We're putting in a large garden plot (40'x40') about 25 feet away from our house. The driveway is between the house and the garden, and I would like to put a spigot at the garden so I don't have to have a hose across the gravel driveway all the time for watering the garden.
This would be a summer-only line, and I guess I would blow it out with a compressor in the fall to prevent freezing. I figure it can be buried about a foot, just enough to make sure it won't get dug up by the snow plow, or whatever. Putting it below frost line up here would be way more work than I am interested in, and can't be necessary since it's not going to be used in the winter.
I assume I'd use that rigid black hose that is used for wells and stuff, is that right? How should I plumb it into the cold-water pipes? What fitting should I include on each end to facilitate draining it in the fall?
I think if your going to the effort of laying the water line...why not bury it below your local frost line, and put in a yard hydrant? It may be additional effort initially, but well worth it over the long haul. I like the black poly pipe and if you use any fittings in the ground, always use those made from cast red brass.
No mater what you do if you tie into a potable water system, make sure you use anti-siphon and back flow prevention devices. Not just to protect your family but it's the responsible thing to do.
KJ, is there a particular reason you'd use PVC? My plumbing is all copper, so converting to PVC, then to poly would mean more adaptors, and unless there's a good reason, I'd probably skip that and go straight to the poly.
Rippy, our frost line is nearly 4 feet here, so it's no small feat to do the extra digging for a 4 season water line. Besides, then I'd have to penetrate the foundation below the frost line too. All of that would involve a lot more than a shovel and a wheelbarrow, and the costs would go way up. For my uses, the advantages would be minimal, so I think I'll stick with a shallow burial.
KJ, is there a particular reason you'd use PVC? My plumbing is all copper, so converting to PVC, then to poly would mean more adaptors, and unless there's a good reason, I'd probably skip that and go straight to the poly.
No particular reason. Most of the waterlines on my home are pvc from the water meter to the sink. I enjoy woodworking so much now that I would run wood pipe if I could.
I just wanted to help get you started.
Usually if you post how to do something, it starts a barrage of posts from others on how they would do it, so I was hoping to get you a few ideas going.
Even if I were only going a foot deep, I would rent a trencher, your back will thank you. And as far as the yard hydrant goes, I am a with it, I have installed a few and they are really nice.
If he rents a ditch wich (man, they're fun!) might as well go down the entire 4' because it's just as easy. (Except for backfilling, which isn't too difficult either.) Still has to tunnel under the drive, which at 4' down will be a bear...
Why not start with PVC and stick with it? It's going to be much easier to make up, more rigid, and much more resistant to damage (both impact and freezing).
I'd worry that PVC would get broken as the ground moves in spring and fall. My impression was that it was more brittle than the black poly piping.
I was kinda hoping to skip the ditch witch this time, (rented it for a 100' electrical trench last year, and it was great) but I may change my mind after poking at the ground with a shovel for an hour. The excavation is almost entirely across the driveway, so I'm hoping that the digging would be easy (ie no ledge, of which we've got lots once you go down more than a foot). I think if I went 4 feet, even a trencher might not do the trick though. You get into some pretty serious rock up here, and homes are sometimes not even put on full-height basements because of the ledge that excavators run into.
I'm looking to run a supply to my garden as well. I plan on connecting to the outdoor faucet for the hose with a y-splitter that will be removed in the Winter season. And I would like to have a faucet near our garden pop out of the ground behind our garage. This will be a couple of hundred feet from the house faucet to meander around a large white pine tree. Someone in this thread suggested using http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...ctId=24169-000000150-24169&detail=&lpage=none would this be suitable for me? I've never done any plumbing, but know pvc is generally glued with connectors does that apply for this piping? At the same time I plan on running outdoor wire to bring some electricity to my garage so plan on renting a trencher and going down 2 feet.
Also for this setup do I need the back flow stopper? Should I blow out the lines in winter or will just opening connections suffice?
I only had a short section of lawn to go across
I dug a trench & buried some old 2" PVC
I just push the house thru the pipe to use it in the garden area
You would need to go below the frost line in your area for a permanent solution
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