What to do Before you Dig in Your Yard

If you are like me when I want to put something in the ground, I just go out and dig a hole.

A few months back, my daughter wanted to build a fence in the backyard of the townhome she had just purchased. The most important thing that any homeowner can do is to make sure that you contact NC811 – Before You Dig, which we did. The various utility companies then come out and “paint” your yard, as noted in the pics at right. Important! Yellow is Gas, Red is Electric and Orange is communication, alarm, cables. As you also notice, the paint is every where!

We started digging the fence posts, and as we went along, we had to change the depth on a couple of the post because occasionally we found that some of the cables were just below the surface. At times, we had to dig by hand, instead of shoveling, for fear of chopping into a cable. It was slow, methodical work.

And, by the time we finished the fence – wouldn’t you know, the painted lines pretty much disappeared. So, what would we do the next time we wanted to plant something, like a tree? Or bushes? Or even small shrubs?

Now, when my daughter wants to plant something, she enlists my help. She’s afraid she will cut into something. We planted a small bush recently. Wouldn’t you know there was a cable just at the side of the hole, and barely 2 inches below the surface. We ended up hand digging around it.

Next, it was time to plant a tree. With shovel in hand, I dug the hole. Once again, after a bit,  we found that there was another cable under that. So, we had to go back to hand digging the hole.

The best advice I can give is to call and have NC811 come out and “paint” your yard again. Or, do all of your digging all at once so the paint won’t disappear.

Interestingly, while planting around the yard at my own home, I don’t believe we have ever called to have the utilities marked, I’m not sure why we didn’t, but I believe I will in the future.

I’d love to hear from you – have you ever cut into a cable, line while you were digging holes in your yard? What happened?

If I can be of help to you in either buying or selling real estate in the Charlotte Metropolitan area, please contact me, Debbie Arriero. In the meantime, please check out these resources:

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Have a GREAT day!

Debbie

Arriero Realty – “Treating You like Family.”

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Debbie Arriero, Office (704) 451-3895, www.PropertiesinCharlotte.com, http://twitter.com/UNC_NCSU_Mom

BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOUR REALTOR®, A Member of the Council of CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL SPECIALISTS