Adventures in Ditch Digging
Lots & lots of project pics to share (and will eventually post)... here is my latest exercise in trace-elements-of-testosterone (age 59, no less) and yet-another-sub project-along-the-sisyphean-fireplace-adventure - coming up on two years :-(
In my ongoing quest to save $5 while spending countless beautiful weekends covered in grime (and other unpleasantness!) I decided to route the gas line for the fireplace underneath the patio, roughly 20 feet or so from the gas meter, to the exterior wall adjacent to the fireplace. The alternative (proposed by various plumbers) was to route the gas line through the open soffit in the den (already contains dryer vent, oil fuel line, and a few electrical cables), then through/across the ceiling, down to the fireplace. Rather than spend a few extra hundred for the plumber to do it, I decided it would be (a) more manly, (b) save money, and (c) avoid limiting future internal renovation by the following DIY 'fun':
1. Take up pavers from 20' x 2' section of the patio;
2. Dig up & remove the drainage system ( two 12" square drainage pots connected by a
4" french drain, routed around the side to an underground drainage pipe running to the front
of the house );
3. Excavate a 24 inch deep trench for the new gas line;
4. Buy 12 60-lb bags of sand;
5. After the plumber installed the new gas line, back-fill trench with the sand to cover the line;
6. Back-fill trench with soil removed in step # 3, removing several buckets worth of rocks
by hand, along the way ... turns out that having rocks in gas line trenches is a bad thing ... who
knew ? This step included reinstalling the two drainage pots and french drain pipe.
Shovel, remove stones, tamp dirt, repeat...
7. Reassemble paver-puzzle;
8. I still have to button-up the two drainage pots, but (as a colleague described it) "serviceable"
enough for upcoming Memorial Day weekend BBQ!
The Israeli plumber (!) was amused by the overfed middle aged ditch digger, and acknowledged the trench was fine for his purposes.
BTW, this is the _third_ time I've had to dig up (and then repair) this section of the patio...I really hope it's the last...
Best of all: stamped/approved Town of Oyster plumbing permit came in the mail a week after the inspection :-)
