Over the next several weeks, I have a few projects planned that will require digging on my property. Of all the utilities coming in, the electrical is overhead, the water has been marked in the past, and my DSL line is on the opposite side of the property (plus I was present when they buried the line, so I know where it is). I have copies of the drawings from when my septic was installed. I’m not concerned about the basic utilities.
My concern is a buried electrical line that runs from the breaker panel in my house to a subpanel in my shop; I can see where it enters the ground and exists, but because of the topology of my property, I seriously doubt it’s a direct line from point A to point B.
As far as I can tell, my local “Call Before You Dig” only marks out the incoming utilities to the home, at least that’s all they did last time. Are there services that will mark buried electrical lines between two buildings on private property? I’m certainly willing to pay for the service, but I can’t figure out who to call. Surely somebody can do this for a fee? I’m not sure if this question exactly fits into “Home Improvement,” but I don’t know where else to ask. I looked online for an in-ground AC detector, but everything I find that can detect a buried cable more than a few inches is extremely expensive, and I’d likely never need it again.
Thanks! I never though to use that search term, but it’s giving me a lot of good results. I live in a rural area, so there aren’t always a lot of contractors that work out here, but I’m fairly close to a major city. I’ll probably just start calling around and see if they’re willing to take a job where I live.
No problem! And if you did want to do it yourself, you could try this:
https://www.amazon.com/NOYAFA-Underground-Portable-Detection-Electrical/dp/B08CKFKX7N/
You have to disconnect the line from the breaker and connect this to it so if you are not comfortable opening your panel and taking the line off the breaker, then this won’t be an option.
Also, I’m not endorsing this product, I’ve never used this one in particular, but it looks like the cheapest one that might possibly work for that depth… it says it detects up to 1 meter. Usually residential lines going to detached buildings are 24" but I’ve seen them deeper and I also have seen them barely scratched into the dirt a couple inches too, just depends on the contractor that put it in when your building was built initially.