Digging around utilities

[nrc]

I had my yard marked for utilities so I could do fence repairs and locate a path for a walkway. Any advice on how to dig around the areas that are marked for lines? May be just dig with a small trowel until I find the line?

[Sean Malone]

In VA I had to change my plans when I did my deck. County code required 2' from any lines.

[cameraman]

What kind of line are you looking for?

[Napoleon]

If you want to put yourself in contention for a Darwin Award, you need to use a blowtorch.

[nrc]

What kind of line are you looking for?

The line that is marked is a phone line. The pain is that I know have a gas line also crossing the area that is not marked because it's our line (not the utility's) going to the pool heater.

So I'm thinking of digging the width of my planned path with a trowel where the phone line is marked to find that (assuming it's withing 3-4" of the surface which is all I need) and then digging across the path for the width I need to see if I find the gas line.

I may also experiment with using a garden hose to soften things up.

The fence post area may not be too hard. There's a cable marked as right along them but there's a cable partially exposed there. So unless there's another cable under there I've found that one.

[oddlycalm]

The electrical (if it's in the ground) water and gas should be down 3-6ft and you aren't going that deep. The phone (if in the ground) and cable lines are a different matter and are less than a foot deep. Dig normally and be careful except for electrical. I wouldn't dig around the electrical line myself.

During the 15yrs we were at our last place the only run that got damaged on a regular basis during landscape work was the TV cable which was only 6"" down and unmarked.

oc

[Insomniac]

I remember when we had our yard landscaped in WV. We asked about getting all the utility lines marked and they told us there should be no reason to dig that deep to plant bushes! Our cable and telephone lines were more than a foot deep. Of course, everyone's in the neighborhood was since it was a new housing development and those were the requirements.

I wonder if you could use a metal detector to know you're getting close?

[cameraman]

The electrical (if it's in the ground) water and gas should be down 3-6ft and you aren't going that deep.

oc

Careful there. Most older codes buried electrical at 18".

Gas & water should be far deeper but who knows what the plumber for the pool heater did.

[redmist]

The electrical (if it's in the ground) water and gas should be down 3-6ft and you aren't going that deep. The phone (if in the ground) and cable lines are a different matter and are less than a foot deep. Dig normally and be careful except for electrical. I wouldn't dig around the electrical line myself.

During the 15yrs we were at our last place the only run that got damaged on a regular basis during landscape work was the TV cable which was only 6"" down and unmarked.

oc

reminds me of the time i ran an aerator over my yard only to find i'd cut the buried coax into about a million pieces. that was an "ah s**t" moment. :)

[cameraman]

At my parents old place they laid the coax on the ground and installed the sod over it:shakehead

[SteveH]

I just went through this last Sat. Rented a trencher to put in a new sump pump discharge hose. Had to cross the buried gas main. That part got dug (very carefully) by hand.

[TravelGal]

I had my hard marked for utilities


I am NOT going to comment, I am NOT going to comment, I am NOT.

Friday-itis strikes again.

[nrc]

I am NOT going to comment, I am NOT going to comment, I am NOT.

Well that was clearly a typo. :o

[Ankf00]

I dunno boss, if your pants are around your ankles while doing this stuff I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you're doing it wrong...

[G.]

I dunno boss, if your pants are around your ankles while doing this stuff I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you're doing it wrong...
This place has a long history of doing home repairs in only skivvies. I thought that was pretty normal procedure.

Our house is new construction. When we had them mark the lines, they marked ALL of them, even in the frontyard (for our backyard patio).

I know that they were just being extra careful (read: lawsuit prevention) but they told us that the lines were +- 18 inches from where they marked 'em, and the were between 2 inches down, to 6 feet down.

That was real helpful...

[nrc]

Um, anyway, this has been helpful.

I think I'm ok. The path will be either gravel with edgers and stepping stones or poured concrete stepping stones. Either of those only requires four inches or so.

Checking where the gas lines come out of the house in the basement, there are two gas lines. A small one that comes out above ground and then goes underground outside and a larger one that comes out about 10 inches underground.

The smaller one is probably for the grill that is only about 10 feet away and not in the area of the path. The larger one is probably for the pool heater and hopefully it stays at least 10 inches deep all the way to the pool.

There is an electric line for a lamp post that comes out about about a foot deep as well. It's on a photo switch at that post so I just need to make sure it's off. :)

The good news is that there's no electrical or gas close to the fence posts were we'll have to get down a little deeper.

[dando]

I dunno boss, if your pants are around your ankles while doing this stuff I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you're doing it wrong...

Hey, this is nrc doing the work, not Mappy. ;)

-Kevin

[TravelGal]

Well that was clearly a typo. :o

Aw, you're no fun.

It's just that it was the funniest typo I've read in a LONG time. Read it three times. I'm usually so darn serious so I thought quite a while before replying. Thought: no, yes, no, yes, no, what the heck. :D

[nrc]

I did do some digging in the yard yesterday. I created a little path to nowhere across the point where the phone line crosses my future path. Dug down about five inches, encountered no lines and put brick edgers in to mark the spot. I just wanted to get that marked so I could focus on the fence and come back to it later.

[dando]

I did do some digging in the yard yesterday. I created a little path to nowhere across the point where the phone line crosses my future path. Dug down about five inches, encountered no lines and put brick edgers in to mark the spot. I just wanted to get that marked so I could focus on the fence and come back to it later.

That must have been some fun considering we've gone from a top-five wettest June (10") to a #11 driest July (<2"). :irked: :(

-Kevin

[nrc]

That must have been some fun considering we've gone from a top-five wettest June (10") to a #11 driest July (<2"). :irked: :(

-Kevin

Two words: garden hose. :)