Hey guys. I am having the city run a gas line from the street to our kitchen as part of a renovation. The city said they will need to dig two 3ftx4ft holes to accommodate the running of the new gas line. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to mitigate the damage they are going to cause? I was hoping to be able to gently dig the grass up myself in one big piece and place it back down when they are finished but I’m not sure I will know their exact locations before they get here.
Also since it’s winter and the grass is dormant (Maryland) will that help or hurt the grass’s survival? If it were actively growing I could nurse it back to health but maybe since it’s dormant it won’t die and will spruce back up in the spring?
Don’t worry about getting two big 3x4 pieces out. Cut it up in several small squares and set aside. Make sure to pull out a good 4+ inches with the grass to get the roots and loam.
Once the town backfill, put the plugs back in place, water it like hell and gently tamp it down.
Shouldn’t be an issue, as long as they don’t sit out for more than a few days. If it ends up stretching out, water the plugs, as well, that’ll help, but it only buys you so much time.
At the end of the day, it’s grass. It’ll grow back!
@HolieMolie
I should be able to put it back down the same day. Is it worth doing any watering since it’s winter?
Zeke said:
@HolieMolie
I should be able to put it back down the same day. Is it worth doing any watering since it’s winter?
It isn’t going to hurt. But yeah, if it’s cool season grass, it’s dormant, good time to do it.
Square off the grass and keep it elsewhere.
Use a manual edger tool to slice nice manageable squares in the excavation area. You can lean the edger left/right to separate the grass from the soil below. Then gently lift the pieces up with a broad shovel. If you use tarps to temporarily place the pieces and dug-up soil, it makes for quick work in putting it back in the ground, minimizes dirt scattered about your lawn. Don’t leave tarps out for more than a day to prevent damage to the grass below. Also, don’t forget to tamp down the soil after pushing it back in the hole. You may need to overseed a little to hide the seams afterward, but it should be minimal.
Um… I’m just making sure… Are you sure they need the 2 holes where you have them drawn? This sounds like they are going to use a pneumatic mole, and if so, they usually have one hole at the street and the other at the riser or meter location. I am not sold that the second hole is where the meter is going… I could have something wrong, though. I just don’t want you to dig it out and find out it is in the wrong spot.
@Lennon
You are correct. The second hole is to make a 90° turn left to tunnel under the driveway, then another hole and a 90° turn right to put the meter on the left side of the house. We can’t go straight up the left because there’s a big utility pole on the other side of the driveway.
Mika said:
Call 511 first!
This. Make sure to call in locates.
Be forewarned, utility companies usually don’t give much of a fuck about your lawn. They do what they need to do to get their work done, then turn it over to restoration. You have a beautiful lawn and I hope they bring in mats to put down where the bore machine sits, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just run it in there and destroy whatever. Even if those are just receiving pits, they still need a mini to dig them with and somewhere to put the dirt before backfill.
@Mackenzie
Yeah, I figured as much. I’ll be here the whole time with bribes ready for them to minimize their destruction as much as possible.
Zeke said:
@Mackenzie
Yeah, I figured as much. I’ll be here the whole time with bribes ready for them to minimize their destruction as much as possible.
I certainly hope the best for you! Usually heavy lawn protection comes at an extra price, and I don’t see the city or utility covering that unless you’re in a very high rent area.
Personally, if that grass really means a lot, just go rent a sod cutter and strip the whole area. Lay it back down once they’re done and graded, and accept that some depressions may form in the bore pits. Or go buy sheets of plywood for them to sit on and throw their spoils, but that’ll get costly real quick.
Drink a couple beers first, then you won’t notice the back pain kicking in until the morning.
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Sharpen your shovel, brother.
Keep it intact in small squares, water (less if dormant); you will be fine.
Surprised you’d run new gas lines nowadays. I thought with heat pumps and induction cooktops there was little advantage to gas?
Merritt said:
Surprised you’d run new gas lines nowadays. I thought with heat pumps and induction cooktops there was little advantage to gas?
I would never not want a gas range personally.
Yeah, we looked at all those. We just like cooking with gas and I like how gas ranges look aesthetic-wise.