Private Utility Locating
Mapping the customer-owned underground lines on your property before anyone breaks ground in Eagle County.
Where 811 ends and we begin
Colorado's damage prevention law puts two duties in place. Excavators must notify Colorado 811 at least two full business days before digging. Facility owners and operators must then mark the facilities they own. Those two duties, together, still leave most private property substantially unmarked.
The utility's responsibility generally ends at the meter or point of service. On the house side of that point the lines belong to the property owner, and marking them is nobody's job unless somebody hires it done.
What we locate
- Water service lines from the meter or well to the structure
- Gas and propane runs to fire pits, pool and spa heaters, generators and outbuildings
- Electric feeds to detached garages, shops, guest houses, gates and well pumps
- Communications, fiber, alarm and low-voltage runs
- Sewer laterals, septic tanks, distribution boxes and leach fields
- Irrigation mains, valves and landscape lighting
- Snowmelt and glycol loops under driveways, walkways and patios
- Geothermal loop field and radiant lines
How we find it
Electromagnetic locating
The workhorse. A transmitter puts a traceable signal onto a conductive line and a receiver follows it from the surface. A direct connection at a meter, panel, valve or cleanout gives the cleanest trace; an inductive clamp works where we can get around the conductor; broad induction sweeps the site when we are hunting for unknowns.
Sonde tracing
For non-conductive pipe we can access, a transmitting sonde is pushed through the line and tracked from the surface. This is how a plastic sewer lateral or a poly water service gets found when no tracer wire was ever installed.
Ground penetrating radar
Radar reads reflections from buried objects and disturbed soil rather than following a signal, so it can find non-conductive pipe, tanks, vaults and abandoned lines with no connection point. It is also the most condition-dependent tool we carry. Wet, dense or heavily disturbed ground cuts its useful depth substantially, and we will say so rather than overstate a result.
What you get
Lines marked on the ground in APWA color-coded paint and flags, walked with you or your foreman before we leave, with a plain description of what we found, what we could not confirm, and where we would be careful. Site photos and a sketch on request.
An honest limit
No locate finds everything. Abandoned lines, non-conductive pipe with no tracer wire and no access point, and targets beyond equipment range in local soils can all go undetected. A locate dramatically reduces risk; it does not eliminate it. Colorado law still requires reasonable care — hand digging — within 18 inches of any marked line, and that applies to our marks the same as to 811's.
APWA uniform color code
We mark to the same national standard the utilities use.
Common questions
What is the difference between an 811 locate and a private locate?
An 811 locate is performed by the utility owners on the facilities they own, at no charge, and stops at the meter or point of service. A private locate is performed on the customer-owned lines beyond that point, which no utility is responsible for marking.
Can you locate plastic water or gas line?
Often, but not always with the same method. Plastic and other non-conductive pipe carries no signal unless a tracer wire was installed. On those we use a sonde pushed through the line where it is accessible, or ground penetrating radar, which reads soil disturbance and pipe rather than a signal. Conditions matter: dense clay, saturated ground and deep fill all reduce what radar can see.
How deep can you locate?
Depth depends on the line, the soil and the method. Electromagnetic locating on a good conductive target with a solid connection reaches well past typical service depths. Radar in Vail Valley soils is far more limited. We report estimated depth where we can and we tell you when a depth reading is not reliable.
Do you mark the ground or give me a drawing?
Marked on the ground in APWA color-coded paint and flags as standard. We can also provide photos of the marked site and a sketch of what was found on request, which is worth having when the job may slide past the 30-day mark validity or when several trades will work the site.
Do I still need to call 811?
Yes. Colorado law requires notifying Colorado 811 at least two full business days before excavating, and that is a legal obligation a private locate does not replace. Call 811, then call us for everything 811 will not mark.
What do you need from me before you arrive?
Site access, and anything you know about the property: as-builts, septic permits, where the well is, which additions came later, and the location of meters, panels and cleanouts. Access to an interior panel or a cleanout often makes the difference between a strong direct connection and a guess.
Private locating across Eagle County
From Vail Village to Gypsum, and out to Minturn, Wolcott, Red Cliff, EagleVail, Basalt, El Jebel and Leadville. If you are inside Eagle County, we cover you.
Know what's down there before you dig.
Same-week scheduling across the Vail Valley. Call and talk to the person who will actually be on your site.