The trench, day 2

Redcar GUY · 11-10-02, 04:52

Day to is over and it went great! We didn’t get started till after late because of the weather. We got out the Bosch hammer drill and went wild on the house foundation, we needed a big hole to get the water line and the 4in pvc through. The foundation was about 15in thick but with that Bosch it was a cake walk. It is one of the newer ones that is a drill/hammer drill/and a power chisel, we drilled about 4 holes then hit it in chisel mode. I am almost done now, Mostly just backfilling the trench more, Pulling the wires through the pipe and hooking up the water to the house water supply. I also have to re concrete the floor around the pipes in the garage and around the pipes in the basement. I am tired but so happy that it is done! I may call in to work tomorrow so I can finish backfilling before more rain hits, I have about 2 feet deep left for about 50 feet or so. I came in a little over budget; I had planned on about $250 in materials and the cost of the trencher rental. BUT today I added it up, trencher rental $130 and materials $150. $280 is still ok though, It would have taken weeks to dig that trench buy hand. Here are a few pics from day 2..

Here is the hole in the house, It is about 8in.

Here is a pic of the water line in the trench, The hose is on it because We were testing the line. 4 feet is deep!

Here is a pic of the two pipes going though the wall in the house foundation, The water pipe is on the bottom.

This is how the pipes come through the wall in the basement. After the foam drys I will cut off the excess and fill in the hole with concrete.

Avalanche · 11-10-02, 06:04

Does your PVC pipe run from the basemant all the way to the garage? Running electrical underground through pvc is big no-no. The current warms the air in the tube and can alter the resistance of the wiring causing your breaker not to function. Here in NJ and lots of other places its against code. You can run PVC just to channel the wire out of the foundation but should just be buried right in the dirt. Check your local code, hopefully its OK.

Redcar GUY · 11-10-02, 06:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Avalanche
Does your PVC pipe run from the basemant all the way to the garage? Running electrical underground through pvc is big no-no. The current warms the air in the tube and can alter the resistance of the wiring causing your breaker not to function. Here in NJ and lots of other places its against code. You can run PVC just to channel the wire out of the foundation but should just be buried right in the dirt. Check your local code, hopefully its OK.

yes the pipe does but there will not be any "power" wires in the pipe. They run in there own trench about 2 feet over from the trench I just dug. Thanks for th tip

Brad B. · 11-10-02, 06:21

That's pretty cool. It's gonna be a really clean installation. But I would expect that from you!

Redcar GUY · 11-11-02, 08:27

This is the set up for the water going out to the garage. Hot, cold, and a drain cock. Notice the TV cable and the Phone lines

banzaitoyota · 11-12-02, 05:29

Did you insrall a backflow preventer in the line going to the garage?

Redcar GUY · 11-12-02, 07:06

Quote:

Originally posted by banzaitoyota
Did you insrall a backflow preventer in the line going to the garage?

No, I think what you are talking about is so the water from the garage dosnt get back to the house water that we drink? When I am not useing the water in the garage I shut off the main valve and the hot/cold valves and there are to more valves that are where the water comes off the main. I thought that would be enough? Also I thought that they were just for when you have a irrigation system? IS this wrong? THX

banzaitoyota · 11-13-02, 06:01

From:
http://www.pmengineer.com/CDA/Articl...2005%2C00.html

The category of products we'll be discussing here is sometimes called cross connection control devices. Cross connection refers to any linking between a potable water supply (one safe for drinking) and any source of non-potable water--or any other fluid--into a common system. Examples of cross connection piping arrangements include bypass hookups, jumper connections, removable sections, and swivel or changeover devices. The need for cross connection control goes beyond the simple prohibiting of improper hookups themselves; it commonly involves specifying and installing of protective devices to prevent the backflow of contaminated or polluted water supplies in the event that cross connections are (sometimes have to be) made. These products are required by code for plumbing installations today, including municipal water systems, food processing plants, medical facilities and many industrial applications.

How does this portentially affect you?

Say you are filling your 5 gallon wash bucket with soap(insert favorite brand here) and you place the hose end in the bucket. Then the city water main is depressurized due to a massive leak of siniliar failure. The potential exists to siphon your bucket of soapy water into the watr main.
Granted the odds of this occuring are slim, but do you want this happening? What if your neighbor is filling his dirty, slimey pool when this happens? I view it as cheap insurance.

If you are in doubt, ceck with your local codes and compliance office. You did have a building permit and all required inspections?

Mags GN · 11-16-02, 12:42

OK OK.. Everybody who has chimed in on some of these code issues are correct.
You do have a possible cross connection where you twined the hot and cold togther. If you have both valves open and have the hydrant closed on the other end, your hot could flow into your cold upon opening of a house faucet and vice versa. You'll be surprised when steaming hot water flows out when you turn the cold on. What you did realy isn't correct but just be careful. Always shut off at least the hot or cold when your done using the mixed water.
As far as back flow goes...... you can buy a hose bib Backflow. About $15 that screws on directly to the end of the hose connection on the hydrant. It wont allow any backflow back ito the hydrant. Those are acceptible here in MA.
Otherwise your job looks neat and clean. I'm glad to see you ran copper!! Nice job! Also adding the drain cock.. Great! Thats what I would have done, you never know when you'll need to drain that line for servicing the hydrant or any other reason.

OH.........As far as PVC pipe for your electrical. Here in MA you can do both, run directly in the earth or use PVC conduit. 90% of the underground wires around here are in "protective" conduit PVC. Using the PVC conduit is viewed asa better job!

It's funny how how the codes vary so much from state to state an also from county to county. Working in the trades and dealing with code issues can be very frustrateing!!

Redcar GUY · 11-16-02, 03:23

Thanks for the tips guys