I’m getting ready to dig my trench for a thermopex install for the OWB. I’m leaving the old lines in place, and digging above them for the new thermopex. The trench will be relatively shallow but within recommendations: 10 – 12 inches. I know some guys go deeper, but for a number of reasons I’m leaving the lines shallow. My main concern is that the lines don’t sit in water, and that’s where my questions start.
I had assumed digging the lines shallow would guarantee water wouldn’t be an issue, since our house sits above a downhill slope in the backyard. The bottom of this slope is at least 5 feet below grade, and this is where all the water, including my underground gutters for the house, drains into when it rains. Therefore, my 12” trench can’t be below the water table, right?
Well, I was playing around with the bucket on the tractor and ended up digging a small 16” test pit next to the concrete slab for the OWB. You can see this pit in the photos – the garden hose is sitting in it. It rained a couple days ago and I noticed that the pit immediately filled with water and then took almost 24 hours to completely drain. This concerned me, because if the drainage is that poor, I’m worried about the lines sitting in water every time we have a thaw or it rains.
My first thought was put some stone in the bottom of the thermopex trench, but as my neighbor pointed out, the water still has to go somewhere. Should I dig another trench heading east toward the slope, fill this with stone and tie it into my main trench to give the water someplace to go? There’s also a buried pvc pipe that drains the house gutters, and my neighbor mentioned digging a channel from the thermopex trench to the pvc pipe and drilling some holes in the pipe to allow the water from the thermopex trench to seep in. As you can also see from the photos, the south gutters for the garage do NOT go underground, but spill out right next to where the thermopex trench will be dug, which probably contributed to most of the standing water in my test pit.
How would you guys handle this? I’m a newbie when it comes to excavation and know next to nothing about drainage. I want to avoid fancy solutions since I’m just using the tractor bucket and a shovel to dig, but I also want to get this right the first time. Suggestions?
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I had assumed digging the lines shallow would guarantee water wouldn’t be an issue, since our house sits above a downhill slope in the backyard. The bottom of this slope is at least 5 feet below grade, and this is where all the water, including my underground gutters for the house, drains into when it rains. Therefore, my 12” trench can’t be below the water table, right?
Well, I was playing around with the bucket on the tractor and ended up digging a small 16” test pit next to the concrete slab for the OWB. You can see this pit in the photos – the garden hose is sitting in it. It rained a couple days ago and I noticed that the pit immediately filled with water and then took almost 24 hours to completely drain. This concerned me, because if the drainage is that poor, I’m worried about the lines sitting in water every time we have a thaw or it rains.
My first thought was put some stone in the bottom of the thermopex trench, but as my neighbor pointed out, the water still has to go somewhere. Should I dig another trench heading east toward the slope, fill this with stone and tie it into my main trench to give the water someplace to go? There’s also a buried pvc pipe that drains the house gutters, and my neighbor mentioned digging a channel from the thermopex trench to the pvc pipe and drilling some holes in the pipe to allow the water from the thermopex trench to seep in. As you can also see from the photos, the south gutters for the garage do NOT go underground, but spill out right next to where the thermopex trench will be dug, which probably contributed to most of the standing water in my test pit.
How would you guys handle this? I’m a newbie when it comes to excavation and know next to nothing about drainage. I want to avoid fancy solutions since I’m just using the tractor bucket and a shovel to dig, but I also want to get this right the first time. Suggestions?
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