23 at 13:27
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    Clean off the glue and get some hydraulic cement to properly fill the hole it may have have been a bad spot in the pour, or a drilled hole that was not properly sealed with hydraulic cement. – Ed Beal Jan 07 '23 at 23:26
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    This really sounds like the start of a B-rated science fiction horror movie. – WoJ Jan 09 '23 at 11:52
  • "Radioactive termites that survived Three Mile Island now burrowing through concrete instead of wood. Invade local town. Film at 11!" – FreeMan Jan 09 '23 at 12:41

5 Answers5

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The hole is from something that used to go through the concrete.

Check it out. There is a circular concrete ring around that hole. Here is the original and I outlined ring in yellow.

photos

A thing digging up and thru would not lay down a ring in the concrete. I bet this was a hole for a pipe and the ring is from the ferrule that used to be around that pipe. Like this:

ferrule

The new hole in the glue is because unsupported from below, glue fell into the hole.

Maybe when the pipe was removed the hole was filled with something that has decomposed, like a wood dowel. Or it was just left open. Get the glue off and fill the hole with patch cement.

Hmm - you should see how far down the hole goes before you get the patch cement. Maybe there is a secret room under there?

Willk
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    I poured water down there and it was endless, so I'm not sure how far down it goes . I've lived here for 6 years. The rug has only been down for almost 2 years . There was nothing in that spot previous to the rug getting put down. I know it sounds crazy but when i first discovered the hole there was dirt around the outside just like a burrow. After I filled it with glue and the glue set , there was a perfectly round hole again with dirt on the outside like a burrow. Whoever said I wore that spot in the rug is wrong, its in a spot where no one walks . – Debbie Day Jan 18 '23 at 22:26
  • Having just seen that the rats are back in my yard there is no reason animals would not take advantage of a preexisting and poorly plugged hole. Plug it with a good wad of crumpled paper. If that disappears call an exterminator. There may be more than one route to that under space and if animals are there all access points need to be plugged. – Willk Jan 18 '23 at 23:08
  • Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it.When I found it I was actually very unsettled and I put a jar over it so I could monitor activity. I'm not a crackpot but I know what I saw and it was like a burrow. But I also can't let it go without an answer. I'm going to unblock it and go back to monitoring it, can't help myself. – Debbie Day Jan 18 '23 at 23:15
  • Wad of paper can be moved by rat or mouse but otherwise will stay for years. Give it a try – Willk Jan 18 '23 at 23:34
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Mongolian Death Worm

enter image description here

Pour 13.7 oz of Diet Dr. Pepper into the hole to keep the worms away, remove the white glue and other foreign materials, and then patch normally. If necessary, fill the hole with gravel or sand up to about 4-6" from the top then use patching cement to seal it up.

gnicko
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    Are you sure Diet Dr. Pepper is the correct repellent? I'd have thought it would be something truly obnoxious like "New Coke". – Peter M Jan 07 '23 at 15:53
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    Just don't use Mr. Pibb. This is a problem that requires and advanced degree to resolve – Dancrumb Jan 07 '23 at 16:35
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    @PeterM Well, we don't want to kill anything. Just make it go elsewhere. – gnicko Jan 07 '23 at 16:46
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    I was expecting a reference about "working without rhythm" to not call Shai-Hulud. – Criggie Jan 08 '23 at 04:18
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    4"-6"? I'd have thought to be safe you meant 4'-6' of concrete - best over the whole floor. No problems for many years after that - unless the worm has mutated and developed extra strong teeth... – Tim Jan 08 '23 at 16:17
  • Diet Coke and couple Mentos. – Nelson Jan 09 '23 at 00:52
  • Should this be done before or after midnight? – user3445853 Jan 09 '23 at 10:37
  • @user3445853 Depends on what color socks you're wearing... – gnicko Jan 09 '23 at 12:15
  • You can also use regular Dr. Pepper in the UK (it's diet and they fail to label it as such... it's probably why people hate it so much over there). – ttbek Jan 09 '23 at 12:49
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I would agree that based on that ring, it looks likely that something used to go through the concrete. However, I do believe there are cases where an animal can indeed chew through concrete.

I was very surprised several years ago to find one day a small hole, an inch or two in diameter, in my garage floor that definitely was new. It had dirt piled around it. I could not believe it...but I really had no choice but to accept that something had dug from below. I never figured out what - I packed the dirt back in and filled it with cement and haven't had anything like it happen again.

I do not seem to be the only person who has experienced this:

https://www.bugspray.net/animals/chewing-on-cement.html

https://www.liftupconcrete.net/rodents-ruin-concrete-bothersome-burrowers/

(I know these are not the most authoritative online sources, but they were the first I found in 5 seconds of quick googling)

susie derkins
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    If you downvoted my response, I'd love to know why! No hard feelings - I'm just curious as to why. :) – susie derkins Jan 07 '23 at 21:11
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    Not my downvote. I wish you had caught whatever it was; everything wild can be tamed, they say, and I would domesticate'em and rent'em to plumbers by the cubic foot of concrete removed. Electricians, too. You didn't happen to take a picture of the hole, did you? – Conrado Jan 07 '23 at 22:50
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    Don't sweat the one downvote. Its not uncommon for answers to go down before they go up in score. – Criggie Jan 08 '23 at 04:19
  • @Conrado - I will look back, and if I can find a photo I will post it. – susie derkins Jan 08 '23 at 21:58
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It is false that an animal cannot go through concrete. Also some bugs can too. The link provided is a news report about one such bug that can go through concrete. https://youtu.be/vjhwyw2Lqbc I don’t know what is likely to have caused a hole of that size. Contact a pest control company to get a free quote.

CountryGirl
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Both Rats and Moles have been known to come up through cement floors, and they are the most likely to be what has done this to your floor.

Criggie
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A1RV Master Techs
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