# Depth of cable line



## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

2 issues

1. My neighbors cable line runs the length of my front yard, it was hand buried to 0-4" depth. Some places it is literally on the surface.



2. My own cable cuts right into and through my mulch bed. While cutting my beds, I sliced my cable line buried a cool 2" down. Like what? Am i supposed to call usic (call before you dig) to plant flowers in my beds or to edge my beds? This is nuts.


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## JohnP (Oct 24, 2017)

If it were me I would be calling the company to complain. If the first call didn't solve it I would call often (and be polite, poor soul answering the phone has little/no control). Ask for escalation. Complain. Etcetera.

If they didn't solve it within a reasonable timeframe depending on how tight the cable was I would grab an edging tool and just make a crack and bury it deeper.

Would be terrible if your core aerating you're planning to do next week tore it up.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Mine is 3-4", and was cut accidently during sprinkler installation as a result. It's supposed to be 8" or more.
My neighbor's phone line is buried one shovel width below the surface (around 8") because when it was being replaced, I told the electrical contractors I couldn't deal with anymore digging up of my lawn (I had just finished fixing it after they dug down 4 feet to lay electrical conduit). So, they obliged and hand-dug it in, but didn't go real deep. Also, parts of my sprinkler tubing are only 3.5" deep because I couldn't tell the contractor for sure how deep the gutter pipes were buried, so in one section, he went very shallow (the rest is 8" deep). I can't ever aerate that area...unless I can come up with a way to put the pipe deeper.


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## iowa jim (Jan 22, 2018)

John p ,your grounded! As you're daddy i taught you better than to complain. :lol:


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## ForsheeMS (May 21, 2018)

I think it really depends on how much care the cable guy brings with him. In most cases such as yours it's not much. I helped my neighbor install one of those invisible dog fences a while back and his cable was at least 6" deep. Mine on the other hand isn't more than 2" and most is less than that. If my grass wasn't fairly thick you would be able to see most of it.


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## beastcivic (Mar 26, 2018)

I feel your pain, I had fiber internet installed 1.5 years ago, the cable was barely a half inch below the surface, and on the surface in other areas. I dealt with it for a while, but when aeration time rolled around I had to ask them to come out and bury it deeper. Ended up running a new line, instead of tracing the old one, and the tech put it in the work order for burying it at least 8" deep. I came back after they buried it, took a shovel under it about 4", and pulled up cable. I get it, they're hand digging it, and I have some tough clay soil, but really burns me up that I now have to worry about cutting the cable any time I do aeration. And according to AT&T, if the cable is cut it's on me or the person aerating....even though by code most utilities need to be 18" deep in my area. But I guess fiber is a grey area of 'utilities'. Either way, frustrating. I agree with John P., call them up, ask them to rebury it deeper.


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

Green said:


> ... Also, parts of my sprinkler tubing are only 3.5" deep because I couldn't tell the contractor for sure how deep the gutter pipes were buried, so in one section, he went very shallow (the rest is 8" deep). I can't ever aerate that area...unless I can come up with a way to put the pipe deeper.


Reminds me of a story - was doing some drainage planning with an old sprinkler guy. The best run for a french drain was right through an area where we knew there had to be sprinkler lines. When I was like, "hey, that stretch will have to be hand dug" he was like, "hey, we'll run the trencher right through it full steam ahead and just fix whatever we break." I learned a lot from that old guy 

Just aerate away and fix whatever you break. :thumbup:


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## OnyxsLawn (Mar 15, 2018)

I had the same problem with my yard when I tilled it all up. wasn't more than 2" deep in the yard. If you yell at them enough they'll come at bury it again. I had them do it right below the fence so there was no chance of me digging into it. The tech i talked to said they pay $1000 to have the guys come out and bury it each time. So I told them i'd keep cutting it until they did it right. That seemed to get them motivated. The other option is to bury it yourself as deep as you want.


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

I will see what they say when I request it buried deep


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

I cut mine with the core aerator a couple years ago. Spike went right through it.


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## krusej23 (May 8, 2018)

Mine was buried right underneath our sod because our sod company when we built our house just laid the sod overtop of the phone line. Ended up calling the phone company and they came in and trenched it deeper.


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

krusej23 said:


> Mine was buried right underneath our sod because our sod company when we built our house just laid the sod overtop of the phone line. Ended up calling the phone company and they came in and trenched it deeper.


Well, I think to be fair, it was buried right under the sod because the phone company just laid it on the bare dirt, not because the sod company justifiably determined that their bid didn't include trenching in a phone line.


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## Powhatan (Dec 15, 2017)

I don't have a copy to confirm, but from what I've researched the National Electrical Code article 830.47 discusses direct buried cables with no depth requirement for "low power"communications cables. Apparently, it's an industry standard practice to bury the cable to the depth that either the ditch witch goes down to or a hand spade tool.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/128369/code-for-buried-comms-cable


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

I've seen a few houses where it looks like it was laid on top of the grass and only rain water smooshed it into the soil a bit lol


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## krusej23 (May 8, 2018)

Delmarva Keith said:


> krusej23 said:
> 
> 
> > Mine was buried right underneath our sod because our sod company when we built our house just laid the sod overtop of the phone line. Ended up calling the phone company and they came in and trenched it deeper.
> ...


I get that. I wasn't mad at the sod company. It was more of a, it's sitting on top of the dirt because it hasn't been buried yet so why not just lift it up when putting the sod down. We only found out that it wasn't buried deeper because we had an excavator hit the line when ripping up our cement driveway.


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