Tracing supply of services

[JIP]

Hi - I want to dig up and re-lay the footpath leading up to and along the front of my house. The path (about 3ft wide), consists of a slight slope upwards towards the house, about 16 ft, and then turns right, at a right angle along the front of the house. It's a mix of concrete and paving slabs as left by my predecessor, and I want to create a uniform surface instead.

Wondering about what lies beneath!

The water stop tap is in the pavement a few inches from the start of the path. Direct line of site from the stop tap to the rising main inside the house is a diaganol line across the path. The house is a

1920s build. Is it likely that the supply pipe will be a straight line from stop tap to rising main.

The electricity supply comes into the house a few feet to the right of the entry path but I have no idea where it starts from or how deep it goes.

The gas entry point is same as electricity, but again I have no idea where it starts from or how deep it goes.

I don't want any "shocks" as I dig. So can anyone advise how deep these supplies are likely to be.

I don't anticipate having to dig-out very deep, but I have no idea what there is in the way of hardcore depth. Don't need too much depth because it will only ever be a footpath - no vehicular use.

Once I've removed the current surfacing and sorted whatever arises re the hardcore, I then aim to get someone in to do the finishing - based on cost as much as anything. Can anyone comment on the going comparative costs of tarmac vs brick blocks vs concrete vs slabs or whatever.

Many thanks

[JIP]

I think we went the same school then - I always get good at jobs as they end!

[Camdor]

Hire one of these

[Rick Hughes]

This is not a joke ... divine for it, I was totally sceptical about this ... guy came to site I was on, bent 2 bits of welding rod into 'L' shaped ... every time he crossed a pipe they would swing.

I was convinced it was a hoax ... until I tried it ....... it worked ... very clear indication of a water main ... traced full route of pipe ... and when they come to dig it ... twas spot on.

With practice you are supposed to be able to tell between power, water etc.

Strange though it would not work for everyone, and for the few that didn't they were convinced it was all a wind up.

S.Wales Electricity board used to used diviners on regular basis .... probably got some £100k made in Taiwan device now.

[Brian Gaff]

Chuckle, yes my neighbour put up a wall to replace fence and bust both my and his gas pip about six inches down. Built in 1939, supposed to have been

18 inches down. I'm not changing my path or fence.Luckily I did not use my gas so they capped it at the street. As for electricity, could not this be traced by some electronic gadget?

Water definitely crosses under my path, though I think the original pipe layers made the runs to fit the pipes rather than cut the pipes to fit from what neighbours say!

I think the moral is, expect a totally illogical situation and never believe the original information. Brian

[Bill]

In message , Camdor writes

If you were anywhere near Bedford I would pop around with one similar.

Most useful purchase I've made in years. Great on live cables, OK on metal pipes and disconnected cables. Useless on plastic gas pipes though :-(

[Davey]

A few years ago in the US, we had to have our sewer 'lateral' replaced. The council hired a country-wide company to come out and identify where the gas and water lines were underground using similar equipment, ready for the dig, and the gas pipe was marked 3 feet off from its actual position. It was a good thing that the contractor was careful when he did the digging. But I blame the operator, not the device, he spent more time typing into his dashboard-mounted laptop than he did out of the vehicle.

[Phil L]

probably not - mains of all kinds were just lobbed into whatever trench happened to be there at the time - it's highly likely that all three services are in the same trench but at slightly different depths, or they could all be seperate depending upon when they were laid/replaced

Leccy is usually no more than 18 inches deep, sometimes only a foot, gas is the same.

Water is likely to be far deeper than gas and leccy, but all this is a guide only, *any main can be at any depth and run in any direction*

in which case it only needs to be excavated 125mm (5in) and therefore you are highly unlikely to find any kind of main

With all surfaces, the majority of the work is in preparation, and you are doing this yourself, but I wouldn't bother if I were you, it will cost you more than a contractor like myself would charge you, plus, if anything is wrong with the final surface, it's your fault because you did half the work. My advice is to get a price from someone to do the whole thing or do the whole thing yourself - you are already cotemplating doing the hardest bit anyway - the easy bit is laying the new stuff!

Pricewise, there's little difference between blocks and paving slabs, tarmac needs to be laid by a pro and is similar in price to blocks and slabs. concrete is cheapest but looks hideous.

measure up the whole thing in square metres before you do anything else.

[Jules Richardson]

Yes, then can screw it up, although they don't usually.

It's a requirement where I am to call[1] in location services before doing any digging - but it's a free service and usually within an hour or two all the various utility companies have sent someone round and marked out where everything is (actually I saw an independent loction service van around a couple of days ago, so I wonder if they've "teamed up" now so they only have to send the one vehicle now rather than each company having to send their own)

[1] or I can do it online via a Google mapping service, and draw out the plots on my property that I want them to check. It seems to work quite well.

cheers

Jules

[Jules Richardson]

Is it supposed to require a human element - or can you mount the rods on bearings on some kind of frame (which would seem much easier for ruling out false-positives as the user can't move the rods and think that they moved by themselves)?

I've seen skeptical folks try it before and get results - but only in situations where they knew there was/wasn't something there (not to say that it doesn't work, illogical though it is, just that I don't remember seeing someone do it in a 'blind' test).

cheers

Jules