Nuts am I unfit...

On Saturday 20 April 2013 17:29 Tim Watts wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Surprisingly it seems to have gone well:

Picture of blanking cap:

Always expect the worst - and just sometimes it goes OK!

Hmm - not exactly at 90 degrees to the house - I hope there will be enough slop in the joints to get it where I need.

Now to finish digging the trench to match the parts...

Nice.

BTW How much out of 90 degrees?

You can get bends in all sorts of small angles (I have a bag of them somewhere), or even an adjustable one to align it if you wish

AWEM

On Saturday 20 April 2013 18:09 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Not many - perhaps 5 degrees?...

On Saturday 20 April 2013 18:24 Andrew Mawson wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Yes - I'm knackered - so I will do the pipe tomorrow.Screwfix is 30 mins away if needs be :)

Could you not move the house around by 5 degrees:-)

On Saturday 20 April 2013 18:37 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Of course - that's much more elegant L-:

I admire people who are fit...

On Saturday 20 April 2013 18:37 ARW wrote in uk.d-i-y:

At least I have not uncovered the foundations this time (unlike the other side of the house).

There was a bit of ribbed clay unglazed pipe came out - maybe there was a soakway of sorts. Crap one though...

probably a feild drain from before the house was built

On Saturday 20 April 2013 19:42 Phil L wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Possible...

Well, I no longer do digging,but has anyone noticed that wherever you decide to dig a hole and for whatever reason, its always got a nasty surprise there, it might be a pipe or a lump of concrete, use unknown, or a nasty smell otr somthing that make alarm bells ring. As I say, I think I may well be a deviner, as no matter where I dug, it was trouble.

Brian

I find digging easier than pulling large SWA in.

I never used to be able to do it - knackered too quickly.

I now do quite a bit of cycling, and found I can dig trenches. Done quite a few in the last year. Doesn't use the same muscles, but I think it was stamina rather than muscles I was lacking before.

BTW, a drain spade (or trenching spade) is much easier to use than a regular spade, if you don't have a large weight to force it into the ground. It's got a longer, thinner, and slightly tapered head.

On Sunday 21 April 2013 20:51 Andrew Gabriel wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I was better today. Because I'd had a hernia done last year, I took it slowly - which was probably the best thing. Yesterday everything ached like a bastard - today, only half the aches :)

Must get fit...

That's interesting - My wide spade was a real PITA 2ft down - it dug easily enough, but it was hard to lift out with a massive clod of clay on the end.

Anyway, obligaory pics:

(Thanks to the folk who mentioned the adjustable joint - it would not have worked without):

The joint retaining ring is (or looks to me) quit weak, compared to normal

Then, in case of ground shifts, I shoved some C20 concrete around just the ajustable joint to reinforce it:

And added some concrete around the gully, after tweaking for level and square:

I lobbed some reclaimed hardcore in the concrete to fill it out - the gulley in not really a highly structural element - just need a good enough base to build a little brick gully around it (next week).

A good weekend :)

You're welcome sir!

AWEM