Removing post light in front yard

[Doug Kanter]

Just moved into a house built in 1956. It's got your typical light on a metal post in the front yard. It's crooked, and like 99.99% of yard lights, it would blind the police when they came to assist in the event of a prowler. It's also ugly, so I'm removing it. I thought it would be a kind gesture to leave whatever's underground in good shape, in case the next owner wants to put something there. But, I have no idea what I'm likely to find. I'd like to know, so I don't have to make 419 trips to the hardware store. The thing is set in soil about 20' from the foundation.

So, let's play psychic electrician. I'd like to know what others have discovered under such fixtures, especially in houses from that era. My fantasy: Conduit terminating under the light in a nice metal box, all held together with stainless steel screws so I don't have to spend the first 4 hours spraying all kinds of crap just to get the rust off. Yeah. Right.

Anyone want to play?

[Brikp]

UF wire, no box. Post set in dirt.

[Doug Kanter]

If UF the metal-shielded stuff?

[zxcvbob]

UF cable, directly buried about 10" deep. No cable clamps or anything.

regards, bob

[Ian Stirling]

6' cube of concrete, with bell-wire coming out of the bottom?

[PrecisionMachinisT]

Did they even have UF cable in 1956 ???

Ours (1962 ) is all buried in ( now rusted ) conduit......

[zxcvbob]

I don't know when it was put in. The house was built about 1949 or 1950.

Bob

[Doug Kanter]

That would be interesting! Matter of fact, in my first garden, I found an ancient septic tank about 8" down. The first owner used it for a small kennel he ran in the back of the garage.

[Doug Kanter]

Great. If you're right, that's about half as deep as I intend to double-dig this particular garden bed (around where the light is now).

[Brikp]

I think direct burial romex is called UF. I may be wrong.

[bumtracks]

most likely if you turn the power off and take the fixture off, or if it has a photo-cell remove that - disconnect the wires and give the post a wiggle and a twist there's a very good chance it will pull right out. Maybe measure real good and mark the panel cover where to find the buried post wire.

[Tom Miller]

In our first garden we found a doggie skeleton wrapped in a completely intact and wearable blue polyester shirt, inside a small crumbling suitcase. Then a week later we found another doggie, but this one was only partly decomposed. Ugh. That awful sucking sound when the shovel goes in.

As for underground wiring, a landscaper found the electrical line going to the detached garage while digging a french drain around the back of the house. Actually there were two. He barely missed cutting them both with the power trencher. One was inside a conduit and was that old disintegrating cloth-wrapped wire that we keep replacing in our 1921 house. It is the original wire, probably from 1921 or perhaps shortly afterwards, and was no longer working, fortunately. Running next to it was some kind of outdoor Romex-type wire -- who knows what vintage, gauge, or grade.

Both were buried about two feet deep.

[Doug Kanter]

You win the dozen virtual donuts. The plastic lamp post pulled right out, revealing a metal post which also slid out easily. Wire was about 12" deep, not contained in any kind of protective pipe. The only protection was a layer of pea gravel, and the wire was in awful shape.