In The Trenches

30 April 2016

So it's been a little while since my last post. Not a lot of terribly interesting stuff going on right now. I've mostly been busy with digging trenches for new sewer lines for the house and mobile home and running power to the septic pump and alarm.

Once I had the trench dug from the house to the septic tank, I put in the power lines for the septic pump and alarm.

Then I made the connections inside the house at the breaker box. To do that, I removed a bunch of bead board off the wall, since I was going to do that eventually anyway. You can see, at least on this wall, there is no sheathing behind the exterior siding, and obviously no insulation.

Next step, backfill and grade the bottom of the trench for the new sewer pipe. My septic system guy and the county plumbing inspector both told me to slope the pipe 1/8" per foot. I checked the Internet and saw people recommending 1/4" to 1/2" per foot. It's 95 feet from the house to the septic tank, so I decided that 1/8" was too shallow of a drop and I went with 7/16" drop per foot. I cut a 2"x6"x8' board so that it was 5-1/2" on one end and 2" on the other giving me a 3-1/2" drop over 8'. I strapped a 4' level on the top side and used this to grade the dirt on the bottom of the trench. Yes, I know it works better standing on edge rather than lying on its side.

95' from the house to the septic tank. 170' from the mobile home to the septic tank. I'm getting pretty good at operating a backhoe.

The trench is a touch over 6' deep here.

Before grading the 170' running from the mobile home to the septic tank, I spoke with a plumber I know. He recommended 1/4" per foot drop, so that's what I'm doing for this section. I also asked if my existing 1/2" drop was too much. He said no, but not to go steeper than that. So here is some of my nicely graded trench.

I'll get the pipe laid in and then call the inspector. Hopefully I'll pass on the first go around.