Spent $350 on a ground penetrating radar rental and found absolutely nothing

I rented a GPR unit for a weekend to scan my backyard before building a patio, hoping to find old foundation walls from a 1800s farmhouse. All I got was a pile of data showing roots and rocks, zero artifacts or cool history. Has anyone else shelled out for fancy gear and come up empty handed?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy82025d ago

Wait, you're disappointed you didn't find anything? I mean, isn't that kind of the point of using the radar in the first place? You spent $350 to make sure there wasn't anything buried where you wanted to build, and it worked... you got a clear spot for your patio. I get that finding an old foundation would've been cool, but finding nothing means you can just start digging without any surprise problems later. Seems like the rental did exactly what it was supposed to do, even if it wasn't as exciting as you hoped.

gonzalez.grant25d ago

Yeah you're totally right. I've done the same thing before with a rental unit and felt kinda let down at first when nothing popped up. But honestly, that feeling goes away real quick once you start digging and don't hit any surprises. No unexpected pipes, no old septic tanks, no weird metal junk from some previous owner. Just plain dirt to work with. So yeah, boring is good. Boring means you get to pour your concrete and be done with it.