Utility locating on property, not utility owned

Blaze

Blaze

The Jeeper Reaper
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Location
Wake Forest, NC
I am going to need to regrade down at my shop and need to locate my power feeder and water line to the shop. It is all between house and shop so have to get it privately located. It's like 150ish feet.

Anyone have any recommendations? Ideas of costs?
 
811 to find the power line, you’re on your own with the water line I’d say. Locator around this area doesn’t care to locate utilities between structures.
 
It’s comes out of one building and goes into the next, right ?
Figure out where these points are and then a straight line between them and maybe 2-3ft either side ? They should be minimum 18” deep if done “correctly”

it’s at least a starting point
 
Those 811 guys suck. Get what ya pay for I guess.


There are plenty of private folks that can do it. I can send you a few numbers if you get to that point.


You may get pretty close with a good metal detector with the cable. As for plastic pipe, you will need to feed a fish tape in it and use a metal detector or magic wand to find it. GPR likely won’t find something that small.
 
I'd imagine the water and power are in the same trench-- power company isn't going to mark your line going to a subpanel-- and like the other guys have said find where it leaves your house and enters the shop, there's a 90% chance it's a straight line between the two.
Otherwise, what I did was just buy my own underground utility locator second hand, it's paid for itself by the second locate.
 
If you come in to Raleigh any time soon I've got a locator you can borrow. Just let me know though. I've gotta dig it out and make sure it still works. Haven't used it in eight years and it's pretty old to begin with. Worked fine at finding the broken water line in my front yard back then though.
 
If you haven't figured it out by now. you're on your own. Power can be found with a locator, or the fastest way is with a trencher :huggy:

If it's copper, the water MAY be located, but I wouldn't place bets. I've had luck with Dowsing Rods over the years. I was skeptical as hell at first, but I've had more than a few old timers show me a thing or 2.

If you walk perpendicular to the suspected pipe, and you're holding them correctly..that shit'll make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck when they spread out like a Stormy Daniels legs when Trump walks in the room.

Mine were made from (2) 24" steel rod for a OLD realty sign. one end has a 90 and 3" to hold. I thought it was bullshit but tried it on several pipe sizes, depths and material. Worked on all but a couple of pretty deep small pipes. I start by holding them one in each hand, knuckles touching with them pointing straight out from my chest. (no death grip...gotta hold them lose enough so they can move on their own and freak you out) I keep my wrists up against my chest, and just walk forward until they start doing the split. once I'm over it, I mark it and move down another 30 ft or so and start over.
 
Duke is listening in

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I drove a piece of rebar through a water line not long ago, marking a corner helping a guy surveying. Talk about accuracy lol. The line was also only buried around 8" deep.

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I just had a thought. You could call 811 for a locate for the power company's stuff and talk the guy into finding your line between building's while he's there. I had them fine wakes line for me once and the guy marked my gas line when I ask him to.
 
awheelterd said:
I just had a thought. You could call 811 for a locate for the power company's stuff and talk the guy into finding your line between building's while he's there. I had them fine wakes line for me once and the guy marked my gas line when I ask him to.
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I have done this too and if they aren’t busy, it’s likely they will just do it.
 
kaiser715 said:
Amateur. Pros use a post hole auger.

My claim to fame is hitting 2 different branches of 6" waterline in the same day with a pole auger.
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I had them mark the gas line because I knew it was close to the property line and I wanted to put up a fence. Running the post hole digger down and nowhere near where they marked. Pull up the auger and hear a hissing sound. Sure enough hit the line. Way to go 811 dude.
 
tknopp said:
I had them mark the gas line because I knew it was close to the property line and I wanted to put up a fence. Running the post hole digger down and nowhere near where they marked. Pull up the auger and hear a hissing sound. Sure enough hit the line. Way to go 811 dude.
Click to expand...


Like I said, the 811 guys suck. I wouldn’t trust anything those guys paint on the ground.

hell, I had them locate for us to drill some wells. He didn’t pick anything up even though I had drawings that showed an approximate location of medium voltage power. Nothing. I brought in a private company to do it and they picked it up right away, using the same process. His mistake could have killed someone. 811 sucks
 
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