[AlanTA]

I'm renting a trencher this weekend and am running my electric, water, and drain lines to my detached shop. Any tips on running the water line? I think I'm going to use K copper and bring it up about 6 foot in, on an inside wall I'm going to build, and slip some PVC over it where it will come up through the concrete.

[wally8]

I wouldn't use copper personally. Not because it wouldn't work or anything like that. I'd use PEX. It's super easy to work with, no joints, just one run.

If you're really psycho you could put in a large PVC conduit and run the PEX through there. That would give you the capability of pulling a new water line sometime in the future if you needed to. I can't imagine you ever would but it would be good secondary rodent protection.

The cheapest thing to use is the black plastic pipe that you get in rolls. Get the one rated for potable water. Most of my acreage is done in PVC but when I add or replace I use the black stuff.


Later....
Wally

[Kevin45]

Buy 1" polyvinyl waterline. This is what is used on all wells in the country. It's about $50.00 / 100'. It comes in a roll and is black. Get the proper connections at each end and you are good to go. It is heavy walled so it wil last forever. Check at Lowes, Home Depot, your local plumbing shop, and they will hook you up.

Kevin

[julmer]

I don't know how bad your winters get but be sure to bury it deep enough so it doesn't freeze. Any local plumber should be able to tell you how deep it needs to be.

[MRGM]

is this going to be inspected, is so check with your local athorities. if not go with above mentioned, or galvanized piping would be the way i would go. but thats just me.

[AlanTA]

Well I just finished it last night. I went with K-copper and went 36'' deep. I know a guy down the road that only had his 12'' and he said it has not froze in the 20 years it has been in. So I should be ok. Man I never want to do that again... It was 85'. I got a 100' roll for $140. Now to finish 150' of electrical conduit and 120' of drain lines... ugh....

[MRGM]

Originally posted by AlanTA
Well I just finished it last night. I went with K-copper and went 36'' deep. I know a guy down the road that only had his 12'' and he said it has not froze in the 20 years it has been in. So I should be ok. Man I never want to do that again... It was 85'. I got a 100' roll for $140. Now to finish 150' of electrical conduit and 120' of drain lines... ugh....

sounds fun

[julmer]

I believe you should try and keep some vertical separation between the 3 different services. If you can, add some cover, lay the next, add more cover, and add the last one. Electrical code says you should be 18" deep with the electrical.

[AlanTA]

They are all separate trenches so that isn't an issue. I called the electric company and code around here is 30 in!! I need to take some pics and post them. My yard looks like I have a giant mole problem

[julmer]

Separate trenches is great. I didn't realize you had that much ambition. Your local jurisdiction may have modified it but NEC has different depths according to usage. Under a foundation is like, zip. Open ground with no vehicle traffic is usually 18, and it gets deeper from there for driveways and roadways. If you already did a 36" trench, you will be in fine shape regardless.

[RedCamaroSS]

..I did this last summer, It was 75 feet long and I went 54 inches deep. It was one of the best things I could have done!

I also Buried a 3in PVC pipe so that If I ever needed to add and wires or anything I would be a cake walk..
I also added TV cable, Phone and 3 Computer networking cables..
Here are a few pics.

PS I used copper, Next time I would use PEX..

[RedCamaroSS]

Another..

This is what It look slike in the basement of the house,,

[MRGM]

very coold lookin...how long did it take ya to get all that done

[RedCamaroSS]

Originally posted by MRGM
very coold lookin...how long did it take ya to get all that done

Took about a day and a half to do it and back fill..

[byrdman]

I too used the black water pipe on a roll as conduit for my phone, cable, and ethernet. I did two trenches, one for power, one for the low voltage stuff to prevent interference. Both were 2' deep. We got 4-5" of rain the same night I covered the trenches back up from the latest hurricane. messy!