Underground Storage Tank Locating Prior to Home Sale - Seattle, Washington

GPRS, LLC. of the Pacific Northwest was called out to provide an underground storage tank locate (oil tank) for a local real estate agent who was putting a house on the market. The client wanted to verify if a tank was still on the property, as the house had been originally built in 1919, and records indicated it was heated by oil that was kept in a cylinder underground. A metal detector scan was performed by a different company, but they determined that there was a great deal of cast iron utilities and wire mesh in the floor slab of the house which greatly limited the findings that were gathered. GPR is a great tool for tank location, as limitations such as these can be eliminated and a more thorough picture of what is in the ground can be acquired. We first used a smaller concrete antenna to determine the reinforcement type and density in the slab, and then set up the larger 400 MHz antenna with adjusted settings to compensate for the reinforcement. A scan of the outside of the house and property was also conducted, and many of the metallic objects were found and determined to be utilities, and no underground storage tanks or cylinders.

The photo above was taken of the backyard of the property where the scan took place.

Dense vegetation in some areas limited the scan, but the previous metal detector scan along with this detailed GPR scan would have covered over 99% of any possible ground where a tank may have been located. It is always worthwhile to get a second opinion, and the real estate company now has two detailed reports (one from the tank company, one from GPRS) to present to the city and any potential buyers.

The photo shown above shows some of the data collected by GPRS while onsite.

If you are in need of, or would like a free quote for any of our underground utility locating services (private or public), such as utility locating, underground storage tank locating, soil boring clearance, trench scanning, or EMI mapping in the Pacific Northwest, please contact:
Jesse Moorhouse at (206) 200-9293 or at jesse.moorhouse@gprsinc.com.