Building over buried lines

[markct]

how big of a building ya wanna make, here we have some buildings as big as 12 by 20ft that are on skids, so if we were to move them, which we have occasionaly, all that ya gota do is drag it, that would be alot better if you are worried about the underground lines, actualy come to think of it one of them is over the main electric line coming into our house!

 

[kayssupply]

If you have plastic lines cutting and sleeving wouldn't be that hard. You could probably just make one cut and expose then sleeve. Another thought would be to bury a tracer wire so you could find them later. A tracer wire is always a good idea when running plastic lines. You leave the wire exposed at one or both ends for attaching a sending unit to make location a snap years later. We even bury a warning tape a few inches above a plastic gas line so you know its there if digging later.

 

[dooleysm]

If you want advice from someone who's been where you are, you've come to the right place.

I put up a pole barn near my house last summer. The area we laid out was known to be directly above the water line from the meter to the house (our responsibility). The barn is set off about 20 feet from the driveway. The electric feed to our house runs along side the driveway. They marked it when they installed it the previous year. I never saw the phone line installed, but they assured me they bury it right next to the electric line.

So, early last summer we head out with the post hole digger to dig our holes. 3rd hole in fills with water. We patch the water line and dump a good amount of gravel over it. Should we move the water line? Well, we decide, if there's ever a problem, we'll trench the line around the barn, same thing we'd have to do to move it. Might as well continue on and hope it never breaks. But at least we have a plan.

We continue on digging our holes (now 2 hours later) and on the final hole, up pops a telephone cable. The telephone company fixed that the next day and marked it. The route the telephone line takes coming into our house is fairly comical...full of right angles and nowhere near where it is 'supposed' to be.

The project continues on throughout the summer. We tap into the water feed to the house (under the barn) to install 2 frost free hydrants, one in the barn and one right outside. We pour a concrete floor, finish the roof and siding and are living happily until Thanksgiving.

I come in from rabbit hunting Sunday afternoon and notice some large puddles of water near the barn. Odd, since it hadn't rained recently. A quick trip to the water meter assures me that I hadn't forgotten about any recent showers, and we were in fact losing some water to the ground. Some quick digging next to the barn indicates that's where the leak is. We pack it up for the night.

Monday evening my father in law shows up with the trencher and we trench a new water line in around the barn. This solves our leak, but puts a damer on the water to my 2 hydrants at the barn. The following night we dig under the barn and find the leak, right where we had patched it early in the summer. We cap that off and turn on the valve that we had installed the night before above the barn. Water was restored to the house and barn.

So, just to let you know, Murphy is alive and well and he knows all to well what to do when you build a barn on top of his utility lines.

 

[LBrown59]

I built a 52 foot wide pole building.
The front 4x6 post are right on top of where my gas and water lines cross from one side of the property to the other.
The builder spliced = repaired the one place he hit the gas line.
We debated what to do about the gas line leave it as it was or re route the line.
We decided to leave it as it was as I could always loop it along the back or front and around the sides of the building if I had a problem later.
That was 10 years ago.
Had the building been set back one foot more than it is we would have completely missed the gas line.
=====

 

[NIXON]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
Had the building been set back one foot more than it is we would have completely missed the gas line.
===== )</font>
Absolute "BIMP " /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BoneheadNW]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I built a 52 foot wide pole building.
The front 4x6 post are right on top of where my gas and water lines cross from one side of the property to the other.
The builder spliced = repaired the one place he hit the gas line.
We debated what to do about the gas line leave it as it was or re route the line.
We decided to leave it as it was as I could always loop it along the back or front and around the sides of the building if I had a problem later.
That was 10 years ago.
Had the building been set back one foot more than it is we would have completely missed the gas line.
===== )</font>
I had a similar problem with my place except there were no gas or water lines underneath or near the building. We haven't had a problem since, although it has only been 3 years.
Bonehead

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
I had a similar problem with my place except there were no gas or water lines underneath or near the building. We haven't had a problem since, although it has only been 3 years.
Bonehead )</font> Sometimes it takes a few years and then a more severe winter will come along and frost heave a post or 2 in pole construction. You may get a water leak then or else never.

 

[BoneheadNW]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">(
I had a similar problem with my place except there were no gas or water lines underneath or near the building. We haven't had a problem since, although it has only been 3 years.
Bonehead )</font> Sometimes it takes a few years and then a more severe winter will come along and frost heave a post or 2 in pole construction. You may get a water leak then or else never. )</font>
It is funny that you mention the frost heave. I was told by our builder not to put a rock wall near any post or underground utilities. Unfortunately, he was hit by a car before the house was completed. That it why I mentioned that we haven't had a problem yet, but I have my fingers crossed!
Bonehead

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">( </font><font color="blueclass=small">(
I had a similar problem with my place except there were no gas or water lines underneath or near the building. We haven't had a problem since, although it has only been 3 years.
Bonehead )</font> Sometimes it takes a few years and then a more severe winter will come along and frost heave a post or 2 in pole construction. You may get a water leak then or else never. )</font>
It is funny that you mention the frost heave. I was told by our builder not to put a rock wall near any post or underground utilities. Unfortunately, he was hit by a car before the house was completed. That it why I mentioned that we haven't had a problem yet, but I have my fingers crossed!
Bonehead <font color="black"> [/ )</font>There's a "rock hall" in cleveland but the builder's used block & glass construction if that helps any. <font color="black"> </font> color] <font color="black"> </font> <font color="black"> [/ )</font>There's a "rock hall" in cleveland but the builder's used block & glass construction if that helps any. <font color="black"> </font> color]

 

[Alan L.]

Around here water and sewer lines are buried under slab foundations, so I don't know what difference it would make.