How does Texas 811 work before a fence goes in?

What the law actually asks for

Chapter 251 of the Texas Utilities Code is the governing law. Its trigger is machine digging: any auger, trencher, or similar powered tool that disturbs the ground to 16 inches or more. Our post holes run deeper than that, and the Texas811 homeowner pages name fence work as a project that needs a ticket.

The notice window has two edges. The minimum lead time is 48 hours, with weekend days and legal holidays left out of the count. A notice filed on a Saturday clears for work at 11:59 a.m. Tuesday, or Wednesday if Monday is a holiday. It also can't be filed more than 14 days early. When the start slips past that 14-day mark, or rain and mowing erase the paint and flags, the request gets refreshed.

That's a summary, not legal advice. The statute itself is posted on the Texas Legislature's statutes site.

How it fits into a Conroe-area job

Our crew files the request after the layout is staked, since the ticket describes the dig area. The contractor owns that ticket, so asking any company digging in your yard for the number is fair. We'll give you ours.

A mark shows roughly where a line runs, not its exact spot. The usual standard is an 18-inch tolerance zone each side of the paint, dug by hand only. If a planned post falls inside it, we respace posts rather than auger next to a gas line.

A local wrinkle: lots of subdivisions in Conroe, Willis, and along the east shore buy water and sewer service from a MUD or private utility. Those operators aren't obligated to join 811, so a yard without water or sewer marks can still have pipe under it. If something looks missing, we call the district.

The lines nobody marks

Locators handle the utility's side of the meter. Past it, the pipe and wire are yours to find. Around Conroe that usually means:

• Sprinkler mains and zone lines, often running along the back fence in newer subdivisions like Grand Central Park and Mavera
• Low-voltage landscape lighting and wiring to a pool equipment pad
• Power, water, or gas run out to a detached garage, shop, or boathouse
• Well lines, septic tanks, and drain fields on acreage around Huntsville, Willis, and Cleveland
• Pump lines and power feeding a dock or boat lift on a lake lot

Tell us where you know these run, and flag sprinkler heads before install day. If nobody knows where an old line goes, a private locating service can trace it for a fee. On acreage with decades of add-ons, that fee is well spent. More on how the job flows is on our process page, and how we size post holes once the lines are clear is in how we set posts in Conroe soil.

If you're digging yourself

Homeowners can file their own ticket by dialing 811 or through the homeowner portal at texas811.org, and there's no charge for the request. Do it before setting a single replacement post, a mailbox, or a row of shrubs along the fence line, and wait out the full notice period. If you're also unsure where the property line sits, read do you need a survey before you mark anything.