Al Schmidt wrote:

How do I find underground wires (110V, water sprinkler valves,...)? I'm
moving into a house with many underground wires which I would like to
locate. Some are live a.c. others low voltage or signaling. Is there
something I can buy/rent to do this?

Thanks

In most areas you there is a "call before you dig" 800 number that you
are required to call a couple days before you do any digging deeper than
12"-16". This central dispatch service notifies the various utilities in
the area (power, phone, cable, etc.) who will come out to locate and
mark their cables. This service is free and will take care of those
utility feeds.

If you're nice and they aren't in a hurry you might be able to talk one
of the utility folks into locating other feeds for you. If not it's
possible that one of the big equipment rental companies like United
Rentals or Nations Rent may rent the locator equipment.

The locator is really easy to use, there is a signal injector that you
just clamp around the wire (outside the insulation, no stripping or
contact with the wire) that injects a locator signal onto the line. You
then take a detector that looks a bit like a metal detector and wave it
across the ground locating the strongest signal and marking with the
little flags or paint. You just work out from the known starting point
marking as you go.

When you have everything located, take pictures and measurements and
file them away safely for future reference. If you dig in the future
you're still required to call the utility locator folks, but having the
map of the locations already helps a lot when planning projects.

Pete C.