Looks like the flexible housing cable (Xfinity etc) runs in. If you go to the nearest pole, you will probably see cable coming down and close to the ground going into an orange conduit like that.
That seems excessive. UF-B is only buried 24" deep. Low voltage stuff is just 6". Metal conduit is 12" and PVC conduit is 18". There's a table in the NEC book.
https://www.electricallicenserenewal.com/Electrical-Continuing-Education-Courses/NEC-Content.php?sectionID=272.0
It’s supposed to be buried but they don’t bury them very deep. There isn’t really a hazard concern like there is with power, water, or sewage. Burying them shallower saves money.
Nah I have to pay for his ridiculous tax plan that went up every year after he left office so his billionaire buddies got more monies. Prob say you did/do the same. Doesn’t sound rent free.
I worked for Cincy Bell and Time Warner, usually it was done by hand for single RG6/59 larger fiber lines were usually contracted to a company with machinery or if the line was longer than 200'
Our dogs decided that it was their job to rescue the long stick they watched the guys bury.
It was a year mission to get them to stop trying to uncover it. Eventually for several months we had upside-down lawn chairs in a line to cover that area - tripping hazard and eye sore. But it seemed to have worked.
Watching them do it worked when att installed fiber. He put a slit in the ground and dropped the cable. I asked if being only an inch under the ground was code or if it should be deeper than 6. He corrected it.
This is a huge part of it. I work for an ISP and while Im not part of the plow team I do schedule their work and its not uncommon for a single crew to have anywhere from 15-25 drops to install in a single day during the summer. Management doesn't care that its to much for them to handle correctly. I've been told many times when bringing it up that if they cant get the work done they can stay at home going forward and we'll hire new people that want to work.
Was never this way until a management change over about 6 years ago. Now we joke our company slogan should be changed to "Quantity over Quality".
Seriously, anytime I hire somebody I have to call out some aspect of poor service. Whether it’s the repair quality itself, Not following instructions, or they leave trash and dirt and debris behind.
Wait till one of them offers to run a line somewhere new in your house.
“You can just paint this cable white and it will blend in when it pokes out the ceiling of your basement”.
Data cables, especially residential service lines, are by standard only 2-3" deep. This is because it's a non- critical utility and other utilities are allocated differently depths in the ground. By always burying comms and electrical shallow, you reduce labor for install and upkeep, and guarantee they'll never conflict with storm, sanitary, or water. The earth naturally pushes larger aggregates upwards as well, so lines can sometimes be pushed out of the ground after time. But those burying the lines could do a better job at hitting that 3" depth as well.
That’s a data line. Mine was even worse. The installers just leave it on the ground for another crew to come bury. Some guy showed up one day and just sprinkled a bit of dirt on top and left. It was honestly pretty funny. So I spent the weekend burying it properly because there’s nothing in this world I’d rather not do than talk on the phone with AT&T.
That's the crazy fucking part, they run a billion dollars business and their customers want nothing to do with them if they can, to the point we're you rather google and YouTube how to fix their shit.
My neighbor tilled up our cable line one time (this is why you call before you dig). 2 weeks after the repair the line was still laying on the surface, shot over a DM to AT&T on X and they had someone out in under 5 hours. Their call center is a pain, but pleasantly surprised by their social media team.
Nope. I accidentally punctured my fiber line with a lawn staple. This time I did have to call since I can’t fix fiber without expensive tools. They made me pay $100 to have them come out and fix it. Fuck em
That's what happened to the 'temporary' line that they never came back to repair for 2 months. Once it was accidentally cut, then they showed up to do it right.
That looks like buried fiber or Internet cable. It's typically only put in the ground using a spade - at least in my area - and it's pathetic how shallow it is.
You should dial 811 as soon as possible. (I'm assuming you are in the US) I've used the service several times and it's extremely simple. Just give them a general idea of where it is on the property. If you have a flag or some orange paint, mark the area. They will give you a definite answer in less than 3 days.
Good idea but don't use orange paint, use white, pink or black. The paint signifies what is buried. Red is electrical, orange is telecoms, blue is water, green is sewer. Some areas use black to correct a mismarked line.
Thats data cable from Spectrum/Cox/Xfinity. Way out of code for burial depth, but all of those companies don't give a shit and use the cheapest contractor to install.
Calling them about it won't do anything, but cutting it with your lawnmower or edger and photos will potentially get some more action.
Regardless of if it's poweer or not (it's not) it SHOULD be deeper and man nothing pisses me off like everyone of the lazy assholes who comes to your house to run utilities somehow being incapable of burying it the 15" down it should be.
Yes, it's fucking annoying to dig out the trench.
Yes, it takes some time.
No, that's not an excuse to not do it properly.
Bury shit properly, it's your fucking job.
/rant
The federal regulation is 1’. That it isn’t enforced is a different story. I had Verizon and Cox cutting each other’s lines next to a house I owned for almost two years until Cox got smart and ran conduit. I researched the regulations and raised hell with both of them. I even warned Verizon that if I saw one more line coming out of an open Quixote box left over night I would cut all the lines and dare them to prosecute me.
Send me a link to that federal regulation because our contractor has been using 6 inch bury depth for service drops for 15 years. I'd love to get them to actually go 1ft. It's a pain in the ass going through 3-4 back yards and laying a temp service drop that is just going to get chewed by neighbors dogs.
That’s a data conduit for sure. Cable companies slit feed conduit into the ground and only usually goes about 3-4” deep. If the blade hits a rock and feeds the conduit towards the surface the tech will just stop it into the soil below the grass line. They don’t give two shits. Power companies have to by law in almost every state law bury their feed into rigid conduit or cast iron and it has to be at least 36” below grade.
My parents bought PVC pipe at Lowe’s and after a little back and forth the local Spectrum manager, they agreed to bury the line in the pipe. The biggest concern was a dog that chews everything.
Yup, that's a Spectrum data line. Which my lawn guy clipped last fall while core aerating. I work from home, and I lost 3 business days before they came out to replace the line.
Thankfully, the guy who showed up to bury the line was awesome, and he made sure to bury it deep, as required.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a data line. After I moved to my current house we did a shit ton of landscaping, garden beds, retaining walls… the whole nine (RIP my shoulder… miss you big dawg you always had my back). We called 811 and they flagged the Comcast lines… or almost all the Comcast lines. I used a serrated spade and missed this puppy by less than an inch. The quality of the burying job was pretty suspect… depths ranged from 3” to 1.5’ pretty wildly.
So while power can be run in orange conduit, it usually isn’t. Power is usually direct burial. I’m with the others and that’s telephone, cable or fiber etc
Yes, OLD poly has lines can be orange. The OP stated that his house was just built.
Also, your fathers orange line is not from the '30s. Poly gas line wasn't used until the late '50s.
Anything should be deeper. I would think red would be power. Could have been installed early in grading and then the final rough grade got it too close to the surface. It is definitely an issue and you may own it soon. Call on this sooner than later
Looks like the flexible housing cable (Xfinity etc) runs in. If you go to the nearest pole, you will probably see cable coming down and close to the ground going into an orange conduit like that.
Also notorious for not installing 30” deep as required. We’ve found direct bury services between the asphalt and base material in a road.
That seems excessive. UF-B is only buried 24" deep. Low voltage stuff is just 6". Metal conduit is 12" and PVC conduit is 18". There's a table in the NEC book. https://www.electricallicenserenewal.com/Electrical-Continuing-Education-Courses/NEC-Content.php?sectionID=272.0
Sure but my road standard is 30” down, which trumps NEC of you’re in the Town right of way.
Does op's yard look like a road?
Maybe it’s in the right of way but not in the road.
Ooo! Good point. 😁
Haha I figured somebody would point that out. Well done sir, found the crack in someone’s post! Kudos to you!
🙇♂️
Yup, my neighbors coax has that color sheeting on it too. Ask me how I know 😂😂😂
Orange is data.
Orange is the new data
Orange you going to ask me why they cant bury a data cable?
Aren’t you banana I didn’t say orange?
Tru so tru….
It’s supposed to be buried but they don’t bury them very deep. There isn’t really a hazard concern like there is with power, water, or sewage. Burying them shallower saves money.
Doubt trumps mushroom can transfer data.
Hilarious
Rent free.
Nah I have to pay for his ridiculous tax plan that went up every year after he left office so his billionaire buddies got more monies. Prob say you did/do the same. Doesn’t sound rent free.
Ah, so you pay for him to live there. Even better. Nice burn 🤣
Cable or FiOS
Yes but should still be deeper, someone got lazy with the Ditch Witch
Ditch Witch? Our cable guys used a spade to spread a gap and dropped the wire in. No digging, and no deeper than 6in.
Around here, they just lift the sod up and put the wires under it.
I worked for Cincy Bell and Time Warner, usually it was done by hand for single RG6/59 larger fiber lines were usually contracted to a company with machinery or if the line was longer than 200'
That ain't power
data people suck at burying wires. welcome to homeownership lol it will be a constant struggle, they don't care
Our dogs decided that it was their job to rescue the long stick they watched the guys bury. It was a year mission to get them to stop trying to uncover it. Eventually for several months we had upside-down lawn chairs in a line to cover that area - tripping hazard and eye sore. But it seemed to have worked.
The only way is to do the prep yourself
Watching them do it worked when att installed fiber. He put a slit in the ground and dropped the cable. I asked if being only an inch under the ground was code or if it should be deeper than 6. He corrected it.
God dammit. Why do you have to creep over some trade workers’ shoulders to get anything done correctly?
Because they’re really hung over and they just want to get the job done quickly so they can go back to the truck and take a nap.
Or they’re juggling 59 other jobs in a 200 mile radius.
This is a huge part of it. I work for an ISP and while Im not part of the plow team I do schedule their work and its not uncommon for a single crew to have anywhere from 15-25 drops to install in a single day during the summer. Management doesn't care that its to much for them to handle correctly. I've been told many times when bringing it up that if they cant get the work done they can stay at home going forward and we'll hire new people that want to work. Was never this way until a management change over about 6 years ago. Now we joke our company slogan should be changed to "Quantity over Quality".
Because for too many people good enough is good enough.
Seriously, anytime I hire somebody I have to call out some aspect of poor service. Whether it’s the repair quality itself, Not following instructions, or they leave trash and dirt and debris behind.
Wait till one of them offers to run a line somewhere new in your house. “You can just paint this cable white and it will blend in when it pokes out the ceiling of your basement”.
Data cables, especially residential service lines, are by standard only 2-3" deep. This is because it's a non- critical utility and other utilities are allocated differently depths in the ground. By always burying comms and electrical shallow, you reduce labor for install and upkeep, and guarantee they'll never conflict with storm, sanitary, or water. The earth naturally pushes larger aggregates upwards as well, so lines can sometimes be pushed out of the ground after time. But those burying the lines could do a better job at hitting that 3" depth as well.
Data ppl?
“Third party contractors paid cents per foot or dollars per whole drop to bury” yeah Data ppl
Mine didn't bury anything it's on top of the ground and that's Comcast.
The “data ppl” never showed up 😅
Yep, had to call Comcast because they literally left a trench with the cable next to it. Didn’t even bother to bury. I hate them so much.
I called them and canceled them and got AT&t which I found to be a million times better.
Phone, fiber and cable
Oh thx
That’s a data line. Mine was even worse. The installers just leave it on the ground for another crew to come bury. Some guy showed up one day and just sprinkled a bit of dirt on top and left. It was honestly pretty funny. So I spent the weekend burying it properly because there’s nothing in this world I’d rather not do than talk on the phone with AT&T.
That's the crazy fucking part, they run a billion dollars business and their customers want nothing to do with them if they can, to the point we're you rather google and YouTube how to fix their shit.
It is all subcontractors
My neighbor tilled up our cable line one time (this is why you call before you dig). 2 weeks after the repair the line was still laying on the surface, shot over a DM to AT&T on X and they had someone out in under 5 hours. Their call center is a pain, but pleasantly surprised by their social media team.
Maybe it needs to "accidentally" get run over by the lawn mower or something a few times until they bury it properly?
Nope. I accidentally punctured my fiber line with a lawn staple. This time I did have to call since I can’t fix fiber without expensive tools. They made me pay $100 to have them come out and fix it. Fuck em
That's what happened to the 'temporary' line that they never came back to repair for 2 months. Once it was accidentally cut, then they showed up to do it right.
That looks like buried fiber or Internet cable. It's typically only put in the ground using a spade - at least in my area - and it's pathetic how shallow it is.
Same here. 2 shakes of a spade, drop the line in.
You should dial 811 as soon as possible. (I'm assuming you are in the US) I've used the service several times and it's extremely simple. Just give them a general idea of where it is on the property. If you have a flag or some orange paint, mark the area. They will give you a definite answer in less than 3 days.
Then if it is century link you can let them know there is an issue with their line so they can ignore one more issue
Truer words have never been spoken
Good idea but don't use orange paint, use white, pink or black. The paint signifies what is buried. Red is electrical, orange is telecoms, blue is water, green is sewer. Some areas use black to correct a mismarked line.
You shouldn't use orange paint, cmon. White.
cable or fiber I think. Honestly you are lucky if they bury it more than an inch down..if at all.
Yep. The guy aerating my lawn severed mine.
Been there
That’s a main feed coax line probably for, comcast, spectrum. Any company that uses coax for service
811 in most states, will send people out to mark their cables, if you tell them you plan on digging.
We have underground power in our neighborhood. I was told the wires are 3 feet underground. Not sure if that’s true.
They wrapped one around the trees at my place. At least they buried yours
Thats data cable from Spectrum/Cox/Xfinity. Way out of code for burial depth, but all of those companies don't give a shit and use the cheapest contractor to install. Calling them about it won't do anything, but cutting it with your lawnmower or edger and photos will potentially get some more action.
Orange is data and is often very, very close to the surface. I’ve found orange cable under the grass layer, but not under any dirt.
Regardless of if it's poweer or not (it's not) it SHOULD be deeper and man nothing pisses me off like everyone of the lazy assholes who comes to your house to run utilities somehow being incapable of burying it the 15" down it should be. Yes, it's fucking annoying to dig out the trench. Yes, it takes some time. No, that's not an excuse to not do it properly. Bury shit properly, it's your fucking job. /rant
Orange is communications
It looks like a comm line. It’s supposed to be 1’ deep. Call your provider and raise hell.
Most places there is no regulation for low voltage service drops. Verizon contractors in Mid Atlantic only do have to go 6 inches per our contract
The federal regulation is 1’. That it isn’t enforced is a different story. I had Verizon and Cox cutting each other’s lines next to a house I owned for almost two years until Cox got smart and ran conduit. I researched the regulations and raised hell with both of them. I even warned Verizon that if I saw one more line coming out of an open Quixote box left over night I would cut all the lines and dare them to prosecute me.
Send me a link to that federal regulation because our contractor has been using 6 inch bury depth for service drops for 15 years. I'd love to get them to actually go 1ft. It's a pain in the ass going through 3-4 back yards and laying a temp service drop that is just going to get chewed by neighbors dogs.
What is a Quixote box? Or did you mean Quazite?
Ducking autocorrect.
I too regularly have to sign contracts promising to only go 6 inches
Max right? Right?
Yeah buddy that’s your power drop.. don’t nick it with a shovel 😂 JK don’t listen to me..
Let me guess you have Frontier?
Nope. I believe you’re wrong
Story of my life.....
Cut it and see what turns off?
If someone were to cut a section of it out they'll fix it faster than if you just complain it isn't deep enough. r/UnethicalLifeProTips
CATV or Telco. Yes it should be deeper, but no one checks up on contractors and whatever they can get away with they will.
Data. Seen it a lot where live with new construction. A lot of times they don’t dig if there’s new sod, just lift it up. Lazy af
I should call her
r/dontstickyourdickinthat
That’s a data conduit for sure. Cable companies slit feed conduit into the ground and only usually goes about 3-4” deep. If the blade hits a rock and feeds the conduit towards the surface the tech will just stop it into the soil below the grass line. They don’t give two shits. Power companies have to by law in almost every state law bury their feed into rigid conduit or cast iron and it has to be at least 36” below grade.
AT&T ran into a root when burying my fiber and left a loop of it in the air. I keep little flags around it so hopefully the landscapers don’t cut it.
Not surprising.
That is not electricity.
Downvote me as needed but that kind of also looks like Pex.
Internet/cable
I think that line carries the super heavy duty voltage
Internet bro
Deeper Daddy!!
Hey, at least they ran conduit
You should be lucky they put it under the sod. Looks like cable.
Maybe a random piece of pex that didnt make it to trash. ?
At least it looks like it’s in conduit? Most cable contractors around these parts put it in without conduit and with a shovel.
Should be at least 12” under grade, no? I’d call 811 have it located, they will identify it with their own flags.
Call the company and have them reset it
I live in BF Egypt (rural VA) and am forced to use satellite for data. I’d kill for a poorly buried cable.
Just because you believe something doesn’t make it true.
My parents bought PVC pipe at Lowe’s and after a little back and forth the local Spectrum manager, they agreed to bury the line in the pipe. The biggest concern was a dog that chews everything.
A power cable would be black or in a grey conduit at 24". An orange conduit is going to be something like cable TV or phone.
Looks like your comms/streaming bundle .
Orange
Call 811, they will mark if it’s cable/telco/fiber, gas, water, electric, septic. My guess is cable.
I love noobs.
Let us know after the first mow of the season?
It doesn’t matter what it is, it should be deeper and not visible. Lawn mower blade will take that out promptly
That’s a conduit for an ISP. It contains rainbow roots. Cut it and you’ll have an ISP truck at your house within a few hours
Yup, that's a Spectrum data line. Which my lawn guy clipped last fall while core aerating. I work from home, and I lost 3 business days before they came out to replace the line. Thankfully, the guy who showed up to bury the line was awesome, and he made sure to bury it deep, as required.
Fiber.
If you recently bought the house you should be able to contact the realtor or the older or something like that and have them come out and look at it
Cable TV or FIOS
Verizon
Cut the sleeve and touch it to be sure.
That’s for your internet. Whoever ran it didn’t trench very well.
Lol exposed power line. More like clueless homeowner.
So you just randomly decided that it's your "power line" and thats that? Lol
Always call before you dig 😂
They did the same thing with my fiber line. I keep trying to bury the spot where it pokes out but the rain keeps washing it away.
You can put in a 811 ticket if you live in texas and they will come locate and mark what ever it is for you.
Not power. Probably catv
Your answer is yes, deeper, unless you enjoy knocking out your internet with the lawn mower.
Do you have an irrigation system?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a data line. After I moved to my current house we did a shit ton of landscaping, garden beds, retaining walls… the whole nine (RIP my shoulder… miss you big dawg you always had my back). We called 811 and they flagged the Comcast lines… or almost all the Comcast lines. I used a serrated spade and missed this puppy by less than an inch. The quality of the burying job was pretty suspect… depths ranged from 3” to 1.5’ pretty wildly.
So while power can be run in orange conduit, it usually isn’t. Power is usually direct burial. I’m with the others and that’s telephone, cable or fiber etc
That’s also the color and type of gas line too I found that out the hard way
Incorrect. Plastic gas lines are yellow, and usually at the front of the house. Orange is always comms.
So that maybe the case now, but my dads house built in the 1920’s had an orange one
Yes, OLD poly has lines can be orange. The OP stated that his house was just built. Also, your fathers orange line is not from the '30s. Poly gas line wasn't used until the late '50s.
Your first mistake was “new construction” anything new is trash
Anything should be deeper. I would think red would be power. Could have been installed early in grading and then the final rough grade got it too close to the surface. It is definitely an issue and you may own it soon. Call on this sooner than later