We are operating under the assumption, however, that whoever did it was following the law.
I just mention this because the house behind us has been under construction for the past 5 years, and they routinely do things without obtaining permits, notifying the village, etc. The property line behind us has major drainage implications. A month or so ago they were out there trenching. We contacted the village, who knew nothing about it. These guys were going to bury drainage pipe and hook it up to the village’s sewer system without even notifying the village! :rolleyes: So just saying, you can’t assume whoever did this was doing what they should…
Related question: AT&T did something in my (and my neighbors’ for at least eight houses down) front yards last month, and left little forests of orange marker flags all over the place. It’s worst on our front lawn - we have the corner lot - although our yard is awful looking anyway.
Here’s the thing, though - they spray painted bright orange lines all over the one area of healthy grass we have. What the fuck? Is that normal?
Yes; it’s actually required under your state’s “Call Before You Dig” law.
However, they should only have done this on areas within the public right-of-way (which usually extends 10 feet from the curb–you don’t actually own that part of your yard), or in areas on your property in which they have an easement.
They are supposed to get permission from the property owner before venturing onto private property not covered by an easement.
Check around your neighborhood to see if anyone is having an inground pool or septic tank dug. Sounds like someone started to do that in your yard and maybe realized they were at the wrong address and beat it before anyone returned home.
Surveyors, excavators, etc. do it all the time. They even make special paint that sprays from the top of the can so you can hold it upside down. Doesn’t hurt the grass, and grows out within a couple of weeks.
Well, here’s an update. There is an easement at the back of my property because of the power/telephone lines that run overhead between my yard and the yard behind mine. The power company comes periodically and mutilates the trees that grow too close to the lines. I’ve called the power company and they say the digging wasn’t them.
The gas company neither confirmed nor denied that it was them, saying only that they will “investigate” and that I should call back in 2 business days. Hmm…
I think someone digging for a pool or septic tank is out of the question. This is a 1/6th acre city lot we’re talking about. Everyone here has city sewer, and the only pools you see in this neighborhood are those inflatable kind you can buy at Wal-Mart.
I work for a gas utility and sit right next to our Landscaping and Paving dept. I hear calls like this all of the time. There’s a good chance it was the gas company. If the work was done by a contractor for the gas company, which a lot of underground work is, they probably don’t work on a computer system. That would explain why the person you spoke with couldn’t confirm if they were the ones digging. It might take a few days to get the paperwork in. That’s how it works around here. If they were responsible for the damage they will certainly repair it. At my company, the L&P contractors don’t start until April, so it could be a few weeks until it is repaired if it is the same where you are.
If the gas company denies responsibilty, I second the advice above to conact the One Call locating company to find out who did the digging.
A few weeks ago I came home to foot prints in the virgin snow all over the front yard. Upon further investigation, they made a short cut through the lilacs and ripped up all of the blackberry vines, and there were footprints in the snow on the porches’ flat roof. And trampled a bush we paid $70 for last year.
It was the phone company connecting fiber optic lines, with no warning. The guy at the phone company I talked to said somebody probably knocked on the door to tell us, but if nobody is home they go ahead and get to work.
If I had been able to talk to somebody, I would have told them to absolutely stay off the roof, since it has structural issues and they could have been injured.
I finally spoke to a manager about everything, and his reply to all of this was- “At least you’ll have faster internet!”
So yeah, I’ll be watching this to see how your situation turns out!
Probably won’t matter after they dig that canal across your lawn along the dotted line!
Seriously though, the gas company came out and spray painted and planted little flags along the ROW in front of my business about a month ago. I fully expect them to dig it all up to replace or remove a gas line, although nothing has happened yet.
The locate is often for some other company (not the gas company) to dig in the vicinity of gas lines. They are probably going to dig in the proper location regardless of whether or not the gas company has properly located the lines.
I don’t think I would want to be responsible if the contractor hits the gas line because I moved the flags.
Actually, the lawn is a total disaster - the house was a rental property before we bought it in '08, and the grass was slowly being replaced by weeds, and we’ve only done inside work so far.
Part of where they painted is the one healthy patch, but honestly if they come out and dig up the whole thing it will probably save me a shit ton of time and effort.
