Questions tagged [trench]
The trench tag has no usage guidance.
36 questions
27
votes
16
answers
33k
views
How to dig a trench for a cable for a garden office
I'm trying to dig a trench for the electrical cable for a shed/office I'm building in my back garden. This is about 7 m long and should be 0.5 m deep. My soil seems to be about 5 cm of ...
- 463
13
votes
8
answers
8k
views
How do I place electrical conduit under a creek?
Short version: I need to run 4" PVC electrical conduit under a 4' wide creek where the water is usually 1-4" deep. Code in this area requires cable in conduit to be 18" deep. I do want ...
- 528
11
votes
3
answers
10k
views
Does it matter if my underground conduit overlaps or crosses over existing conduits?
I'm planning on digging a trench for underground electrical conduit. I recently called my state "call before you dig" underground locating service. They finished marking the locations of ...
- 337
7
votes
6
answers
11k
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What do I use for backfilling septic pipe leaving my home?
I have a 4" PVC septic pipe leaving my house on the cinder block wall about 4 feet below my house. There was a crack inside of the part where it leaves the house and I need to replace it (from ...
- 77
6
votes
4
answers
3k
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Can you bury coax internet cables above power cables?
I am looking to bury both my main power line and my ethernet lines. I already started the process on both.
When I purchased my home, the meter was in the back of the house with overhead lines, but I ...
- 385
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Does a water-filled trench protect against freezing?
This is a strange question, but I have a trench with a water line (HDPE poly pipe) in it from my new well to my house that I haven't yet buried. There's a cold snap coming where we'll see temps drop ...
- 373
6
votes
3
answers
27k
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Has anyone here ever rented a trencher? What was your experience?
I need to dig a 2 feet deep trench, about 100 feet long.
Has anyone used one of these trenchers? The first one in particular?
http://rentalsunlimited.com/catalog/trenchers/trenchers.html
What was ...
- 2,223
4
votes
5
answers
32k
views
How do I dig a 3 foot deep narrow trench in soft clay
I need to dig a 3 foot trench in soft clay to put in a new water pipe.
If I use I drain spade to dig it about 16cm ( 6 inches) wide will I have enough space to do the digger?
Is there a better ...
- 6,259
3
votes
2
answers
581
views
How to backfill trench under slab in Los Angeles
I am converting my music studio, with no utilities, to a studio apartment. With that said I am having to cut the slab to install the sewer. I am in Los Angeles and am wondering what is the correct ...
- 39
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Running fiber between buildings. How to enter enter/exit building with proper bend radius?
I'm looking at running some OM3 fiber (outdoor, armored), 6 strand between two residential buildings (think from a house to a garage for example). It's about 150ft total.
I do not want to run copper (...
- 133
3
votes
1
answer
26k
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Should I rent a trencher, or hire it out?
I need a straight 100', 18" deep trench to run power from my house to a workshop. Though I've never used a trencher before, I'm more than willing to give it a go. That said, when I needed to have a ...
- 33
2
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Appropriate conduit for several data cables underground over 300' run
I have done some searching around but have not found anything definitive, and/or my background is weak in this area and I may be understanding poorly.
I will have 2-4 PoE cables that will be run ...
user98368
2
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Code requirements for running water, power and sprinkler wire in same trench?
I am having a trench dug that passes through our asphalt driveway (previously a public county road). I am running power to a pump house on the far side and want to run two water lines and sprinkler ...
- 121
2
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Clarifying separation of ethernet cables from cables running power (underground)
I have seen a few questions regarding how close ethernet cables can be to power cables without a significant impact on the data. For example:
Can I run CAT5/6 cables parallel to electrical cables?
...
user98368
2
votes
3
answers
9k
views
Easiest way to dig trench along existing fence
My friend cannot currently allow his dogs in his backyard because they dig under his privacy fence. I wanted to fix it for him and just planned on digging a trench (8-10inches deep, 6-8inches wide) ...
- 139
2
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What extra conduit should I include in a utility trench?
I'm putting in a trench with electricity + water + phone from the street to a future house site. The trench will be around 150' long. The electricity and phone will each be in their own conduit, ...
- 11.7k
2
votes
0
answers
68
views
Spacing of underground pipes with differing freezing points
I need to run a variety of electrical and plumbing from my house several hundred feet to the site of my future pool and pool shed. Included in this is geothermal piping, connecting my house geothermal ...
- 879
1
vote
2
answers
3k
views
rebar requirements in foundation
follow-up question:
I am attaching a diagram with my foundation plan. I am in north NJ where frost line 3 ft. Can you kindly look at the plan and opine; I tried to use best practice from all replies.
...
- 109
1
vote
2
answers
269
views
How do you prevent disturbing a wooden fence when digging a foundation?
When digging a foundation beside a wooden fence, how can I ensure my excavation doesn't cause the fence to collapse?
I'm digging into chalky ground and the foundations will be around 450mm wide and ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
655
views
Where is electrical trench measured from on slope?
My pool is about 7ft from fence, and i need to dig a trench about 70ft long. About 10ft (will bring pvc at 45 degree angle to fence and out 45 deg to other side of pool) will run along fence and the ...
- 1,095
1
vote
1
answer
361
views
What can I do with water pooling next to my house?
I have 4 downspouts coming on to the side my house. I wanted to drain water to the front and about 6ft away from my house. The current grading seems level.
With 4 ft spacing and level ground what are ...
- 19
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
Trenching up against fence posts
I am planting a small nut orchard.
I have about 1500' of fence line enclosing a few acres.
So far, I have placed all of the poles for the fencing. These are 12' 6 inch diameter treated wood posts,...
- 111
1
vote
1
answer
83
views
Utility trenches to Accessory Dwelling
I live in Georgia and am putting a garage apartment behind my house. It is about 30 - 40 feet from the main house. I would like to know how many different trenches I will have to dig, how deep, and ...
1
vote
1
answer
256
views
Drain Help - Cannot Divert to Street
I have a drainage issue in my back yard that we've dealt with for years. I have a few ideas, yet I thought I'd post one to see if it will work first.
We live in a typical SoCal track home surrounded ...
1
vote
2
answers
2k
views
How to wrap french drain
I'm putting in a french drain to control runoff and get it out of the yard. The drain is going in an area of the yard that is covered with 1.5" river rock, no dirt will cover the trench at all. I want ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
How to run water through winter with bedrock?
Ultimately, we want to have year-round water in a building roughly 300 feet (90m) from our well/house. Where we live the average winter temperature is ~14 farenheit (-10 celsius), and bottoms out ...
- 349
1
vote
1
answer
69
views
I need to Improve drainage in croncrete
I have greyhound kennels. Built them brand new the concreter was a moron and the fall is everyway except towards the drains, I was wondering If it's oossoble to cut a small trench to squeegee water ...
- 11
1
vote
0
answers
167
views
Is hand digging a 4 inch trench for PVC drainage pipe behind my gas meter allowed?
I'm doing some work involving drainage in my yard. One of my downspouts comes down right next to my gas meter. In order to direct water where I want I'd like to run the line in between the meters feed ...
- 1,807
0
votes
1
answer
82
views
Need for water pressure regulator when increasing supply line
I have city water at around 80PSI static pressure when measured at one faucet. There is some variation during the day but everything works well and I do not have a pressure regulator.
Because of ...
- 983
0
votes
1
answer
134
views
DWV vs Schedule 40
My downspouts flow into drain that moves rainwater away from the house. I'd like to extend that drain further out. Existing pipe is Schedule40. There shouldn't be any loads going over the new section.
...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
428
views
Keeping Large Channel Trench Drain Clear
My new garage has a large Channel trench drain in front of it. The architect oversized the trench drain and used a non-typical 12-inch drain. I'm confident that I won't get water in my garage. But on ...
- 559
0
votes
1
answer
513
views
What can I fill my deck beam trench with to prevent standing water?
I am in the process of building a multi level deck where the second level would be low to grade.
As such, i had to dig some trenches (about 10-12" deep) as part of the beams will be below grade.
...
0
votes
1
answer
112
views
Can I compromise structural integrity of my house when digging next to foundation?
For context: Talking about at 1920 stucco/lath+plaster house on raised perimeter foundation in the Bay Area.
I know that in modern construction the stucco would never go all the way down, there would ...
- 1,700
0
votes
0
answers
75
views
How to design how to slope a French drain around perimeter of the house and how to measure depth?
I am planning to DIY a French drain around parts of my 1920ies stucco house to improve the draining when it heavily rains in winter.
Location is San Francisco Bay Area and the house has a crawl space.
...
- 1,700
0
votes
0
answers
91
views
Trenching requirements for utilities in a outdoors kitchen
I would like to build a small outdoors kitchen, with gas (for the grill), electricity, water and drain - sewage (for a sink).
I spoke this morning with a person in the building department of my city ...
- 983
0
votes
0
answers
539
views
Water fills trench outside of home appears to be coming from under foundation
Live in San Diego, CA in an early '70s townhome unit that shares both walls with a front courtyard. Previous owner rerouted the mainline from detached garage above ground (possible slab leak all of ...
- 1