# Buying a House? Make sure there's no manhole cover **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-make-sure-theres-no-manhole-cover/573420 "2011-03-03T23:28:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-make-sure-theres-no-manhole-cover/573420/21 "2011-03-04T21:47:11Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > So the meter reader goes in your basement to read the meter? I think they have some sort of responder that sends the info out to the street, if modern enough. I’ve got a meter in my basement and I’ve never had a meter reader come inside in the 5 years I’ve been here, but I’ve had several bills that say the reading is “actual.” ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-make-sure-theres-no-manhole-cover/573420/22 "2011-03-04T22:27:46Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > that is a warm climate thing. where i’ve been in ground freezing winter climates the water lines were below frost depth and the meters inside the houses in the basements. Ah. Thanks for the clarification - I was all stymied too. My water meter’s in the basement; a couple of years ago my city had a technician install a new radio transmitter thingie so that they can just read it from the street automagically. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-make-sure-theres-no-manhole-cover/573420/23 "2011-03-04T22:39:11Z")
Corkboard answered my question before I posted it, actually. > [@corkboard](#): > > Our water meters have always been inside the house, in the basement. In the house I grew up in and in my own first house, the guy would come every month, go downstairs, and read it. What happened if you weren’t home? Did they just estimate that month’s usage, or come back later? Our meters are in small boxes. [You’d hardly notice them.](http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/sprinkler03b.jpg) Here is a cute graphic showing [placement of the meter box in the front yard.](http://www.savingwater.org/waterconnection/images/meterbox.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-make-sure-theres-no-manhole-cover/573420/24 "2011-03-05T16:47:36Z")
No manhole cover in the yard, but we do have a fire hydrant in the front yard. Handy as a landmark and (God forbid) if our house should ever catch fire (there was a (seems like) small fire in the house kitty-corner from us once, though, when it was used). But it also means that in the winter time, city crews who clear the streets always drive their dozers on my front lawn, ripping up the neat path I make to the street, leaving densely packed snow that’s hard to walk on, so that there is easy access to the hydrant and that it isn’t buried in snow. (Parking, thankfully, is on the opposite side of the street, so we can still park in front of the house (well, I guess technically, in front of the house across the street from us, but close enough!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-house-make-sure-theres-no-manhole-cover/573420.md?page=1)