Do I Need a Utility Locate Before Running Power to a Shed or Shop?

Yes, you need a locate before running power, gas or water to an outbuilding. A new feed is a trench from the house or the meter out to the shed, the shop, the barn, the gate or the detached garage, and it crosses everything already buried on that path: the irrigation main, the sewer lateral, the water service, the existing gas line, and the old feed to the old shed that nobody pulled out. On a country lot, add the well line and the propane run. 811 marks the utility companies' lines up to your meter and stops; all of that is past it.

The order that works. Call 811 first; it is free and takes two business days. Then have the existing private lines marked. Then trench, and hand-dig wherever the new trench crosses a mark. Then, when the new run is in, have it marked and recorded, so the next fence post or the next tree does not find it.

What we do. We trace what carries a signal with an electromagnetic locator, direct-connected when your electrician gives us a safe point, and sweep the trench route with ground-penetrating radar for what does not. Paint goes down in APWA color code, no depth, and anything we could not find goes in writing. We work alongside your electrician or plumber; we do not open panels, disconnect anything or repair pipe. Residential locates are a flat rate for the visit.

From the job log: electric services traced for homeowners in Monument, Parker and Colorado Springs, and gas and electric marked ahead of a fiber install in Black Forest.

Send the address and where the trench will run through the request form, or call or text (719) 800-4937, and we send a firm number, within one business day.