Brecksville's Handy Homeowner: Smart Digging

I’ve only dug through something dangerous once. It was a small electrical line for landscape lighting. Everything turned out fine, but the really silly thing was that I’m the one who put the landscape lighting there in the first place.

I spoke with Scott Packard, the building commissioner for the , to see if he had any safe digging tips for homeowners. He said that if you're planning on digging, you can stop by the Building Department and pick up a brochure from the Ohio Utilities Protection Service. 

According their website, the Ohio Utilities Protection Service is a non-profit agency that coordinates between individuals and utility companies like those for cable, gas and electric at no cost to homeowners. 

If you’re wondering if your project warrants a call before you dig, the service's website gives examples of landscaping projects that require a homeowner to contact them, including installing deck supports and fence posts and removing tree roots. And the website indicates that calling before you dig can help you avoid serious injury, utility interruptions and property damage.

Anyone planning to dig should contact the service at least 48 hours before starting the project by calling 811 or by using the group's e-dig program online. The service then contacts the utility companies, who come out and mark the location of underground lines.

If you think you may have hit an electric or gas line or smell the odor of gas while digging, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s website says to leave the area immediately and call 911 and the utility company.

Calling before I dug wouldn't have helped in the case of my landscape lighting. But it did make me aware of how a minor oversight could have caused major problems.