February 11th 2004
To prepare for building I had to set in the water supply line through the
garage. Once this water supply line was in I could fill in the garage area
and have the cement poured for the garage slab. I asked several people
about doing this water supply line, and got as many different answers as people
I asked. I even called the county building dept and talked to a building
plans screener who told me "use Type "L" blue copper if you need it in dirt and
covered with concrete."
  So,
after digging a trench 2' deep and poking a whole under the footing into the
garage I made all my measurements and went out and bought the copper pipe and
all the fittings I needed. I was anxious to get it done and began sweating
a couple lengths of copper pipe together. After the first piece I quite
and decided I wanted an expert to do this joint sweating that was going to be
covered in cement that I would never be able to get back into to fix if needed.
After calling some more plumbers and getting more conflicting answers to using
copper I finally reached the plumbing inspector and he set me straight.
They were ALL WRONG! The inspector was the guy to pass or fail my jobs
and he had to give me the correct ways. He started by explaining that my
current 3/4" water supply line to the trailer would Not Pass Code for the New
Construction I was doing. He said I had to replace it with a larger line
and asked what the distance was to the water meter so he could look at his chart
to determine what size I would be required to use. Well, I hesitated,
couldn't breath, and eventually told him it was nearly 600' up to the corner of
the road. He choked and apologetically told me I would have to lay in new
1 1/2" black poly water supply pipe for the entire length. I knew this was
going to cause me plenty of grief.
  I always thought I could just use the existing water supply line. They
will not allow it. After doing some shopping I found that this 1 1/2"
water line would cost me $80. per 100' - $480.00 just for the pipe. Next I
started thinking about how to trench up the gravel road, had to think about the
other 4 water lines, the telephone lines, drainage pipes, and other buried
utilities "somewhere" in the path I was going to have to dig! Man, I
really was getting sick to my stomach.
The water company, city or county keeps no record of exactly where any
utilities are beyond the meters. So, I have to ask neighbors what they
know or think they know about exactly where their water lines were buried.
Some were buried 30 years ago and they don't have a clue where they are.
Others had to fix a leak and one had to replace the line some time ago and they
did know. Larry had to lay new line and to avoid hitting anyone else's' he
trenched right down the center of the gravel road. He also "thought" there
were another 4 lines - 2 going down each side of the road. Gads, how could
I Not hit something! I talked with neighbor Jim (he helped with the cement
work), 'cause he told his story about his pitiful poor water pressure and that
quite a few years ago he purchased one of the lines laid but not servicing a lot
so he could just switch to that one and solve his water pressure problem.
So, the plan was to find my line and determine what lines were with my old
supply line. If my line and Jim's old line were the only ones on this side
of the road we could help Jim hook into the new line and then not worry about
his old line, or my old line. Can't tell if I am lucky or not till I go
dig up all around the meter up at the corner of the road.
 Meantime I tried to figure just where I would have to trench from the new
garage out to the roadway. It ain't an easy task at all. The 12' to
15' wide driveway cement forced me to the far side where there is only a 3'
plant area between the driveway and the trailer. I'd have to trench there
until I came to sidewalk, trench under the sidewalk and angle around the Cedar
trees on the far side of the driveway towards the open road. That adds
another 20 or so feet, but I could find no better alternative. Gosh, just
digging a trench around the tree roots will be a challenge, but trenching in
hard packed gravel road sounds harder yet. I'm told the hardest will be to
do the job without digging into "other" lines or utilities. 'Course
you know the old saying: Dig a hole and fill it up again and you "Never"
have enough dirt. I'll have to bring in plenty extra fill I'm sure.
 Man,
this is a major setback and a bad dream I wish I could just wake up from.
We did call for a "Before you Dig" service where they come out to identify with
colored paint on the ground where any utilities might be. The phone was
helpful, the power was above ground, no gas line, and the water line would only
be marked where the meter was up at the corner, so, this was a tiny bit of help.
Say it isn't so! There is now a water leak in
the driveway! Apparently all the big trucks delivering cement
and supplies have damaged the old existing water line under the driveway!
The leak is slow and creates a constant small puddle seeping up through the
cement. So, as long as it isn't major leakage we will leave it alone and
not fix it. To fix it we would have to dig out the driveway! No way.
So, hopefully it will last until the New waterline is hooked up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Waterline construction put on hold till I get the new house built to a point
where I can actually hook up the new water supply lines. More to come.
Jump forward to - August 12, 2004 - Here is the rest of the Story:
(Also at this time we were still building and working on
floor joists on the main house. Difficult time splitting jobs and
thinking.)
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The water leak became very bad, but we didn't realize how
bad until we got our water bill for $300.00. Apparently the water was
leaking under the driveway and just wasn't visible, so we didn't think much
of it. Okay, the bill got our attention. |
| In the pic above you can make out my helper at the far
end of the trench |
I rented a Ditch Witch - got a helper - and chewed the 2'
deep trench all the way up to the corner of the road. Dropped the line
in and got some others to help fill it in. That 1 1/2" black plastic
hose in a roll of 300' was a "monster" to try get in the trench!
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I did have several leaks at the joint in the plastic hose,
but was able to fix them. I also did all the plumbing at the water
meter and plumbing at the new house. Everything leaked - I twisted and
cussed and twisted things tighter and tighter until I fixed all the leaks.
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I ran PEX water line (Clear flexible plastic plumbing hose),
instead of copper. Easier on me. The existing trailer we are
living in now gets it's water from a garden hose connection from the New
house at a hose bib on the unfinished garage. |
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