Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

All,

Sorry that I haven't posted for awhile. It has been a busy 2 weeks. I'll now explain what we have been doing during that time. Rather than posting one long boring post, I will break it up into several short boring posts.

Mon, Feb 17 - Wed, Feb 19
I finally was able to locate a dozer owner who agreed to redo our driveway to make it better. He came on Monday and created some drainage ditches next to the driveway on the part coming from the gate down to the creek, as well as the curve on the driveway next to the house. On Tuesday, I had 3 loads of crushed concrete tailgated on the driveway, and 1 load of recycled asphalt dumped in the parking area. On Wednesday, I spread the recycled asphalt on the parking area. Here is what it looked like after I finished:


On Thursday, Feb 20, I didn't do anything as it rained that day.

more in the next posts..

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

On Friday, Feb 21, I decided it was time to rent a mini-excavator, as the area where the water line coming to the house was really wet and had been so for quite some time. Because we had been having a lot of rain I just figured that was the cause, but finally I decided to dry it out with some sand. Here is what it looked like after I tried the sand:
. As you can see, water filled up the tractor ruts. So Friday, Feb 21, I decided to drive to Conway, AR (1/2 hour one way) and pick up a mini-excavator at Home Depot. Here is what it looked like once I got home:


Since I had never operated an excavator before and Home Depot provided no instructions, I watched several YouTube videos on how the controls work. After watching them, I decided to practice on the rise just south of the shop, so I could get familiar with the controls.

more posts...

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

On Sat, Feb 22, I decided that it was time to dig up the water line to see if that was the source of the water that was in the yard. Here is what the yard looked like before I started to dig:


Because I wasn't exactly sure which way the water line went directly from the control box to the gate, I started on the north side of the box, slowly removing dirt a few inches at a time. I worked from both the west side (as pictured above) and from the east side. As I gradually dug, moving steadily from north to south, while working from the east side, the bucket on the excavator caught on a connection on the water line and busted it. Water came gushing out. I jumped in the Gator and hurriedly drove to the gate and cut off the water. Once I no longer needed to worry about busting the water line (after all, it was busted), then I was able to finish digging out the area. Here is what it looked like after I finished:
.

Taking the busted pipes with me, I went to Ace Hardware to get replacement parts. I had to return 2 more times before I managed to get all of the parts. By the time I finally got all of the parts, got them assembled and glued, it was 5:30 PM. I then went back to the gate and turned on the water. The glue failed to hold. The pipe bowed from the pressure. Here is what it looked like after I had shut off the water and bailed out most of the water:


Afterward, I read where the glue needed to dry for 2 hours before applying water pressure. Doh! (hand slapping forehead.) By then, the stores in Booneville had closed (except for Tractor Supply, which doesn't have much in plumbing supplies). So we went to bed without being able to take a hot shower, using a wash cloth to remove most of the dirt.

Sunday, Feb 23, I drove to Lowe's in Fort Smith (45 min drive) and bought enough parts to repair the water line 2 more times (just in case the 2nd attempt failed), as well as buying a water shutoff valve so that if the 2nd attempt failed, I could cut off the water near the house without needing to go to the gate. Here is what the the 2nd repair attempt looked like before I turned on the water. I let the glue dry for 2 hours this time.


I shut off the water supply line I had installed, went to the gate and turned on the water there. When I came back, the shutoff valve was holding the water back just fine. But when I turned on the water at the shutoff valve, the lines failed to hold again, bending as they did with the first repair! Ugh! Removing the just replaced parts again, I repaired the line a third time. But this time I installed a piece of angle iron next to the pipe, attaching it to the pipe with hose clamps, hoping to provide some rigidity. After waiting 2 more hours for the glue to dry again, I turned on the water at the shutoff valve. This time, everything held! Hurray, we had water again. I did not immediately cover over the pipes, since the temperature was supposed to stay above freezing, and I wanted to ensure there were no leaks. But we were able to take a hot shower that night!

more posts...

 

[B&B Happy goats]

Nice job ....definitely had to be very fustrating STA,

 

[rachels.haven]

That sounds like the way a plumbing adventure would go for my husband. I hope you survived it. Cheering for you!

 

[farmerjan]

Glad to see you back, I was just realizing that I hadn't seen anything from you for a bit, although I haven't been on as much since the surgery.
One thing, some of the bend in the pipe looks like it might have been also from nothing "holding it in place" like the dirt filled in around it so the water pressure had something to "push the pipe against". One of the drawbacks of pvc /plastic piping. But I am glad that you finally got it so far. Did you ever determine if there was any other leaks in it causing all the water logged ground?

 

[Bruce]

I ASSUME you are using Sched 40 PVC?? Sorry you had all those troubles. The parking area looks good and having plenty of shutoffs in your water lines is like having plenty of gates in your fence.

 

[thistlebloom]

That wasn't boring at all STA! Yikes, sounds like some of the plumbing repairs we have experienced. Dh likes plumbing the least, which is to say not at all.
Your road work looks good!

 

[Mike CHS]

I have had more jobs like that than I can remember. If I want it done right, I have Teresa do it.

 

[Bruce]

At least you know who to call for those jobs!