I spent $600 on a ground penetrating radar survey and it saved my backyard

I was planning to build a small shed in my yard, but I had a hunch about an old well from the 1800s under the soil. Got a local surveyor to run a GPR scan for $600, and he found the well cap buried just 2 feet down. If I had started digging without it, I could have dropped a whole concrete pad into a hole. Has anyone else tried GPR for a home project, or is that overkill?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean8544d ago

$600 seems like a lot to spend before you even break ground. My grandpa dug out a whole basement with nothing but a shovel and some old property records, never hit anything. Different kind of luck, I guess, but GPR feels like overkill for a shed to me.

ross.lily4d ago

Oh Sean, GPR is way different than just hoping for luck, it actually sees what's underground before you swing a shovel.

elliotm573d ago

Three years ago I skipped the ground penetrating radar for a 10x12 shed and hit an old septic tank three feet down. Cost me $400 to have someone haul the dirt away and fill it back in, plus a whole weekend lost. For $600 you get a map of everything under your yard so you know exactly what you're dealing with. @sean854 I get that your grandpa had good luck, but nowadays most properties have old pipes, buried trash, or concrete pads from something that was there before you bought the place. One utility line hit alone could cost way more than the GPR.