Urgent --Power lines running through backyard, is it safe?

[Princess5]

We are looking at homes and love one, but it has power lines running through middle of backyard.. I am not sure how high voltage these are... The developer days they are normal distribution lines..I am attaching pictures..I can see some bigger towers in the distance to the left and right...  Would health concerns worry you? Would you buy this home?

[marbel]

Your first two photos look like just about every backyard in the area I live, including mine.  I don't love it (where I came from, all utilities were buried) but everyone lives under them here.  

[Princess5]

Pic1&2 are the same.  If you zoom these pictures there's is a transformer on the pole which we can see from this house...

[mlktwins]

I grew up with the lines in our neighborhood like in pic 1 & 2.  I don't have proof, but I don't like those big metal power lines in pic 3.   They make me nervous and they are unsightly.  That would be a no for me and my DH buying a house.

[prairiewindmomma]

Those are normal distribution lines, but I wouldn't want them through the middle of my backyard. Nope. That's a dealkiller for me. 

[Catwoman]

It would be a dealbreaker for me, no matter how much I loved the house.

[PeterPan]

Ok, we've had threads on this before. I'm EMF sensitive, and I can "feel" the difference between those types of lines. The first lines you showed are only about 15k. I wouldn't be right under them personally, but the way they're stacked cancels the fields enough that I *doubt* you'd have significant readings if you're back say 20-30 feet. You can rent/buy a gaussmeter and see for yourself. EMF decreases exponentially with distance, which means being a small distance back can make a big difference. Our old house had those 15k volt lines (at least I think that was the number, it has been a lot of years) and they were NOT stacked and they made me wicked sick. The consultant we used said to try to get the electric company to stack them to get the fields to cancel. They wanted an unbelievable amount of money (like more than the value of the house) and we couldn't do that, so we sold and built elsewhere.

We also have 250k volt transmission lines on our property but not anywhere near our house. (across the road on another hill) So if I go under them, I can feel them instantly, and many people will hear the crackling or have symptoms. I personally would never ever advise someone to live close to them. But then we get back to the science here, the basic math of it, that the EMF is going to decrease exponentially with distance. I have not used a gaussmeter on lines like that recently, and come to think of it our lines like that are not as big as those. Those may be even higher.

You look *relatively* far away from them, so I would *guess* that they are unsightly but not unsafe. And I'm as cautious as you can get. I have a gauss meter in my purse because we took it with us to look at cars today, lol. So if it were *me* deciding, I would want facts. If you love the house, rent/buy a gauss meter and decide. Anything below 3 is really getting close to ambient. Like I think the EMF of the earth itself is around 1-1.5, lol. But if you're cranking in at like 5, 7, 9+ there, no I would not live there. But that's a decision to make with data.

The other thing to remember is 1) resale value (what you're thinking is what others will think) and 2) that you're there more. So if the levels are high, your exposure is going to be greater due to being home so much. But I would not ASSUME. I would get data. If I were *guessing* I think you're actually back far enough almost to be fine. There's a hotel I stay at each year that is like 300' from some super high tension transmission lines like that. I stay there because we go to the lake and it's a convenient hotel. Anyways, one year I stayed at a hotel closer (got in late, didn't realize) and I got SO sick, oh my. But at this hotel just north of the lines like maybe 300', fine, totally fine. The EMF decreases exponentially with distance. So do not assume it's a problem till you have data. It may not be. It may be and probably is for the people whose houses are CLOSER, absolutely. But it might not be for yours.

[sassenach]

Neither of those lines would bug me.

The lines in your backyard would be utterly normal around here and I wouldn't think twice about buying a house with those lines. We have the same except they line the street in the front yard. No biggie.

The larger lines look far away. 

If these are unusual for your area, you might have resale issues, but in my area, with a ton of 1950's homes, these lines are normal. 

[Corraleno]

Definitely a dealbreaker for me. And even if I wasn't personally worried about them, I would be concerned about resale value, because I know it would be a dealbreaker for many other people.

[catz]

We have lines down our alley in our historic neighborhood.  Pretty standard in the urban historic neighborhoods here.  And we have a single line running from our house down our property line to the alley.  So I don't have a problem with lines in general.  Would not choose to live near large transformers.  And would not like the line running down the middle of my yard.  I actually think that is really weird.

[matrips]

I wouldn’t buy it.  And I wouldn’t even look at a house with lines running near it.  Whether it’s safe or not, I don’t know.  But I’d rather not find out, and I wouldn’t find my yard peaceful and pretty if I had to look at them. I know there are better deals to be had because of that, but still not worth it to me.

good luck with your house hunting and decisions. 🙂

[mlktwins]

7 minutes ago, Medicmom2.0 said:

For those of you who say no, where are your power lines?  I’m genuinely curious. The first two pictures look exactly like everything I’ve ever seen, except normally they are running down the street side, only occasionally through backyards.

Ours are all underground.  Neighborhood built beginning 2003.

[Forget-Me-Not]

Nope nope nope.  I have no idea about health issues, but it looks like one bad winter storm could down live wires into the yard. Plus it’s just ugly. Deal breaker for me. 

[Arcadia]

3 minutes ago, Medicmom2.0 said:

For those of you who say no, where are your power lines?  

 

Mine are buried, suburban master plan area. Across the freeway, the power lines are just like photo 1 & 2 and the homes sell for about half the price per square foot. Basically the single family homes with bigger acreage and visible power lines sells cheaper than the newer small townhomes with buried lines.

[PeterPan]

The irony is that burying them doesn't make them any safer and *can* make the issues worse even. There's discussion that the radiation can be carried by underground water, metal pipes, etc. So it's not like poof, not an issue. They buried some high tension lines along a road near me, and when I drive over it my radio crackles.

The fact that they bothered to stack them means the voltage is probably higher. My mother lived in a suburb that had just normal power lines in the alley behind her house. Those were dinky, maybe 4k, and the EMF just dropped off SO quickly. You could feel it in the room closest to the lines but nothing after that. But those lines op pictured are higher and they'll be high (5+) at 20' away. Still it drops off quickly. When I was very sick and stuck in the house under those lines, I'd camp another 15' away and it made a big difference.

http://lessemf.com/gauss.html#111  This is not the exact meter I have, because I was given it by an engineer with the electric company years ago. But it's similar and that's a company I've ordered from before. You can get into a fine little gauss meter for under $100 or just rent. If there's a major city near you, they'll probably have a company that rents testing equipment. I rented a $$$$ formaldehyde meter once that way.

[Corraleno]

20 minutes ago, Medicmom2.0 said:

For those of you who say no, where are your power lines?  I’m genuinely curious. The first two pictures look exactly like everything I’ve ever seen, except normally they are running down the street side, only occasionally through backyards.

They are underground here; the neighborhood was built in the late 70s, but I don't know if the lines were buried later. The last place we lived (different state) they were buried on our street, but there were some neighborhoods that still had poles on the street. When we lived in the UK they were on the other side of the road, with a line running to the house, but the house was set back from the road, so the lines were not very visible. 

I definitely prefer the lines being buried, for both safety and aesthetic reasons, but if buried lines were not an option in an area I needed to live, it would still make a big difference to me whether the lines were on the street or in the backyard. Most people don't spend a lot of time in their front yard, so they're not as much of an eyesore. Having them behind the house, where I would be staring at them through all the back windows as well as any time I was outside, would be a deadbreaker for me. And the fact that the lines in those photos are not only behind the house, they actually run right through the backyard would be a double nope for me. I don't want to be sitting (or gardening or playing catch or whatever) directly under power lines, and I would be seriously worried about storms.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have lived with them running along back property lines, and I have had several houses with buried lines.

EMF issues aside, we have had house damage from poles and wires coming down in storms. You have less electrical stability with overhead wiring.

Middle of my backyard? No way!

[crazyforlatin]

In parts of Northern California, these lines are on the street, not behind the yard. I haven't seen the recent home prices near where Arcadia lives, but I did pay attention years ago and houses around the large transformers just didn't sell as high. 

[Laura Corin]

They wouldn't worry me. We have power lines across our garden.

[Carrie12345]

8 hours ago, Medicmom2.0 said:

For those of you who say no, where are your power lines?  I’m genuinely curious. The first two pictures look exactly like everything I’ve ever seen, except normally they are running down the street side, only occasionally through backyards.

For the regular ones, ours line the street. Most of us have an additional pole between the street and the house that goes up the property line. They don’t look nearly as intrusive as those in the picture seem to be.

I don’t see standard power lines in a region that doesn’t do underground as a heightened safety issue, but the aesthetic in this scenario would turn me off.  But that’s easy to say in a place where that isn’t the norm.

I wouldn’t buy near high voltage lines because my daughters seems to be sensitive to them. And yet I’m considering acreage that has a gas pipeline on it! I’m not fully sold on it, but TONS of people here do live on the pipeline. It’s considered a relatively normal thing. Our regional norms definitely have an effect on our individual risk assessments.

[Pawz4me]

I don't have big issues with power lines. As far as I know I'm not sensitive. My take is this -- I prefer them to be buried. It is nicer not seeing them, but mostly because they're not susceptible to being taken down by falling branches and trees during storms. I can't see how buried lines would be any better for someone who is sensitive. I mean they're still there, and still emitting whatever they're emitting that bothers people. At our last two homes all the lines were buried. At this one they're above ground, but across the street. Now we're different from a lot of people in that we spend a LOT of time on our front porch, or looking out the windows of our living room. It's all woods across our quiet neighborhood street, and beautiful. The utility lines are there, but because of the backdrop of woods they're barely visible except during the winter. You have to make an effort to notice them most of the year. It does really make them susceptible to trees during storms, though. But . .  given a choice I wouldn't want them dissecting my back yard in open view like in the pictures you posted. That would be very abnormal around here. I won't say it would be a deal breaker. I think it really depends on what's normal for your area and how much you like the house.

[J-rap]

17 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Ok, we've had threads on this before. I'm EMF sensitive, and I can "feel" the difference between those types of lines. The first lines you showed are only about 15k. I wouldn't be right under them personally, but the way they're stacked cancels the fields enough that I *doubt* you'd have significant readings if you're back say 20-30 feet. You can rent/buy a gaussmeter and see for yourself. EMF decreases exponentially with distance, which means being a small distance back can make a big difference. Our old house had those 15k volt lines (at least I think that was the number, it has been a lot of years) and they were NOT stacked and they made me wicked sick. The consultant we used said to try to get the electric company to stack them to get the fields to cancel. They wanted an unbelievable amount of money (like more than the value of the house) and we couldn't do that, so we sold and built elsewhere.

We also have 250k volt transmission lines on our property but not anywhere near our house. (across the road on another hill) So if I go under them, I can feel them instantly, and many people will hear the crackling or have symptoms. I personally would never ever advise someone to live close to them. But then we get back to the science here, the basic math of it, that the EMF is going to decrease exponentially with distance. I have not used a gaussmeter on lines like that recently, and come to think of it our lines like that are not as big as those. Those may be even higher.

You look *relatively* far away from them, so I would *guess* that they are unsightly but not unsafe. And I'm as cautious as you can get. I have a gauss meter in my purse because we took it with us to look at cars today, lol. So if it were *me* deciding, I would want facts. If you love the house, rent/buy a gauss meter and decide. Anything below 3 is really getting close to ambient. Like I think the EMF of the earth itself is around 1-1.5, lol. But if you're cranking in at like 5, 7, 9+ there, no I would not live there. But that's a decision to make with data.

The other thing to remember is 1) resale value (what you're thinking is what others will think) and 2) that you're there more. So if the levels are high, your exposure is going to be greater due to being home so much. But I would not ASSUME. I would get data. If I were *guessing* I think you're actually back far enough almost to be fine. There's a hotel I stay at each year that is like 300' from some super high tension transmission lines like that. I stay there because we go to the lake and it's a convenient hotel. Anyways, one year I stayed at a hotel closer (got in late, didn't realize) and I got SO sick, oh my. But at this hotel just north of the lines like maybe 300', fine, totally fine. The EMF decreases exponentially with distance. So do not assume it's a problem till you have data. It may not be. It may be and probably is for the people whose houses are CLOSER, absolutely. But it might not be for yours.

Can I ask how you "feel" the difference between the types of lines?  What are your symptoms?   I have a family member with long-term health issues such as migraines and I'm always on the lookout for triggers I hadn't thought of before.

[J-rap]

Unless there's a giant tower in my backyard, this isn't something I generally worry about.  In fact, I don't remember living anywhere that doesn't have them, even crossing through yards sometimes.  I've lived in big cities and small towns.

Maybe it's something I should worry about though!  

[PeterPan]

22 minutes ago, J-rap said:

Can I ask how you "feel" the difference between the types of lines?  What are your symptoms?   I have a family member with long-term health issues such as migraines and I'm always on the lookout for triggers I hadn't thought of before.

EMF, cell, wifi, vibrations across metal, sound I can't hear but that hurts me, they all feel different. Even my dh is always like how can you be so sure it wasn't xyz, and I'm like because it feels different. The EMF is more insidious and slow. I get foggy, my whole system shuts down, and I basically get desperately depressed. When we lived under those lines I could go around the house (before we got the gauss meter) and tell you where it was higher and lower. We had a cast iron bath tub, and I kept saying I felt better in there, which dh thought was nuts. Then we got the gauss meter and sure enough... 

So for me EMF is mostly sort of fog and not feeling right. Now wifi, that's really bad headaches. I tried a Cadillac XT4 crossover this weekend that left me in tears driving it, literally in tears, and I had like a 9.5 headache after that, oh my. And I think with that it was literally the vibrations in the metal, because it started at my legs and made my legs feel awful. 5 minutes after I got out of the car my pulse was still over 100. That was AWFUL. We had a water pump for an outdoor pond we turned on and that was instant, piercing headaches, couldn't hear a thing. We had to put the pump in acoustical foam to be able to run it at all, at all. I think the vibrations were catching the metal support beams in the house.

So yeah, headaches are hard. I have an extremely sensitive system. I would probably start with the most logical, easiest, most common explanations. (blood sugar, hormones, candida overgrowth) So like eat salad, check hormones, take raw garlic daily (1-3 cloves) and see where that gets her. I'm unusual even in the most sensitive populations, sort of a 1% of the 1% of people that have these sensitivies. But it is true everyone is different. Most glaring symptom for most typical people under high EMF is insomnia and hearing it. I forgot about the tinnitus of sorts. You could hear it. Yeah, bad days.

The theory is the *stress* of the EMF exposure causes stress reactions in the body that increase carbon dioxide levels. I have no clue if that's TRUE or not, just saying what I've read in articles. I always thought it kinda fit with that sort of overall fog/stress/shutting down reaction I seem to have with EMF. My thyroid crashed while I lived there too. For *me* if it's straight headaches it's usually wifi. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

23 minutes ago, J-rap said:

Can I ask how you "feel" the difference between the types of lines?  What are your symptoms?   I have a family member with long-term health issues such as migraines and I'm always on the lookout for triggers I hadn't thought of before.

Fwiw, I used to have headaches for months at a time, sigh. I started with a nutritionist, because my efforts with a regular doc left me more sick. We did food combining to ease the digestive strain, got my bowels working better, worked on the candida with garlic and leaky gut with red pepper. Now you can just take Florastor to improve the leaky gut. I think some of that stuff, like the gut issues, the weak digestion (which results in fatigue), etc. is pretty common. We ran genetics and tracked down some things on me. If my methyls go up, I get headaches. 

So I can get headaches from radiation, from eating things that are hard to digest, from my liver going toxic (then I need to take glutathione), from candida, previously from chemical exposures (fragrances, etc.). And really, I think most people who are extremely sensitive to radiation also have the other stuff going on. Sometimes it takes a while to work through it and peel away that onion. For me, learning to food combine and make digestion easier was actually HUGE. By peeling away one layer we could get to the rest. I've done it for like 18 years now. No beef, low cheese/wheat/dairy, and properly food combining. Eat salad every day. Then you eliminate some of the big picture things and can burrow down to the less common stuff.

[J-rap]

5 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

EMF, cell, wifi, vibrations across metal, sound I can't hear but that hurts me, they all feel different. Even my dh is always like how can you be so sure it wasn't xyz, and I'm like because it feels different. The EMF is more insidious and slow. I get foggy, my whole system shuts down, and I basically get desperately depressed. When we lived under those lines I could go around the house (before we got the gauss meter) and tell you where it was higher and lower. We had a cast iron bath tub, and I kept saying I felt better in there, which dh thought was nuts. Then we got the gauss meter and sure enough... 

So for me EMF is mostly sort of fog and not feeling right. Now wifi, that's really bad headaches. I tried a Cadillac XT4 crossover this weekend that left me in tears driving it, literally in tears, and I had like a 9.5 headache after that, oh my. And I think with that it was literally the vibrations in the metal, because it started at my legs and made my legs feel awful. 5 minutes after I got out of the car my pulse was still over 100. That was AWFUL. We had a water pump for an outdoor pond we turned on and that was instant, piercing headaches, couldn't hear a thing. We had to put the pump in acoustical foam to be able to run it at all, at all. I think the vibrations were catching the metal support beams in the house.

So yeah, headaches are hard. I have an extremely sensitive system. I would probably start with the most logical, easiest, most common explanations. (blood sugar, hormones, candida overgrowth) So like eat salad, check hormones, take raw garlic daily (1-3 cloves) and see where that gets her. I'm unusual even in the most sensitive populations, sort of a 1% of the 1% of people that have these sensitivies. But it is true everyone is different. Most glaring symptom for most typical people under high EMF is insomnia and hearing it. I forgot about the tinnitus of sorts. You could hear it. Yeah, bad days.

The theory is the *stress* of the EMF exposure causes stress reactions in the body that increase carbon dioxide levels. I have no clue if that's TRUE or not, just saying what I've read in articles. I always thought it kinda fit with that sort of overall fog/stress/shutting down reaction I seem to have with EMF. My thyroid crashed while I lived there too. For *me* if it's straight headaches it's usually wifi. 

Wow, thanks for that long explanation.  I really appreciate it.  It does make me wonder.  I have two children with wildly extreme sensitivities.  (Both physical and emotional.)  I think my dh too, to an extent.  (His are just physical.)   For my dd, a lot of it plays out as migraines, and we've tried or checked everything we can possibly think of.  She's been through years of doctors and testing and has eliminated so many foods from her diet and is on many healthy-lifestyle routines.  But this is something we've never looked into.

How do you manage the wifi thing?  Doesn't every home have that?  And cell, you mean cell phones?  How do you avoid that?  It just seems like this stuff is so pervasive.  I think I'd like to get my dd one of those meters though!

[J-rap]

14 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Fwiw, I used to have headaches for months at a time, sigh. I started with a nutritionist, because my efforts with a regular doc left me more sick. We did food combining to ease the digestive strain, got my bowels working better, worked on the candida with garlic and leaky gut with red pepper. Now you can just take Florastor to improve the leaky gut. I think some of that stuff, like the gut issues, the weak digestion (which results in fatigue), etc. is pretty common. We ran genetics and tracked down some things on me. If my methyls go up, I get headaches. 

So I can get headaches from radiation, from eating things that are hard to digest, from my liver going toxic (then I need to take glutathione), from candida, previously from chemical exposures (fragrances, etc.). And really, I think most people who are extremely sensitive to radiation also have the other stuff going on. Sometimes it takes a while to work through it and peel away that onion. For me, learning to food combine and make digestion easier was actually HUGE. By peeling away one layer we could get to the rest. I've done it for like 18 years now. No beef, low cheese/wheat/dairy, and properly food combining. Eat salad every day. Then you eliminate some of the big picture things and can burrow down to the less common stuff.

My dd has had a headache now nonstop for over 7 years.  She's worked on some of this already.  No meds helped so she stopped with that years ago.  I think it's very complicated in her case, as with yours, and probably a lot of things contribute.  The trick is finding everything.  She had her genetics tested too and met with someone who ran some pretty thorough tests and came up with a few things.  Your story is very encouraging though, and you've brought up some new ideas to try.  I think I'll copy some of what you've said and send it to her...

[Lanny]

The small lines going through the backyard are not routed nicely (the lines should have been routed differently, or, if they were there first, the subdivision should have been laid out differently). Probably those are OK.

Those huge Cross-Country towers. I wouldn't want to live near them

There are 2 possible concerns: The first is the possibility of health issues, especially from the Cross-country towers. The second is Resale value of the home. There will be people who will be reluctant to buy a house with those lines.

Also, if you have followed the news in the USA during the past week, there have been destructive Tornadoes in a number of states.  If those lines come down, it could be a dangerous issue for people nearby.

[Farrar]

In some areas and neighborhoods, you're not going to find homes that don't have those lines. We have a few in our alley. It's just how it is here. The main lines are buried, but these others are aboveground. Because old city neighborhood. If you're looking at multiple neighborhoods, then maybe that's a dealbreaker between two different ones. If this neighborhood is where you want to be... then you probably shouldn't even think about it.

The big ones seem far enough away that I wouldn't be fussed. I wouldn't want those in my backyard. You can hear them. But they're far enough away for me.

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, J-rap said:

How do you manage the wifi thing?  Doesn't every home have that?

Yeah, the pinging is a problem if you turn off the wifi unit but leave the devices on trying to connect. We keep everything in our home off and live away from people. I wear ear plugs when I go out. I was told by an OT (years ago, when I was taking one of my kids) that it was a form of auditory sensitivity. I get nauseous with tv towers and horrific headaches from radio. You can't shield radio unless you're grounded, so it's very hard, sigh. So anyways, for wifi, the earplugs seem to help. I went from unable to travel or be out without headaches to being fine. If I could find a better solution, something that was actually fixing it, obviously I would. Haven't figured that out, sigh. 

LessEMF that I linked you to also sells shielding fabric. People will make undergarments to wear under their clothes. Doesn't help with wifi/radio/tv but it does help with cell. Fresh air helps. It's a stress reaction, so I'm actually really good on a cruise with all that fresh air, which is REALLY counter-intuitive, lol. I took one for the first time this year, and I was like I'm either gonna be great (with all that fresh air) or sick as a dog. Worked out really well. So send her on a cruise. 

Oh, so on the cell phones, I keep it off or not near my person, I NEVER put it on my head, and I wear shielding clothes that *help*. You can find lists of phones with lower this or that, try bogus shielding devices, etc. Mainly just don't keep it on (for cell) while it's on your person. Just flip the airplane mode and turn off the pinging in the privacy settings.

There's also the theory in traditional chinese medicine (I have no clue what I'm talking about) that the area that gets affected is what is WEAKEST on you. So people get lung symptoms or this or that, and it's what is weak. Anyways, with headaches, TCM will look at *where* the headache is. I can get pesticide headaches, and those are really, really bad. There's a spot on the top of your head for the liver, so a lot of times the headaches I used to have constantly were there, which to the nutritionist meant my liver was weak. So then we'd do things for the liver. I know someone who bloats when they get in radiation, like tons of water retention and kidney symptoms. But that's something to look into, *where* the headaches are and what they can tell you. 

Just in general, you won't go wrong with salads, garlic, fresh air, food combining to ease digestion. 

[Pen]

In addition to EMF and downed lines issues, do you have any children who might climb the pole into the hot lines?

Where we live, wires are mostly above ground still—though usually along streets in front.  They don’t look as nice, but I think electric above is in and of itself not significantly or automatically more dangerous than underground. Depending on distance the big poles could be a health problem for anyone with EMF sensitivity . (I would personally be wary of the big ones, but can’t tell how far away they are.)

 

But if I had a kid who might climb into wires (due to age, or learning issues, or lack of executive functioning), I’d absolutely stay away from those wires across backyard with pole right by fence.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Pen

[Amy in NH]

There are also inconclusive tests related to EMF/power lines and childhood leukemia and brain tumors.  This first came to my attention when we lived in a neighborhood with childhood cluster cancers and nearby power lines.

[PeterPan]

Studies, not tests, and the question would be what power level they were correlating the increase in cancers with. The studies I saw years ago were looking at very high tension lines like op's picture #3. Those I would never ever ever live very close to. They do it in a really ritzy town near us, with houses right under those really high voltage lines. Blows my mind.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4931365/  Here's a study, but there are probably plenty. This is for California, 2018, and the lines had to be 200k volt or higher (ie. REALLY BIG transmission lines) and you had to be within 50m (so maybe 150 feet?) for that statistical increase.

So lower tension (lower voltage) lines or farther distance, and the data isn't saying it. Go with the data. If you take a tri-field meter, you'll see the drop-off and know whether it seems safe to you. 

[Arcadia]

Below two photos were taken on my walk home and shows the power lines at the homes across the freeway.  Psychologically, it does put buyers off unless they want single family homes with much bigger backyard and acreage.

The traffic light on the second photo is on my side of the freeway where I was taking the photos so it doesn’t give an accurate perception of the height of the power line.

[Catwoman]

Zombie thread alert.

[Grace Hopper]

On 5/28/2019 at 4:53 PM, Corraleno said:

Definitely a dealbreaker for me. And even if I wasn't personally worried about them, I would be concerned about resale value, because I know it would be a dealbreaker for many other people.

This is how I feel. And if you are ever inclined to put in a pool… no. 

[KungFuPanda]

Where I live we get more ice than snow. Our power lines are buried and we’ve had fewer than five outages in twenty years. Nearby neighborhoods with lines that aren’t buried get weather-related outages a LOT more often.  Also, we once drove away without going inside a house our realtor wanted us to see because it had power lines going over the property.