May be diging a trench to the garage from house, need help>

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Redcar GUY

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I am thinking hard about digging a trench from the house to the garage. I need to run a water line bad so while I have it dug I am going to add a CAT 5 cable and TV cable. I already have plenty of power and a phone cable out there. Also I have a wireless intercom from the house to garage so I don’t need that. I will be renting a trencher for prob a day, the trench will be approx 4in wide and 3 feet deep. The path from the garage is about 70 feet.



Is there anything tips you all have or I should add while I have my beautiful lawn dug up?
 
Also check if you will need any permits and if the work needs to be inspected when completed.



Don't want any building code violations. :)
 
Make sure the cat5 cable is of the shielded platium type... if you run the copper viarity you may have too much signal loss..



also, run an extra condiute (sp?) while your at it (most ppl use a 4" pvc pipe).... next time you need something run into the garage it will be a piece of cake.





I've also heard of people leaving a nylon rope inside the condiute..... next time when you need to fish a wire through it you just tie it to the end of the string and pull it through (remembering to pull a second string at the same time.. so next time you need to run something it would be there.
 
Yea, it never hurts to lay some extra wire or as someone mentioned, a conduit for future access. I did this and found a reason to use it. I layed flexible copper gas line and came back two years later when I finally installed my heating and cooling system. You never know! It pays to do it now! I have bell wire so I can open the garage doors from the house, think about that. Looks like you have everything else covered.
 
make sure you also have marked your lawn sprinker layout. you don't want your weekend spent having to rerun the PVC tubing across your lawn.



I craked a sprinkler pipe when I was at my parents house - didn't realize it until the thing slowly flooded the lawn when the sprinkler system turn on in the middle of the night. I'm more careful with the shovel now.
 
Thanks for the tips all, I was going to make all the calls for ANYTHING that may be buried in the yard before I started, also going to check with the city to see about the code and to see if there is any permits I need to do this...
 
Hey RedCar guy!!



I'm a Master Plumber, maybe i could give you a few tips. You mentioned a ditch 3 feet in depth. I'm not sure where you live but remember the frost line.It's 4' here in MA. I'm not sure if your going to use the water year round or blow it out in the winter? Run a big enough water line 1" or minimun 3/4. You never know what your demand might be if you decide to add other water useable items. Most codes wont allow you to run water and electric utilities in the same ditch.

Don't run a hot water line from the house in the ditch. The ground will pull most of the heat out of the water from that distance. You would also proabaly loose about 10 gallons of water before it came out the faucet hot. Consider a small water heater in your garage if you need hot water. (Lots more efficient).



I have a detached garage also about 70'from the house. I had a landscaper friend use his pipe puller to pull a line from my house to the garage across the lawn. The landscaping pipe is only about 6" below grade so I have blow the water out before winter and shut off all water to the garage. It really doesn't bother me because I put the car awat for the winter anyhow. I use the water on the house faucet to wash the other car etc.



If you have any plumbing questions let me know!



Mike
 
Mags GN said:
Hey RedCar guy!!



I'm a Master Plumber
Click to expand...





ok then, would it be better to use the 3/4 pipe or the 1in pipe? Witch would be better for flow/pressure? It will be a little under 70 foot run..



The water that will come from the house will be a 3/4 pipe and in the garage I will have a 3/4 hose.
 
If your pressure is good in the house then 3/4 will probably do just fine if its just for using a hose or two. 1" will give you more volume of course. If your running a laundry,sprinkler system and your hose at the same time you wouldn't get too much of a pressure drop with the 1" line. It's just as easy to lay a 1" line in the trench now and tie into the house 1". You could then go to 3/4 or 1/2" in your garage!
 
I noticed you mentioned wireless intercom. I'm in the process of making my Ultimate garage! Where did you get your intercom? What brand name?

MY electrician is working as we speak. Running out 100amp service, cable and phone. He just installed some industrial flouresant lighting. They are great! Snap right on and no humming. Also put in some cieling mounted outlets for pull down drop lights. I'm useing plywood (T-111) for the walls, installing cabinets and other wall items made easy. I'm looking for a cool way to hang a TV . like one of those bar room cieling supported things or something, any suggestions?



P.S> your garage is great!
 
Mags GN said:
I noticed you mentioned wireless intercom. I'm in the process of making my Ultimate garage! Where did you get your intercom? What brand name?
Click to expand...



well I got mine at Radio shack, it was about $39



click pic









I am going to put the TV on top of the kenwood rack system in the corner, sorry can help you there
 
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