Red Green would be proud

[bearbait]

Well after taking the dogs for a walk yesterday I decided to remove 2 huge rocks that have been coming up with the frost. The one in the back came out with not too much trouble (did I mention that I love my grapple) however the one in the driveway wasn't too much trouble until I put the tractor away and walking back I noticed pieces of my septic pipe laying in the dirt. My road was way too soft to get out yesterday so I managed to find a length of 3 1/2" pipe that fit inside the 4" and with a healthy dose of duct tape then wrapped with plastic and more tape I think we're good till tomorrow when the road should be good enough to travel. Like he always said "If the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy".

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Good job fixing a crappy deal!

Another shi**y deal: Duct tape saved the astronauts on Apollo 13. They used it to fit rectangular CO2 absorbers into triangle manifolds. Without duct tape, they would have died of CO2 poisoning.

 

[Lil Foot]

Been there, done that.
In order to layout the foundation for a new metal building, my neighbor had to locate the leach lines of the septic system. The footer had to be a minimum 10ft from the lines, and they were NOT where the prints said they were. I used my backhoe to dig search holes in order to locate the lines. He would watch for the pipes as I dug; everything went fine until the last hole. He started playing with his phone and wasn't paying attention to the dig, and I hit a pipe, knocking about a 1 1/2" x 5" hole in it with a bucket tooth. (hole was on top of pipe) Replacing the line would have been a major project, so I just cut a piece of 4" PVC lengthwise, painted the inside with PVC cement, spread it open, and snapped it over the hole. It will undoubtably outlast the rest of the system.

 

[sparky45]

Only thing that could have enhanced the repair would have been if the plastic you used was old Walmart sacks.

 

[groomerbuck]

Is that picture deceiving? Or is your septic line only under 8” of ground?

 

[bearbait]

Is that picture deceiving? Or is your septic line only under 8” of ground?

You are right, it isn't very deep. I wish I had of been here when the system was installed however it has worked flawless for the past 17 years.

 

[bearbait]

Been there, done that.
In order to layout the foundation for a new metal building, my neighbor had to locate the leach lines of the septic system. The footer had to be a minimum 10ft from the lines, and they were NOT where the prints said they were. I used my backhoe to dig search holes in order to locate the lines. He would watch for the pipes as I dug; everything went fine until the last hole. He started playing with his phone and wasn't paying attention to the dig, and I hit a pipe, knocking about a 1 1/2" x 5" hole in it with a bucket tooth. (hole was on top of pipe) Replacing the line would have been a major project, so I just cut a piece of 4" PVC lengthwise, painted the inside with PVC cement, spread it open, and snapped it over the hole. It will undoubtably outlast the rest of the system.

Kind of gives you a back feeling in your stomach doesn't it. It's not really that big of a deal, it's just the initial shock of realizing you screwed up.

 

[groomerbuck]

You are right, it isn't very deep. I wish I had of been here when the system was installed however it has worked flawless for the past 17 years.

Wow. That’s extremely strange why the installer has that so shallow. Im glad you dont have any troubles with it.

 

[bearbait]

Wow. That’s extremely strange why the installer has that so shallow. Im glad you dont have any troubles with it.

When I repair it this week I'll be making a stop at the metal recyclers to see if I can find a steel plate to put over it so it never happens again.

 

[Lil Foot]

Is that picture deceiving? Or is your septic line only under 8” of ground?

Might be a function of how deep the tank and leach fields are.
Mine is about 10" deep near the foundation, because the top of the tank is only 4-5" deep, simply because they couldn't set it any deeper. To get it that deep, they drilled, jackhammered, and shot 1/4 case of dynamite. That set the depth for the rest of the system.

 

[bearbait]

Might be a function of how deep the tank and leach fields are.
Mine is about 10" deep near the foundation, because the top of the tank is only 4-5" deep, simply because they couldn't set it any deeper. To get it that deep, they drilled, jackhammered, and shot 1/4 case of dynamite. That set the depth for the rest of the system.

You may be on to something Bill. This land is very rocky.

 

[Daren Todd]

When I repair it this week I'll be making a stop at the metal recyclers to see if I can find a steel plate to put over it so it never happens again.

My father in law had a similar issue at his place. He sandwiched his pipe between two rail road ties, then buried it back up. He had a cement truck cross it last year with out issue

 

[shootem604]

My father in law had a similar issue at his place. He sandwiched his pipe between two rail road ties, then buried it back up. He had a cement truck cross it last year with out issue

That's a good idea I may need to use soon. Thanks!

 

[johnjk]

I had issues with my tanks settling. They skimped on the gravel and I ended up shearing off the line to the leach field. Have a pump station so imagine my surprise to walk around the side of the house and see a nice new grey water - water feature shooting out of the ground. My lines are around 4' down. Called them up and they came out and dug the pump station and the main tank clear. Pumped them clean, lifted, filled with more stone, replaced the line to the house, damaged and cracking too along with the pump station line to the leach field. They did not believe me that the feed line was damaged till I ran a bore scope down the cleanout and showed them...

He saved himself 200 bucks in stone installing it and spend around 4000 bucks to have 4 guys spend 2 days fixing it.....

On the positive side of this, the grass is really green on that side of the house...

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

When I repair it this week I'll be making a stop at the metal recyclers to see if I can find a steel plate to put over it so it never happens again.

If you do, put a piece of white foam over it first, to insulate it so it doesnt freeze.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Might be a function of how deep the tank and leach fields are.
Mine is about 10" deep near the foundation, because the top of the tank is only 4-5" deep, simply because they couldn't set it any deeper. To get it that deep, they drilled, jackhammered, and shot 1/4 case of dynamite. That set the depth for the rest of the system.

Oh I remember the fun of digging in AZ, all over AZ!

Septic is one thing that didn't get scrimped on for the new house.
Thankfully I have all sand so depth was not an issue.

4" ABS main, 280 feet to the septic tank with plenty of fall.
Leaves the house under the foundation at 4' and continues down its path 4' or greater in depth.

Main water line from the pump to the house is 6' plus underground, didn't ever want to hit it, or have tree roots hit it!

My main electric line is 16' in the ground in 2" PVC, the inspector gave me a Gold star for the way I did it!.
When the new house is done, the mountain side, which they previously benched to put the trailer on, will be turned back to the original slope, so I didn't want to have to redo the electrical line just to get that done.

 

[bearbait]

My father in law had a similar issue at his place. He sandwiched his pipe between two rail road ties, then buried it back up. He had a cement truck cross it last year with out issue

Great idea DT, thanks. I have heavy wall sprinkler pipe that will probably do the trick for that but if I can find a couple rail road ties that will be even better.

 

[bearbait]

If you do, put a piece of white foam over it first, to insulate it so it doesnt freeze.

Great idea Wolf, I'll do that. Now you boys have me a little worried because my water line comes in close to the same area. Looks like a trip back under the camp again this morning to find out exactly where it comes across before I start digging.

 

[bearbait]

Well we finally got some decent weathers I got a chance to repair my screw up. I made a couple runs to the beach with the bike and got 6 buckets of sand to surround the pipe before laying the steel on top then finally covering it up. Now on to the next screw up.