Locating Sewer Lines?

lilbitt7 · Feb 1, 2012, 04:09 AM

we have now dug 4ft and 5 ft in different places getting very desperate what to do??????

speedball1 · Feb 1, 2012, 05:36 AM

There are companies that have the equipment to locate your sewer line.
Click on Subsurface Solutions - Sewer Cameras, Line Locators, Utility Mapping, Inspection Products to check it out. Good luck, Tom

RickJ · Feb 1, 2012, 06:01 AM

Additionally, you can call the local water company to ask them where to get a map of the lines. It's free in my area. The map will typically show exactly where the lines are and how deep they are. As speedball said earlier, if you are in a cold climate zone, the lines may be 6' or more down.

speedball1 · Feb 1, 2012, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Additionally, you can call the local water company to ask them where to get a map of the lines.

The Building Department can map out the location of city raisers they don't keep records of the house sewer. Regards, Tom

smoothy · Feb 1, 2012, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilbitt7

we have now dug 4ft and 5 ft in different places getting very desperate what to do??????

Lilbitt7, Have you been reading the responses?...

#1 you STILL havent told us WHERE you live. We can't guess at what your frost line is so we can't guess how deep it is either... If you are in South Texas or along the Canadian border of North Dakota...there might be a difference of 15 feet.

RickJ · Feb 1, 2012, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedball1

The Building Department can map out the location of city raisers they don't keep records of the house sewer. Regards, Tom

In my city the maps show the lines coming from each property.

In some areas, as Tom has said, that may not be the case... but it can't hurt to give them a call to find out since it's a free resource.

speedball1 · Feb 1, 2012, 06:44 AM

Hey Rick,
I've worked all up and down the Gulf Coast under many codes and none of the areas I've worked care about anything but what they're responsible for. And their responsibility ends at the property line. If you have a Building Department that maps the sewer lines from the house to the street you just gotta be one of the few. Cheers, Tom

hkstroud · Feb 1, 2012, 10:52 AM

Tom,
Fairfax county, VA requires that the builder submit a drawing showing the location of the sewer main. This is usually nothing fancy, just a hand drawn sketch by the plumber of the line between the building and the street. This sketch is kept on file by the county water department for the convenience of the home owner.

mygirlsdad77 · Feb 1, 2012, 03:12 PM

Once again, what area do you live in? Also, if you cant get diagrams, or find the sewer by digging, time to hire in a company to locate it for you. Contacting the city surely cant hurt, as they most likey wont charge you anything to take a look at things. They may be able to locate the water line, and would know if the water and sewer are in the same ditch. They may even be able to give you a pretty good ideas what the depth of the sewer is. Most likey it wont be as deep as your water, but that all comes down to where you live, if you have a basement, how deep the city main is, etc, etc. Lots of things to consider without being there to see it for ones self. You may find that your sewer is fairly deep and would require a backhoe to dig it up, hopefully not, but there is always the chance. All sewer work in my area is done by backhoe. I actually had a guy get an 8x8x8 foot whole dug with a shovel before biting the bullet and hiring in a backhoe and plumber.

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