Unidentified mystery wires and cables in the yard after moving in
Homeowners often find stray cables sticking out of their yard that were left behind from a previous period of vacancy. This leaves them unsure whether the wire is hazardous or can be safely ignored, and hesitant to touch it without knowing what it connects to.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Shoving the wire back into the rocksDid this help you?
- 2Burying the cableDid this help you?
- 3Leaving it aloneDid this help you?
- 4trying to find labels printed or embossed on the cable jacketDid this help you?
- 5tracing where either end terminatesDid this help you?
- 6using a metal detector to trace its pathDid this help you?
- 7checking if there are unknown breakersDid this help you?
- 8Calling 811 or local utility marking services to identify the lineDid this help you?
- 9Encasing the cable in a PVC pipe or conduit and building the retaining wall around itDid this help you?
- 10Hand digging carefully around the line to inspect itDid this help you?
- 11Using a non-contact voltage tester to see if the wire is live while flipping breakers one by oneDid this help you?
- 12checking if there is power running through them before touching themDid this help you?
- 13posting photos on forums to ask others to identify themDid this help you?
- 14cutting the wires and patching over the wallDid this help you?
- 15repurposing the old wires for low-powered devices like smart home hubs or speakersDid this help you?
- 16Asking online home maintenance communities to identify the object.Did this help you?
- 17Running water inside the house to see if it flows through the pipe.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Google is suggesting it's old school telephone wire. If like live people thoughts.”source ↗
“Absolutely no idea. It's not close to anothing. Its like 200 yards away from any structure.”source ↗
“Nothing. I have a detector, but it's terrible. Only found this wire because we are digging a pond and are unearthing what appears to be an old wagon wheel.”source ↗
“I started digging out for a retaining wall to level a section of my back and hit this power line(?).”source ↗
“Anyway, can I safely build the wall so that the line runs through it?”source ↗
“I’m hesitant to put in a request to have the utilities marked for fear of getting flagged for something. Any advice or is my project dead in the water?”source ↗
“Just moved in, this is located in our front yard. It goes down a good ways to want looks like a horizontal pipe.”source ↗
“Thoughts on what these wires are for? I removed a blank plate in my bedroom and this is what was behind, completely uncapped as in the photo. As far as I can tell there is no power running through them. Safe to bury in the wall?”source ↗
“One of the switches is disconnected and the 14/3 wire that assume once went to this switch is capped with wire nuts and tucked into the back of the box. How can I trace where this wire goes?”source ↗
“I was pretty sure that's what they were, it was just odd to me that the previous owner put a blank plate on it, so I wanted to be sure.”source ↗
“I’m curious what this hookup is. I am HOPING it’s an outdoor water hookup on my patio that could connect to a hose or outdoor sink.”source ↗
“My dreams are crushed as a pottery artist but I appreciate the help.”source ↗