Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

On Nov 19, 11:27 am, "SteveB" wrote:
wrote in message

...

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

Dunno, but curious to hear the answers. The same thing happened to mine. I
spliced a patch in there. Now the phone company has to come wire one end to
the new addition, then run about twenty feet to the original location. Hope
it's not too bad.

STeve


In most cases, the phone company should repair it. They typically
are responsible for the line up to the outside box where it enters the
home. They may in turn bill the landscaper who cut it, particularly
since a markout service was not called.

wrote in message
...
Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

Dunno, but curious to hear the answers. The same thing happened to mine. I
spliced a patch in there. Now the phone company has to come wire one end to
the new addition, then run about twenty feet to the original location. Hope
it's not too bad.

STeve

I was thinking that the Miss Utility marking thing doesn't go to that
level of detail with respect to where on your lawn not to dig unless
there is some sort of main running through your lawn.

On Nov 19, 10:36 am, wrote:
On Nov 19, 11:27 am, "SteveB" wrote:



wrote in message

...

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

Dunno, but curious to hear the answers. The same thing happened to mine. I
spliced a patch in there. Now the phone company has to come wire one end to
the new addition, then run about twenty feet to the original location. Hope
it's not too bad.

STeve

In most cases, the phone company should repair it. They typically
are responsible for the line up to the outside box where it enters the
home. They may in turn bill the landscaper who cut it, particularly
since a markout service was not called.

The 'landscaper' was the homeowner in this case.

I am sure the telco will fix it, but at what cost?

I have the two strands connected so there is service restored to the
house.

phil

wrote in message
...
On Nov 19, 10:36 am, wrote:
On Nov 19, 11:27 am, "SteveB" wrote:



wrote in message

...

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

Dunno, but curious to hear the answers. The same thing happened to
mine. I
spliced a patch in there. Now the phone company has to come wire one
end to
the new addition, then run about twenty feet to the original location.
Hope
it's not too bad.

STeve

In most cases, the phone company should repair it. They typically
are responsible for the line up to the outside box where it enters the
home. They may in turn bill the landscaper who cut it, particularly
since a markout service was not called.

The 'landscaper' was the homeowner in this case.

I am sure the telco will fix it, but at what cost?


I'm trying to access the telco's computers and review their repair
rates.....hmm....can't seem to do it. Unless you get unbelievably lucky and
one of their repair people reads this newsgroup, I'm afraid you'll have to
make a phonecall.

My former neighbor, a farmer had a waterline leaking underground near
his barn. He took a front end loader and started digging. Not only
did he chop his own phone line to the house, but two other main lines
that feed the whole area. About a dozen farms lost phone service. He
chopped one of those lines in 3 or 4 different places, which made it
look as if it was placed in the same trench as the water line. The
phone company fixed it, then sent him a bill for close to $2000. He
was ****ed, but he had no choice because he should have had them mark
the path (which is free).


On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:20:14 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

On Nov 19, 11:49 am, wrote:
I was thinking that the Miss Utility marking thing doesn't go to that
level of detail with respect to where on your lawn not to dig unless
there is some sort of main running through your lawn.

The UFPO in NY only works in the right-of-way and the lines only have
to be within (something like) 4' of the actual line.

wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

wrote:
On Nov 19, 10:36 am, wrote:
On Nov 19, 11:27 am, "SteveB" wrote:



wrote in message
...
Scenario:
1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).
2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.
3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)
Thanks
Phil
Dunno, but curious to hear the answers. The same thing happened to mine. I
spliced a patch in there. Now the phone company has to come wire one end to
the new addition, then run about twenty feet to the original location. Hope
it's not too bad.
STeve
In most cases, the phone company should repair it. They typically
are responsible for the line up to the outside box where it enters the
home. They may in turn bill the landscaper who cut it, particularly
since a markout service was not called.

The 'landscaper' was the homeowner in this case.

I am sure the telco will fix it, but at what cost?

I have the two strands connected so there is service restored to the
house.

phil
What I would do, although I did 31 years
in the Telco business, is to go
to Lowes or Menards, etc. and get some
splice beanies. These beanies
have a place to push the 2 ends of the
broken wire, same color. You then
squeeze the beanie and it cuts the
insulation and connects the 2 together.
Some even have some silicon goo to make
it more waterproof. They also
have cylinders where you shove the
spliced wires and apply a sealant.

Happened in my neighbor' s yard. The phone company guys must have spend 20
minutes taking photos before touching anything. I assume to charge the
guilty party. I could see the spray painted line painted by "Miss Utility"
was about a foot from where the dig was so I imagine someone will be
checking if the phone line was buried according to plans or "Miss Utility"
had sprayed off by a foot.


wrote in message
...
Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

On Nov 19, 1:44 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:04:54 -0800 (PST), Pat

wrote:
The UFPO in NY only works in the right-of-way and the lines only have
to be within (something like) 4' of the actual line.

That was my experience too. They flagged the right of way but did not
locate my phone line, which we hit ... of course. Fortunately I had a
roll of flooded phone cable I found in a dumpster so I just had my
"labor" ditch it in and I connected it up to there green post on the
ROW. Their line was about 2" deep. I put it back about 18" down and
"sleeved" it under the new driveway in a 2" PVC.


For you, the OP, and everyone else -- don't forget to put down the
safety tape before you fill the trench back in.

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:00:59 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

The telco has special connectors that contain some goo, probably
silicone. If the guy said he will do it for free, maybe he could just
furnish the connectors to your friend. On the other hand, the cable
may be too short to splice. Depends on the connectors and the way it
was cut. You may have to replace the shortest part, which sounds like
the piece going into the house. If you do have telco come, at least
dig those few feet so they can get done fast. (dig carefully so you
do not chop it more). Is this just a single residence? I'm curious
why you have a 10 wire cable? My house just has a 2 wire. One phone
line only.

On Nov 19, 4:44�pm, wrote:
On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:00:59 -0800 (PST),
wrote:





On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their �land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

The telco has special connectors that contain some goo, probably
silicone. �If the guy said he will do it for free, maybe he could just
furnish the connectors to your friend. On the other hand, the cable
may be too short to splice. �Depends on the connectors and the way it
was cut. �You may have to replace the shortest part, which sounds like
the piece going into the house. �If you do have telco come, at least
dig those few feet so they can get done fast. �(dig carefully so you
do not chop it more). �Is this just a single residence? �I'm curious
why you have a 10 wire cable? �My house just has a 2 wire. �One phone
line only.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

geez i would do it a different way, run a entire new line, buried
shallow to save digging work but run inside conduit, for future
physical protection.

frankly i dont like spliced repairs and make do fixes..........

perhaps its just me,,,,,,,,,,,

On Nov 19, 4:44 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:00:59 -0800 (PST),
wrote:





On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

The telco has special connectors that contain some goo, probably
silicone. If the guy said he will do it for free, maybe he could just
furnish the connectors to your friend. On the other hand, the cable
may be too short to splice. Depends on the connectors and the way it
was cut. You may have to replace the shortest part, which sounds like
the piece going into the house. If you do have telco come, at least
dig those few feet so they can get done fast. (dig carefully so you
do not chop it more). Is this just a single residence? I'm curious
why you have a 10 wire cable? My house just has a 2 wire. One phone
line only.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The guy said the TELCO would do it for free, not the guy personally.
Which would be great, if it was true. I'm just not really convinced
its true and I don't want to tell them what address it is until I'm
sure there won't be any cost to me. (for the reasons I mentioned
above).

House built 1974. Underground black cable, goldish metallic shielding,
ten strands of multi-cored wire inside, coated with a clearish gel-
like substance. All original as far as I know. It is buried way back
from the tel pole at the road, about 1 furlong (660 feet). The
connections that restored the service were the solid blue and the blue/
white strands. I've left the rest unconnected for now, but protected
from the elements.

phil

On Nov 19, 6:27 pm, wrote:
On Nov 19, 4:44 pm, wrote:





On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:00:59 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

The telco has special connectors that contain some goo, probably
silicone. If the guy said he will do it for free, maybe he could just
furnish the connectors to your friend. On the other hand, the cable
may be too short to splice. Depends on the connectors and the way it
was cut. You may have to replace the shortest part, which sounds like
the piece going into the house. If you do have telco come, at least
dig those few feet so they can get done fast. (dig carefully so you
do not chop it more). Is this just a single residence? I'm curious
why you have a 10 wire cable? My house just has a 2 wire. One phone
line only.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The guy said the TELCO would do it for free, not the guy personally.
Which would be great, if it was true. I'm just not really convinced
its true and I don't want to tell them what address it is until I'm
sure there won't be any cost to me. (for the reasons I mentioned
above).

House built 1974. Underground black cable, goldish metallic shielding,
ten strands of multi-cored wire inside, coated with a clearish gel-
like substance. All original as far as I know. It is buried way back
from the tel pole at the road, about 1 furlong (660 feet). The
connections that restored the service were the solid blue and the blue/
white strands. I've left the rest unconnected for now, but protected
from the elements.

phil- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

thats ten strands of multi-COLORED wires, not multi-cored wires.

If the problem is on THEIR side of the user friendly box, then it's THEIR
problem. Just call and say the phone is not working, and it's dead at the
test port also.


s


wrote in message
...

The guy said the TELCO would do it for free, not the guy personally.
Which would be great, if it was true. I'm just not really convinced
its true and I don't want to tell them what address it is until I'm
sure there won't be any cost to me. (for the reasons I mentioned
above).

House built 1974. Underground black cable, goldish metallic shielding,
ten strands of multi-cored wire inside, coated with a clearish gel-
like substance. All original as far as I know. It is buried way back
from the tel pole at the road, about 1 furlong (660 feet). The
connections that restored the service were the solid blue and the blue/
white strands. I've left the rest unconnected for now, but protected
from the elements.

phil

wrote:

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:00:59 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

The telco has special connectors that contain some goo, probably
silicone. If the guy said he will do it for free, maybe he could just
furnish the connectors to your friend. On the other hand, the cable
may be too short to splice. Depends on the connectors and the way it
was cut. You may have to replace the shortest part, which sounds like
the piece going into the house. If you do have telco come, at least
dig those few feet so they can get done fast. (dig carefully so you
do not chop it more). Is this just a single residence? I'm curious
why you have a 10 wire cable? My house just has a 2 wire. One phone
line only.

5 pair flooded cable seems to be what they stock for underground
service. That's what they used on my service which is a single line /
DSL.

Steve Barker wrote:

If the problem is on THEIR side of the user friendly box, then it's THEIR
problem. Just call and say the phone is not working, and it's dead at the
test port also.

It may be on their side of the demarc, but it was damage from illegal
digging (law says call the call before you dig number first), so they'd
be within their rights to charge to repair the damage. If say a big mole
had eaten the cable, no charge.

wrote:

On Nov 19, 4:44 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:00:59 -0800 (PST),
wrote:





On Nov 19, 1:33 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
wrote:

Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I'd put 20:1 odds against the phone company fixing the lines for free.
Your viable options are to either repair the line properly yourself
(since it's just your service), or have the phone company repair it for
what I would expect to be a couple hundred dollars. Be glad you didn't
hit a power line and electrocute yourself. The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

That sounds about like what I was thinking. Even though I hadn't
called to find out where the lines were first, it was clearly evident
where the line was as I could see where it exited the house into the
ground right at the foundation. I just hadn't expected the line to
still be buried about 4-5" at about 5 feet from the foundation. I
cannot recall if we placed the line at that shallow depth after a
prior nearby dig-up of the water line, or if the line was always that
depth.

Even if I HAD called before digging I probably would have dug in the
same place, it was only about 5" down that I was digging, to put some
landscaping border edging in. I'm surprised it hadn't ever been cut
before.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine says he called his
buddy at the telco (who has a position that deals with these things)
and he says they wouldn't charge to fix it.

Call me paranoid, but that sounds too good to be true, especially when
telco's are losing income as people drop their land lines
completely....and me not having called first. So I'm not calling them
until I can get some assurance that there will not be any charges.

In the meantime, I am looking around for the proper way to fix it,
which at this point seems to be by the 'push button' type splicers you
mentioned (which i used to get the line repaired, temporarily) or by
some heat shrink butt splicers, covered by layers of shrink wrap and
surrounded by the proper 'goo' before reburial.

Thanks for all the input

phil
"

The telco has special connectors that contain some goo, probably
silicone. If the guy said he will do it for free, maybe he could just
furnish the connectors to your friend. On the other hand, the cable
may be too short to splice. Depends on the connectors and the way it
was cut. You may have to replace the shortest part, which sounds like
the piece going into the house. If you do have telco come, at least
dig those few feet so they can get done fast. (dig carefully so you
do not chop it more). Is this just a single residence? I'm curious
why you have a 10 wire cable? My house just has a 2 wire. One phone
line only.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The guy said the TELCO would do it for free, not the guy personally.
Which would be great, if it was true. I'm just not really convinced
its true and I don't want to tell them what address it is until I'm
sure there won't be any cost to me. (for the reasons I mentioned
above).

House built 1974. Underground black cable, goldish metallic shielding,
ten strands of multi-cored wire inside, coated with a clearish gel-
like substance. All original as far as I know. It is buried way back
from the tel pole at the road, about 1 furlong (660 feet). The
connections that restored the service were the solid blue and the blue/
white strands. I've left the rest unconnected for now, but protected
from the elements.

phil

It's definitely *not* the original cable, those color codes are much
newer than 1974. I'd expect probably within the last decade or two. BTW,
that is called "flooded" cable and the gel inside helps keep out
moisture.

On Nov 19, 7:14 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:

If the problem is on THEIR side of the user friendly box, then it's THEIR
problem. Just call and say the phone is not working, and it's dead at the
test port also.

It may be on their side of the demarc, but it was damage from illegal
digging (law says call the call before you dig number first), so they'd
be within their rights to charge to repair the damage. If say a big mole
had eaten the cable, no charge.

Yes, its on their side, BUT I hadn't called first. That's the catch.
And I don't feel like rolling the dice assumming that they will fix it
for free. I'd almost rather fix it myself than pay who knows how much.
I'm sure I can do the job once I find the right splicers and the
proper/best way to waterproof it. I dug up some of the line as it ran
away from the house to try and get some slack and after about 10 feet
distance it was still just 5-6 inches deep. I would use the reasoning
that it wasn't run deep enough if I thought I had a chance, but its
almost not worth taking that chance. There is not alot of money
floating around right now to waste on them doing a repair that I could
do, although not nearly as quickly.

Just wondering if anyone else had them fix it for free after such an
obvious violation of the standard procedure of calling first and then
digging carefully.

phil

wrote:

On Nov 19, 7:14 pm, "Pete C." wrote:
Steve Barker wrote:

If the problem is on THEIR side of the user friendly box, then it's THEIR
problem. Just call and say the phone is not working, and it's dead at the
test port also.

It may be on their side of the demarc, but it was damage from illegal
digging (law says call the call before you dig number first), so they'd
be within their rights to charge to repair the damage. If say a big mole
had eaten the cable, no charge.

Yes, its on their side, BUT I hadn't called first. That's the catch.
And I don't feel like rolling the dice assumming that they will fix it
for free. I'd almost rather fix it myself than pay who knows how much.
I'm sure I can do the job once I find the right splicers and the
proper/best way to waterproof it. I dug up some of the line as it ran
away from the house to try and get some slack and after about 10 feet
distance it was still just 5-6 inches deep. I would use the reasoning
that it wasn't run deep enough if I thought I had a chance, but its
almost not worth taking that chance. There is not alot of money
floating around right now to waste on them doing a repair that I could
do, although not nearly as quickly.

Just wondering if anyone else had them fix it for free after such an
obvious violation of the standard procedure of calling first and then
digging carefully.

phil

Low voltage / low current lines like phone lines or cable lines are not
normally buried very deep. Around here they use a vibrating cable plow
to pull the cable perhaps 8" deep. If you can get a few inches of slack
you can pretty readily make the splice just fine.

The easiest way to make the splice will be with the "UR" type gel filled
IDC connectors. The easiest way to protect the splice, which is similar
to the old underground splicing kits the telcos used to use, is to pot
the splice in silicone. Get a small container like a 35mm film can, poke
a hole in the bottom and the lid and thread them over the wires on each
side of the splice location (before making the splice of course). Make
the splice and then slide the film can over the splice. Fill the can
with regular silicone caulking and then put the lid on it. It will
eventually cure solid and protect the splice well.

wrote:

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:04:54 -0800 (PST), Pat
wrote:

The UFPO in NY only works in the right-of-way and the lines only have
to be within (something like) 4' of the actual line.

That was my experience too. They flagged the right of way but did not
locate my phone line, which we hit ... of course. Fortunately I had a
roll of flooded phone cable I found in a dumpster so I just had my
"labor" ditch it in and I connected it up to there green post on the
ROW. Their line was about 2" deep. I put it back about 18" down and
"sleeved" it under the new driveway in a 2" PVC.

When I did the CBYD thing prior to trenching new conduit to get proper
power out to my shop, each utility came out with their cable locator,
clamped the transmitter around the appropriate wire at the house and
then tracked back accurately locating the wire back well past my
designated work area, marking and flagging along the way. No surprises
though, nothing in the way for 75' or the 80' run and then the last 5'
was at the point where everything came to the house so I had to hand dig
that section to avoid the phone, power and two cable lines.

wrote in message
...
Scenario:

1) a 10 strand phone line (underground) was cut during a landscaping
project. About 4 feet from entry of the cable as it goes into the
house (into the basement).

2) The 'Digg' or 'OOps' number was not called first, it was obvious
the cable would have been in that vicinity.

3) Will the phone company fix this for free? (as someone has told me)

Thanks

Phil

I cut mine recently. My phone company said it would cost $75 unless I had
called for underground locate. I had and the fix was free.

In article
,
wrote:

3) Will the phone company fix this for free?

Contrary to popular belief, the phone company NEVER fixed (or did) ANYTHING
for "free". Never. Not directory assistance, pre-wiring in the good, old
days, zippo.

EVERYONE - all phone subscribers - paid for those services as part of their
monthly bill.

We invented socialism, folks. Judge Greene tore it all down in the Modified
Final Judgement and Final Divestiture of that old, mean, evil Bell System.

It all began to fall apart with the advent of charging for Directory
Assistance. Think about it: Why should *I* pay - as part of my phone bill -
for DA operators that I never use, but are OVERUSED by those too lazy to use
the phone book?

Why should I pay for the damage you did to your buried service wire?

You probably will - and SHOULD - be charged for the repair of the telco line
(their property).

The technician that repairs the damage gets a paycheck as does the technician
that works for the locating service that you SHOULD HAVE called.

My "attitude" is driven by my constant amazement that the assumption that the
phone company will do [whatever] for "free" persists 23 years after the big
breakup. We're just like any other company now: You incur cost, you pay for
it.
--

JR

Mean Evil Bell System
Historical Society

In article
,
Pat wrote:

For you, the OP, and everyone else -- don't forget to put down the
safety tape before you fill the trench back in.

Safety tape? For (low voltage) communication cable? That's new.
--

JR

In article
,
wrote:

The 'landscaper' was the homeowner in this case.

Unless the official locating marks (if called for) were "off" by more than
18-inches or the locator was a "no show", the digger pays.

I am sure the telco will fix it

Have you called them? If no, you should.

but at what cost?

If a simple, permanent repair is done, it should be less than $200.
Homeowner's insurance covers such things but I can't imagine anyone with a
deductible less than $200.

I have the two strands connected so there is service restored to the
house.

That's OK and quite common. Just don't attempt a DIY "permanent" fix. It
will fail and, in the frost belt, it always dies in January or February when
the frost is 3-feet deep. In such a case, I just lay a temporary wire on top
of the ground and the hapless homeowner gets to mow around it for x months
until a new drop is placed or I come back, dig up the newly landscaped yard
and do the repair at that later time.

Bite the bullet and have the telco fix it properly. It will last MUCH (years)
longer and you will enjoy trouble-free service gag, hack for it.

Look at it this way: You'll probably never cut another buried line.
--

JR

Climb poles and dig holes
Have staplegun, will travel

In article ,
Art Todesco wrote:

What I would do, although I did 31 years
in the Telco business, is to go
to Lowes or Menards, etc. and get some
splice beanies. These beanies
have a place to push the 2 ends of the
broken wire, same color. You then
squeeze the beanie and it cuts the
insulation and connects the 2 together.
Some even have some silicon goo to make
it more waterproof. They also
have cylinders where you shove the
spliced wires and apply a sealant.

It'll fail.

All the silicon goo/caulk/sealant/whatever isn't even CLOSE to the encapsulant
used for "official" buried splices.

In 34 years I've lost count of all the DIY buried splices I've dug up. Sorry.
--

JR

In article ,
wrote:

My former neighbor, a farmer had a waterline leaking underground near
his barn. He took a front end loader and started digging. Not only
did he chop his own phone line to the house, but two other main lines
that feed the whole area. About a dozen farms lost phone service. He
chopped one of those lines in 3 or 4 different places, which made it
look as if it was placed in the same trench as the water line. The
phone company fixed it, then sent him a bill for close to $2000. He
was ****ed, but he had no choice because he should have had them mark
the path (which is free).

He got off cheap if it was a main cable, damaged in more than one place.

I worked yesterday (Sunday) and restored service to a rural residence
(acreage) whose phone line was augered apart in four out of five holes
mechanically dug for tree planting. They just drove in there (no locates) and
started blowing holes in the ground. Look overhead: There's NO WIRES up
there! Where are they? Also, just because there ARE wires in the air, it
does NOT mean there aren't ALSO buried wires. Some utilities bury their
lines, others hang 'em because it's cheaper.

1 cut = 2 splices
2 cuts = 4 splices
3 cuts = 6 splices
etc.

After the first cut, I just abandon the wire and order a new one to replace
the destroyed wire. Of course, to restore service to the affected customer, I
laid a temporary wire across the expansive lawn of the neighbor that cut the
wire.

Call before you dig, folks! You're already paying for the locating service as
part of your utility bills.

Heck, there's anywhere from 240 to 8kVAC down there! Then there's gas, water
and more.
--

JR

In article , "Pete C."
wrote:

The call before you dig
numbers are easy, free and can save you a lot of headaches.

....and your life.
--

JR

Jim Redelfs wrote:

In article
,
Pat wrote:

For you, the OP, and everyone else -- don't forget to put down the
safety tape before you fill the trench back in.

Safety tape? For (low voltage) communication cable? That's new.
--

JR

Safety to protect the cable, not the person digging. Bury cable deep,
bury safety tape shallow so it hopefully gets dug up and noticed before
the cable gets hit.

Jim Redelfs wrote:

In article
,
wrote:

The 'landscaper' was the homeowner in this case.

Unless the official locating marks (if called for) were "off" by more than
18-inches or the locator was a "no show", the digger pays.

I am sure the telco will fix it

Have you called them? If no, you should.

but at what cost?

If a simple, permanent repair is done, it should be less than $200.
Homeowner's insurance covers such things but I can't imagine anyone with a
deductible less than $200.

I have the two strands connected so there is service restored to the
house.

That's OK and quite common. Just don't attempt a DIY "permanent" fix. It
will fail and, in the frost belt, it always dies in January or February when
the frost is 3-feet deep. In such a case, I just lay a temporary wire on top
of the ground and the hapless homeowner gets to mow around it for x months
until a new drop is placed or I come back, dig up the newly landscaped yard
and do the repair at that later time.

Bite the bullet and have the telco fix it properly. It will last MUCH (years)
longer and you will enjoy trouble-free service gag, hack for it.

Or he can just get cable modem service, go VOIP, port his current number
and ditch the evil TELCO forever...

In article ,
wrote:

I'm curious why you have a 10 wire cable?

5-pair "drop" wire was quite common, particularly to larger homes in nicer
neighborhoods.

My house just has a 2 wire. One phone line only.

You must live in a shack on the wrong side of the tracks. [ducking]

Seriously, single-pair drop was common but we usually placed TWO of them.
2-pair drop was WIDELY used.

Those places with just one (1-pair) are usually OLD farmsteads. Even then, I
suspect the crew was running short of wire at the time.

Also, just because more and more folks are using their wireless (cell) phone
for their voice needs, don't think that "the land line" is going away.

Just today I was unable to install a THIRD line to an old farm house. The
two, single-pair drops were already in use. Now the customer has to wait
while we get a permit from the county to bore across/under their road to place
another drop to the house.

In the early 1970s, a MASSIVE effort was made to bury the services to
thousands of rural customers formerly fed by open wire hanging from poles and
glass insulators. We buried two pairs to homes that were on 4 to 8-party
lines - a SINGLE pair feeding 4 to 8 customers. We thought it was overkill.
It was - until today, for this particular farmstead.
--

JR

In article
,
" wrote:

i dont like spliced repairs and make do fixes.

Buried splices are like light bulbs and hard-disk drives: It's not IF - it's
WHEN.

Left undisturbed, buried cable/drop will outlast the house. Put a "hole" in
it and you can set your timer:

Even the best buried splice, done properly by a telco technician will
eventually fail.
--

JR

In article ,
"Steve Barker" wrote:

If the problem is on THEIR side of the user friendly box, then it's THEIR
problem.

Dream on. You damage, you pay.

Why should it be any different just because it's a telco? If you knock over a
fire hydrant or utility pole, you pay for that.
--

JR

In article , "Pete C."
wrote:

If say a big mole had eaten the cable, no charge.

A VERY big mole - with a tile spade!

The OP should swallow his pride (and parsimony) and call the telco. Whatever
they charge, they would probably accept payment in installments - probably
with no interest. No big deal.

We USED to be the Mean, Evil Bell System. Not any more!
--

JR

Mean Evil Bell System
Historical Society

In article
,
wrote:

Yes, its on their side, BUT I hadn't called first. That's the catch.

Even if you HAD called first, but still cut the line, you'd be liable - unless
the locating marks were "off" by more than 18-inches. In that case, the
locating company pays.

And I don't feel like rolling the dice assumming that they will fix it
for free. I'd almost rather fix it myself than pay who knows how much.

Aw, if it's that close to the house, dig a nice, LARGE splice pit for the
telco technician and even open up a nice, deep trench to the house. The
repair guy might then be inclined to use only ONE splice - to a NEW length of
5-pair - and run it to the house. If you don't have an official "SNI", he
might even install one.

Still, you pay for the repair. It won't be THAT bad.

I dug up some of the line as it ran away from the house to try and get
some slack and after about 10 feet distance it was still just 5-6 inches
deep. I would use the reasoning that it wasn't run deep enough if
I thought I had a chance

No dice. Depth is NOT static.

Only amateurs inquire about depth when a locator is doing their work.
Locating devices can give a (very) ROUGH estimate of depth, but it is never
divulged officially. One must HAND DIG within the "hand dig zone" which is
usually 18-inches on EITHER SIDE of the locating mark.

Think about it: Short of 6.5 on the Richter scale, that line won't move left
or right over the years. Depth is another matter entirely. Erosion,
construction, landscaping all have the the effect of "raising" a buried line.

If you bury a line 36-inches deep, then scrape off 30-inches, what you do have?

There is not alot of money floating around right now

Is there ever? sigh

to waste on them doing a repair that I could do,
although not nearly as quickly.

....or as good. (It wouldn't be "wasted" money.)

Just wondering if anyone else had them fix it for free after such an
obvious violation of the standard procedure of calling first and then
digging carefully.

The days are LONG GONE (many years, now) that such repair was done for "free".

If a buried line is damaged, SOMEONE screwed-up. Either the locator or the
digger. Regardless, one of them pays. The telco virtually never "eats" such
repair work anymore.

Do it now and avoid what might otherwise lay ahead: When your DIY splice
fails, they may come out, discover your DIY fix, and bill you at that time for
an "official" repair. (Pay 'em now or pay 'em later, yadda, yadda...)
--

JR

In article , "Pete C."
wrote:

It's definitely *not* the original cable, those color codes are much
newer than 1974.

I respectfully disagree. 5-pair buried drop (blue, orange, green, brown,
slate) was most certainly in use in 1974. I ran a plow and buried plenty of
it. The color code was developed in the early 1940s.

that is called "flooded" cable

Uh, "filled" cable. (icky pic)

and the gel inside helps keep out moisture.

....and it works GREAT - until someone chops it in half.
--

JR

Jim Redelfs wrote:

In article , "Pete C."
wrote:

If say a big mole had eaten the cable, no charge.

A VERY big mole - with a tile spade!

The OP should swallow his pride (and parsimony) and call the telco. Whatever
they charge, they would probably accept payment in installments - probably
with no interest. No big deal.

We USED to be the Mean, Evil Bell System. Not any more!

Still are the Mean, Evil Bell System... reforming rather like that
terminator thing...