[call811beforeyoudig]

Don’t forget to call before you dig! Even for simple projects, like planting shrubs or putting up a mailbox, it’s important to call 811 (Call 811 - Know what's below). There could be utility lines where you break ground - sometimes multiple lines are in a common area and their depths vary, so you might not know about all of them.

[Greensmith]

You should tell comcast cable this. Lazy bums never mark their lines around here.

[Fine Edge]

48 hour notice around here doesn't mean a thing. Usually I have to call again on the day I'm starting because power hasn't been marked and I've had the ticket for 5 days.
Thank goodness they usually mark it by the second or third call.

If you tell me it's going to be marked within 48 hours, I'm going to schedule to start right after that.
If you're too busy to do it within the 48 hour notice, then tell me. 75% of the guys that are marking the lines apologize to me because they're late and swamped with work.

[NCSULandscaper]

living in a smaller city has its advantages, i send in my locate ticket and have everything marked most of the time within 24 hours, if not i have my own line locator and can do it myself

[Stonehenge]

Not that this is of tremendous benefit, but isn't the utility marking service on the hook for any damage if they fail to mark a utility by the appointed time?

[Cochran]

Our utilities are marked rather quickly, but mostly inaccurate. Twice we've gotten off the hook because drops weren't located and marks were over 3' off the actual utility line.

We've gotten to where we call on any and all projects we do, even if it's just laying sod. Around here, the phone company is notorious for not burying their lines after installation and we have actually cut a phone line running a small cultivator over the top of the soil (less than 3" deep).

Our phone company guy told us last week that all their new lines are now fiber optic, even going into residential homes. He said the cost of cutting one of those is $2000 minimum. I'm going CYA and calling locators regardless of work to be performed.

[natural12]

Here in Raleigh they are pretty good. Lines get marked within 48 hrs. If I travel 15 miles to Chapel Hill things are different. For some reason they take their time marking. Not sure why.

[NCSULandscaper]

raleigh is pretty good, except for the public works dept, they have never showed up to mark water and sewer like they were suppose to, and i have hit a few too.

[natural12]

True. I have become pretty good at water line repair. I just assumed that the water line did not get market from the meter to the house.

[Fine Edge]

Around here ( Charlotte market ) they don't mark water lines.
We see shallow lines all the time, cable is the worst. 2" - 3" deep is very normal.
Even hit a secondary gas line to a lamp post once with an aerator.

[Cochran]

Well we just hit another line that was not located properly! This is time #3. Thank goodness for digital cameras and confirmation numbers!

[Greensmith]

The secondary gas lines make me nervous. Especially to the homeowners grills and lamps. I have seen some homeowner looking pipes that were brown with rust and barely visible.

Someone mentioned a finder tool, any info on it?

[Stonehenge]

There is one, but it's six grand.

[Lanelle]

Every project is called in well in advance of the start date. Even so, I will walk properties and see obvious conflicts that haven't been marked. They are getting slower and slower at getting everything marked.

[Stonehenge]

And I don't quite understand it around us, unless they've cut way back on staff, because there just isn't as much construction going on as their used to be in our market. So there should be some utility marking people sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for locate requests.

We just wrapped up a tree planting, and the next morning we stopped out and they'd finally marked the utilities. After we were done.