GPR for Residential and Commercial Landscaping

You’ve invested a lot of money and time into your landscaping project — could you imagine having to stop because utility lines are in the way and you damaged them?

About half of all Wood Inspection Services’ customers call after breaking a water line, gas line or other utility infrastructure. Before you build your outdoor Texas oasis, consider hiring a private utility locator with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) services and experience.

GPR is recommended for homeowners, landscaping contractors, hotels, and housing developments with major landscaping projects.

The GPR technology itself is noninvasive, which means you get an overview of what you’re up against — all before you break ground.

Many problems including ruptured utility lines, gas leaks, fiber cable breaks and more can be avoided with fully GPR-mapped land. Here are a few common situations you might run into:

1. Mature tree planting — Planting mature trees near residential homes or streets can easily hit underground utilities during soil excavation. Best to map it out via GPR first.
2. In-ground sprinkler systems — Want to get rid of an old sprinkler system and install a new one? They rely on plastic and rubber lines that are impossible to detect without GPR, so you could be digging in the dark without proper guidance.
3. Artificial hills — Leveling or grading a landscape with an excavator or backhoe? It’s a good idea to know whether there are any obstructions or lines in the path before getting started. Excavation mishaps can easily end up being the costliest part of any landscaping project.
4. Retaining walls, fences — GPR can detect any shifting land or unusual features (i.e. rocks) that could render large structures unstable over time. Map it out now to avoid an expensive re-do in the future.
5. Built-in ponds, pools, artificial lakes — Underground caverns, oil reserves and sinkholes can show up on GPR. Test your site to make sure your water won’t disappear into a hole later, or endanger your crews during construction.

A good foundation is important to building beautiful landscaping. Creating a concrete patio atop tree roots, for example, could lead to costly repairs down the road.

Here are some other hidden obstacles that could deter your landscaping project: