Before the turf crew arrives: mark the lines 811 won’t, and clear a way in

01Which lines in my yard won’t Colorado 811 mark?

Anything you own. Colorado 811 passes locate requests to the utilities, and each marks only the lines it owns. 811 lists private lines as sprinkler systems, gas lines to backyard grills, invisible fences, septic systems, buried water tanks and service lines, and says the owner pays a private locating company to find them (Colorado 811).

Depth is why this matters. A sod cutter alone can slice up to 2.5 inches down (Ryan’s Jr. Sod Cutter spec), and PetSafe tells owners to bury a dog-fence wire 1 to 3 inches deep. The base then goes in below the sod line; Firestone’s code, for one, requires at least 3 inches of compacted aggregate. Low-voltage lighting cable is typically buried at least 6 inches deep (VOLT), so ask how deep the dig goes; at 6 inches or more, the lighting is in play too.

Two Northern Colorado specifics:

• Your water line is partly yours. Little Thompson Water District, which serves Berthoud, Mead and Firestone customers, says its locate runs from the main to the meter pit, and the line from the meter pit to the house is yours to locate (LTWD).
• Oil and gas flowlines go through 811. If there are wells near your subdivision: the state’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission says its public flowline map is approximate and incomplete, and that Colorado 811 must be used to locate any flowline precisely (ECMC).

Who calls 811? Not legal advice. Colorado law says nobody may begin excavation without first notifying Colorado 811, at least two business days ahead, not counting the day of notice, and it counts grading and scraping as excavation. Its one landscape exception, routine maintenance, excludes work meant to permanently lessen the ground cover or lower the ground, which is what taking out a lawn does (C.R.S. 9-1.5-102 and 9-1.5-103). The duty sits with whoever digs, but Colorado 811 tells homeowners not to rely only on the landscaper (Colorado 811). Ask the installer for the ticket number and look it up on 811’s ticket-status page.

Once the paint and flags are down, leave them alone: skip the last mow, and don’t rake or rinse them off. Within 18 inches of a mark, Colorado 811 says to dig only by hand, if at all (What to Know Before You Dig).

02Why does the crew want a sprinkler map, and when can I make one?

Because the pipe and heads sit where the dig happens. Tarkett’s installation manual warns that irrigation and electrical lines may lie just under the surface and tells installers to locate every irrigation line and head, cap what isn’t needed and test for leaks before starting (Tarkett). Your map saves that hunt:

• Run each zone and push a flag in beside every head inside the future turf area.
• Note which zones also water trees, shrubs or beds that stay.
• Mark the valve boxes, the backflow device and the controller’s zone numbers.
• Photograph the flagged yard; the flags come out when the sod does.

Your 2026 watering rules decide when you can run the zones:

• Johnstown is on its Level 3 schedule: 2 assigned days a week, no watering from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the outdoor season ends October 15. The Town says servicing that can’t fit the assigned days should be raised with its conservation staff first (Johnstown water FAQs; 2026 schedule).
• Fort Collins asked residents under its voluntary Water Shortage Watch to water lawns no more than 2 days a week and not from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (City of Fort Collins).
• Little Thompson Water District is at Watch, its lowest level, with no mandatory restrictions (LTWD).

A fall install also meets the winter blowout. At NOAA’s Fort Collins station the median first fall freeze is October 7 (NOAA normals), and a system that has already been blown out can’t be run to find heads. Flag them before the blowout.

03Can the crew and the material get into the backyard?

Measure the narrowest point between the street and the turf: a gate, a side yard, an air-conditioner pad. For scale, Toro says its narrow-track Dingo TX 1000 compact loader is under 35 inches wide, enough for a standard 36-inch gate, and weighs 2,826 pounds (Toro); Ryan’s Jr. Sod Cutter is 25 inches wide. A narrower opening means wheelbarrows or a fence panel coming out. Ask the installer which, and ask the neighbor first if the fence is shared.

• The path. CSU Extension says there should be no grading, trenching, parking or stockpiling of materials inside a tree’s protected root zone, which starts at the dripline and needs more room on clay (CSU Extension). Keep the route and the rock pile away from trees you’re keeping.
• The driveway. Base rock, turf rolls and the old sod need somewhere to sit, usually the driveway. Move the cars out the night before. If a pile or trailer will sit in the street, ask your town and your HOA or metro district whether that needs a permit.
• Water. Tarkett’s manual has the area lightly wetted before the base is compacted. Show the crew a working outdoor tap, and check it hasn’t been shut off for winter.
• Photos. Photograph the driveway, fences, gate and lawn edges the day before, so any damage is easy to show.

04What should happen with dogs, kids and neighbors?

The locators come first. Colorado 811 asks that the area be completely open to locate crews during the 3 business days after the ticket is confirmed: no locked gates and no animals.

On install day the gates stand open and machines come and go, so plan for the dog to be inside, at daycare or with a friend, and the kids somewhere the loader isn’t.

With an in-ground dog fence, plan for the wire before the dig. PetSafe recommends burying the wire so it isn’t damaged and the system isn’t disabled, and lists digging around landscaping as a common cause of breaks. Ask the installer where the loop goes back: under the turf or along its edge. For the dog itself, see our pet turf page and the guide to dogs that dig through turf.

Tell the neighbors when a truck will block the street.

05Which papers should be on hand when the crew arrives?

• The HOA’s written approval, with any conditions on color, borders or layout. Give the crew lead a copy, and walk the marked outline against the approved plan before the first cut. Our guide to HOA turf approval covers the request.
• Firestone’s town permit. Firestone requires a permit before artificial turf is installed, with no fee for single-family homes. Elsewhere, our town-by-town turf rules list what each code says. Where a code doesn’t settle your lot, it depends on the project, so ask your town’s Planning department before the dig.
• The 811 ticket number, so you can check that every utility has responded.
• Your sprinkler map and the product spec sheet the HOA approved, so the rolls that arrive match it.

06What should I check before the crew leaves?

Tarkett’s manual has the irrigation turned on once the turf is down, to check that heads are capped and no pipe was punctured, and the lighting checked, with repairs finished before infill goes on. Ask to see your remaining zones run at that point. Then walk it:

• The zones that stay reach their trees and beds, and no water pools on the new turf.
• The dog fence and the landscape lights work.
• Gates close and latch.
• Leftover rock and old sod are gone, and the driveway and street are swept.
• Your sprinkler map is updated to show what was capped and what now runs under the turf, so the next fence post or tree planting misses it.

What you can’t see, such as the base and weed barrier, is in our guide to checking the base was installed.