Frequently Asked Questions

When you call 811, Colorado's one-call center notifies public utility companies — Xcel Energy, gas companies, telecom providers — to mark their lines. But those marks only cover lines those companies own, typically ending at the meter or property boundary. Everything beyond that — irrigation systems, secondary electric to a shop, private gas from a tank, in-ground drainage — is private infrastructure that 811 will never touch. A private locate finds and marks those lines. On most job sites, the private lines are actually the ones at greatest strike risk.

Colorado's Underground Damage Prevention Law (CRS 9-1.5) requires excavators to exercise reasonable care to avoid damaging underground facilities. While the law doesn't mandate a private locate by name, it does require that you take reasonable precautions. Hiring a private locator creates a documentation trail showing you did your due diligence — which matters significantly in any liability dispute after a strike.

For most Front Range jobs, we can typically schedule within 1–3 business days. For urgent situations, call us directly at (720) 514-2876 and we'll do our best to accommodate. Rural or out-of-area sites may require more lead time.

We mark the ground using standard APWA utility color codes. We'll walk you through what we found on site. For contractors who want documentation, ask us about a written locate report — useful for your project file and liability protection.

Yes. We work on private property job sites of all types — residential, commercial, and rural. We are not part of the 811 system and do not perform public utility locates for municipalities or utility companies.

We use professional-grade electromagnetic locating equipment — the same class of tools used by utility companies — including Radiodetection and Vivax-Metrotech systems. This allows us to accurately detect and trace conductive underground utilities.

811 marks lines that utility companies own — the infrastructure that runs up to your meter or property entry point. It does not mark anything on your side of that boundary. So if you have irrigation lines, a line running to a detached garage, a private propane line, or any other privately-installed utility, 811 has no record of it and won't mark it. Those are exactly the lines most homeowners accidentally hit.

Any project involving ground disturbance on your property. Common ones include fence installation, landscaping and grading, adding a patio or deck with footings, digging for drainage, planting large trees, and adding outbuildings or additions. If a shovel, auger, or excavator is going into the ground — get a locate first.

A private locate is significantly less expensive than the alternative. Repairing a struck gas line, irrigation system, or underground electric line can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars — plus the project delay. Call us for a quote based on your specific site and scope.

Most residential locates are completed in 1–2 hours on site, depending on property size and complexity. We'll walk the property, run the equipment, mark what we find, and explain the results to you before we leave.

We'll locate and mark the areas you need covered. If you want a full-property sweep, we can do that. If you just need a specific zone — like along a fence line or near a driveway — we can focus there. Tell us your project when you call and we'll scope it appropriately.

Call us at (720) 514-2876 to discuss scheduling. As an owner-operated business, we have flexibility that larger companies don't — we'll do our best to work around your timeline.