Questions about digging

We do, for any job we dig. We place the request, track each utility's answer and tell you when the marks are in. If you dig anything yourself, even a fence post, the call is yours, and it costs nothing to make.

Not until every utility has answered. Your state sets the waiting period, and it is usually a few working days. We don't start early to save a day, and we tell you the date once the request is in.

No. 811 reaches the utilities that own the buried lines, and they mark those up to your meter. Everything you own past that point is on you or on us: the septic line, the well line, yard lights, the buried wire to a shop. We look for those before we dig.

We start with what you know, the county's records and the original install if there is one. Then we walk the ground with probe rods, and for a long run we bring in a private locator. If we can't tell what is down there, we hand-dig to look before the machine goes in.

Red is electric, yellow is gas or oil, orange is phone and fiber, blue is drinking water, green is sewer and drain, and white is where a dig is planned. Pink is a survey mark and purple is reclaimed water. The Before we dig page has the full set.

Ask for the license number and look it up with the state. Ours is printed at the bottom of every page, along with our insurance. If a firm digs your sewer or water line, the work should be under a plumbing license in this state, and a good firm says so before you ask.

We walk the lot with you, look at the ground, the access and the marks if they're down, and talk through the route. The visit fee is on the estimate, and it comes off the job price if you hire us. You leave knowing what we'd dig and why.

We don't dig at night. Saturday work is by appointment and is billed at the rate on your estimate, which is higher than a weekday. If a line has broken, shut your own valve, call us and we will say when a crew can be there.

Yes, in writing, after the site walk and once the 811 marks show where the route can go. A route that is clear is priced as one number. Rock and other surprises are priced by the hour, and the estimate says so.

A water line to a house is often one or two days of digging. A sewer line or a septic tank and field takes longer, depending on length, depth and weather. We give you the days on the estimate, and tell you if frozen ground or rain changes them.

We pull the permit for the line work we do. A septic system needs a design from someone your county accepts, and an inspection before we cover it. We install to that design, and we don't backfill until the inspector has looked.

Sometimes. Frost slows a trench and adds cost, and a septic field isn't dug in frozen ground. Builders' trenches and water lines can go in through the cold. The Dig calendar page shows what runs when.

Homes built before 1986 can have lead pipe or lead solder, and paint in homes built before 1978 can contain lead. If we open a line and find old pipe, we show you what it is and your options before we go further. Testing your water is a separate step, and a lab does it.

Topsoil is set aside and goes back on top. We compact the backfill in layers and rough-grade the ground. The trench settles over a season, and reseeding or sod is yours or your landscaper's, unless the estimate says otherwise.

We work in the Rapid City area and the Black Hills counties listed on the Service area page. The office is open weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday is by appointment.

No. A pumping company does that. We dig out the lids, set risers so they sit at grade, and replace tanks and fields. Most tanks need pumping every three to five years.