The fourth thing we look at is where are the utilities? Establishing where your utilities may be can save you a lot of money later. The most usual situation we run into in Pagosa Springs is that the Sewer is on one side of the road and the Water is on the opposite side. So most lots require either trenching across the road to bring in one utility or the other. Problem? Sure it is. You are now closing down a road for a certain amount of time in order to bring utilities to your home. The Depth of the utilities usually vary greatly. We have been as deep as 15 feet for sewer tie ins. The part that can get expensive is then on a dirt road the county will require you fill that trench with a concrete type material called flow fill. It is almost as expensive as concrete at around $180.00 a yard. The other option which I now believe the county just changed a rule to is if you are bringing utilities across a paved road you must Bore underneath to bring the utilities. This is a cleaner way of doing this completely. It requires no road closure, No flow fill, and the end result keeps our roads in better shape. Our company changed directions over a year ago and we have only been boring under roads since. It also allows us to keep closer numbers on costs without knowing depths of certain utilities. Now this blog isn’t to alarm anybody here. These are costs you will be looking at building anywhere in the country. I only find this important to tell you so you understand when you find a bargain. What’s a bargain you ask? There have been several times we have purchased lots and had some great things with utilities happen. For instance the neighbor of your lot may have built a home 10 years ago and paid to have a water meter brought over for their home. The sewer is on your side. There is a possibility that they had a double meter pit installed. What does that mean? It means that they pulled water across the road and you get to benefit from it. Like I said earlier. If water is on one side of the road the Sewer is usually on the other. That neighbor may have just saved you two to three thousand dollars on your build. Now you can tap into his double meter pit without crossing the road, and the sewer is already on your side.