Druidic Dabblings and General Twaddle !!

[Jimoz]

I mean I feel like im going backwards at times, some of the stuff you guys do on here blows my mind. I still like to consider myself a doer though. You read on here or watch old fred dibnah vids it can be inspiring

 

[Stroppymonkey]

Cheers Jim

absolutely ...
always staggers me how 90% of the population go through life, incapable of 'doing' anything for themselves, reliant on the other 10% of us to deal with their problems (fortunately for us)
life, like that, must be bloody expensive


Always remember next door's missus saying, when 'we' were/ I was trying to sort his water issues out years ago, " you two have had a go - it's time to get the professionals in "
to which i replied
" and what do you suppose they're going to do at 150 quid an hour that we haven't already tried? ... best go make some cuppas, if you've got now't better to contribute and I leave you to it .. I do not need to be here .. you're the ones with the water shortage issue, not me "
thought she was going to blow a gasket ..
" Say something to him Chris "
" well he does have a point "
she didn't bother us again and was conspicuous by her silence/absence when we cracked it all eventually

I THINK things like that.. just never have the balls to speak it out loud

 

[Gecko]

always staggers me how 90% of the population go through life, incapable of 'doing' anything for themselves,

"Marketing consultants, hairdressers and telephone sanitisers" - if you remember the reference.

 

[V8Druid]

"Marketing consultants, hairdressers and telephone sanitisers" - if you remember the reference.

believe it or not I've never seen it

 

[V8Druid]

I THINK things like that.. just never have the balls to speak it out loud

assume you mean the second part
I " don't suffer fools ... "

 

[Gecko]

believe it or not I've never seen it

Ok, short version, several categories of unnecessary and unproductive professions were rounded up, put in a spaceship and fired at an uninhabited planet - for the good of all.

 

[V8Druid]

had to be on the road by 2.45 this afters so had an early-ish start to try and get some done today .. 'fore the 42mil of rain forecast for tonight/tomorrow

moved the safety barrier from the overnight position on the 'excavation'

and baled out the hole ..... I'm wondering WTF it'd 'stopped' at this particular level ?

got most of it out and had a bit more of a scrat about trying to find the trench 'bottom', such as it might be, looking at the general state of 'craftsmanship' encountered thus far .. camera doesn't really convey the angles that these pipe ends are in this push fit joint - they'm 'sposed to be perfectly straight in these things
found a fourth cable in what was once a duct and eventually worked out that it's the incoming line to the barn -- that's had the three outgoing lines shoved up it and the side hacked out of it for them to exit -

seem to be carefully marked up with 'Quaver bags' wrapped round them

a lot of 'Quaver' bags ......

remarked the cut line for the second half of the tarmac chop and gave it some attention from the 9" ......................................... this is the stump of 'one' of those SWA,s in the hole that's uselessly short - might be able to alter that though

second lump of black top had to come up, if I was gonna get anywhere this morning .. scratted the top 2" of 1-1/4" to dust off the top and set to the 'dry mix' below - bloody hard going and could get too enthused with the bar ... there's 3 cables in there somewhere .. one of which is connected (aside from the incomer at the bottom of the hole

quick as I baled this out it'd refill .... water seemed to be mostly tracking in through that duct and assumed it was ground water

more Quavers wrappers - proceed with caution

there's leccy spaghetti everywhere and none of 'em seem to go/come from where I expect

so worked my way down very slowly/carefully and exposed an 'unmarked' run which disappeared under the wall's founds - never found it when I was digging 'em out and laying them .. could be any one of these three

was trying hard not to collapse any of this tish back into the hard won hole on the left .... yon run under the wall had - what i still assume - to be ground water, tracking along its side -

it's below the level of the land drain the other side of the wall.
it'd explain why it stops rising at a 'certain level' .. the level of said land drain ... once I've gotten this hole fuly excavated I'll see if I cant 'extricate' that cable from where ever it doesn't go to and 'praps bang some (a lot) of that spray Styrofoam in it's 'tract' to limit any further tracking

anyway ..... had to be in Ross for 3 o'clock, so had to knock it on the head after four an a half hours of slow going ....
and replace the safety barrier for the night ...
can't see much getting done tomorrow ..
and first thing on the agenda is this morning's 'hamster juice' that I didn't get/postponed - got a 24 hr window in which to do it ...
and I chose to spend this morning on my knees (again), praying to the hole in the floor
looks like I might get another chance to 'get to the bottom of this' on Tuesday

 

[V8Druid]

gonna have to be pretty bloody dull to drive into this - and not expecting any Yodel drivers this week

as for WTF is all the water going?? ...
I was told many years ago that Werngounsel means 'wet grounds' ...
the place is littered with sinks and risers and this'll almost certainly be finding its way into some 'sink' crevice somewhere ..
sure as hell ain't showing up anywhere else here

 

[6feetdown]

Did well not to hit anything, must have loved quavers whoever did it

 

[Routy56]

had to be on the road by 2.45 this afters so had an early-ish start to try and get some done today .. 'fore the 42mil of rain forecast for tonight/tomorrow

moved the safety barrier from the overnight position on the 'excavation'
View attachment 78142
and baled out the hole ..... I'm wondering WTF it'd 'stopped' at this particular level ? View attachment 78141
got most of it out and had a bit more of a scrat about trying to find the trench 'bottom', such as it might be, looking at the general state of 'craftsmanship' encountered thus far .. camera doesn't really convey the angles that these pipe ends are in this push fit joint - they'm 'sposed to be perfectly straight in these things
found a fourth cable in what was once a duct and eventually worked out that it's the incoming line to the barn -- that's had the three outgoing lines shoved up it and the side hacked out of it for them to exit -
View attachment 78140 View attachment 78135
seem to be carefully marked up with 'Quaver bags' wrapped round them
View attachment 78139 View attachment 78138
a lot of 'Quaver' bags ......

remarked the cut line for the second half of the tarmac chop and gave it some attention from the 9" ......................................... this is the stump of 'one' of those SWA,s in the hole that's uselessly short - might be able to alter that though
View attachment 78136 View attachment 78137
second lump of black top had to come up, if I was gonna get anywhere this morning .. scratted the top 2" of 1-1/4" to dust off the top and set to the 'dry mix' below - bloody hard going and could get too enthused with the bar ... there's 3 cables in there somewhere .. one of which is connected (aside from the incomer at the bottom of the hole
View attachment 78147
quick as I baled this out it'd refill .... water seemed to be mostly tracking in through that duct and assumed it was ground water
View attachment 78148
more Quavers wrappers - proceed with caution
View attachment 78146

there's leccy spaghetti everywhere and none of 'em seem to go/come from where I expect
View attachment 78145

so worked my way down very slowly/carefully and exposed an 'unmarked' run which disappeared under the wall's founds - never found it when I was digging 'em out and laying them .. could be any one of these three
View attachment 78144
was trying hard not to collapse any of this tish back into the hard won hole on the left .... yon run under the wall had - what i still assume - to be ground water, tracking along its side -
View attachment 78143
it's below the level of the land drain the other side of the wall.
it'd explain why it stops rising at a 'certain level' .. the level of said land drain ... once I've gotten this hole fuly excavated I'll see if I cant 'extricate' that cable from where ever it doesn't go to and 'praps bang some (a lot) of that spray Styrofoam in it's 'tract' to limit any further tracking

anyway ..... had to be in Ross for 3 o'clock, so had to knock it on the head after four an a half hours of slow going ....
and replace the safety barrier for the night ...
can't see much getting done tomorrow ..
and first thing on the agenda is this morning's 'hamster juice' that I didn't get/postponed - got a 24 hr window in which to do it ...
and I chose to spend this morning on my knees (again), praying to the hole in the floor
looks like I might get another chance to 'get to the bottom of this' on Tuesday

Well done Gra for for finding the problem and yer 'safe digging' thus far
Now you probably know that you are gonna have to get that hole below the level of the pipe and cables for a small pump.
Then you can clean up before assessing and making the repairs. I can see at least an extra piece of MDPE and 2 x connections going in. I have a box that I carry to site called "MDPE Repair Kit". Make sure that the pipe is clean of scratches before repair or the O rings won't seal. A Stanley knife blade scraped at 90 degrees usually does the job. But then you will know all this
And once again if I lived nearer I'd come and help get it sorted. Us blokes love fixing stuff like this

 

[Smiffy]

Well done Gra for for finding the problem and yer 'safe digging' thus far
Now you probably know that you are gonna have to get that hole below the level of the pipe and cables for a small pump.
Then you can clean up before assessing and making the repairs. I can see at least an extra piece of MDPE and 2 x connections going in. I have a box that I carry to site called "MDPE Repair Kit". Make sure that the pipe is clean of scratches before repair or the O rings won't seal. A Stanley knife blade scraped at 90 degrees usually does the job. But then you will know all this
And once again if I lived nearer I'd come and help get it sorted. Us blokes love fixing stuff like this

As soon as you get pipes in this condition swap to plasson repair fittings. More expensive than normal fittings but as you do them up they crush the o ring and give a far superior seal. They also don't mind a bit of sideways tension and cover a range of pipe sizes so work on any material pipe.

Universal Slip Coupling (1761) Slide N' Seal | Gas And Water Pipelines www.gasandwaterpipelines.co.uk

Universal Slip Coupling (1761) Slide N' Seal. Gas And Water Pipelines - UK's largest stockists of Plasson products.

www.gasandwaterpipelines.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

As soon as you get pipes in this condition swap to plasson repair fittings. More expensive than normal fittings but as you do them up they crush the o ring and give a far superior seal. They also don't mind a bit of sideways tension and cover a range of pipe sizes so work on any material pipe.

Universal Slip Coupling (1761) Slide N' Seal | Gas And Water Pipelines www.gasandwaterpipelines.co.uk

Universal Slip Coupling (1761) Slide N' Seal. Gas And Water Pipelines - UK's largest stockists of Plasson products.

www.gasandwaterpipelines.co.uk

so will the pipe actually pass fully through the length of the coupling, to slide past the two ends and then slide back once aligned?
I intend to cut some length out between the two ends and dog leg it with 90s to effect a repair (and probably bang in a stop cock in the dog leg too)

 

[V8Druid]

Did well not to hit anything, must have loved quavers whoever did it

cheers Andy .. 's been slow going, in some exceptionally sh1t ground, compounded by the crap that's been used as backfill

I'd like to meet the tw*ts

 

[Smiffy]

so will the pipe actually pass fully through the length of the coupling, to slide past the two ends and then slide back once aligned?
I intend to cut some length out between the two ends and dog leg it with 90s to effect a repair (and probably bang in a stop cock in the dog leg too)

Yes it will pass clean through. So you can use them to repair pin prick holes with a single coupler and no additional pipe if required.

 

[V8Druid]

Yes it will pass clean through. So you can use them to repair pin prick holes with a single coupler and no additional pipe if required.

will have to keep an eye open for some of them ... handy to know they exist

 

[6feetdown]

will have to keep an eye open for some of them ... handy to know they exist

Same here might get a couple to stay on the van. Great shout @Smiffy

 

[Smiffy]

Same here might get a couple to stay on the van. Great shout @Smiffy

Everyone should have a few. Especially as they join on to alkethane, steel, lead, copper, mdpe anything really. Even if it's slightly mis happen or pitted.
They go up to nearly 70mm.
These are also good for repairs.

Repair Clamp 21-25mm x 76mm Stainless Steel www.gasandwaterpipelines.co.uk

plastic pipe supplies

www.gasandwaterpipelines.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

Same here might get a couple to stay on the van. Great shout @Smiffy

found these on Fleabay

Pardon our interruption...

 

[V8Druid]

been a looong day ... on my knees .. backs of my upper legs and arse cheek muscles are dying tonight very slooooooooooow progress .. ground water has slayed me after all the bloody rain - - 's coming from everywhere
wasn't too bad to start with and baled out easily

more and more Quavers wrappers kept appearing with the cables they were wrapped around ..... WS .... cables everywhere with no rhyme or reason to their directions

other half of that hole had to come out .... exposing more ground water tracks and a random Coke can

5th barrow load with some gert rocks in and an ever increasing pile of Quaver wrappers and general crap in the back ground

quite WTF this was laid on top of the one waterline is beyond me ??? complete pop bottle with lid in place .... second one I've found today !!!!!

as said the ground water's been bloody horrendous and just got worse through the day and as I exposed more 'routes'

at one point after I'd stopped for a sarnie it was up an inch over the lump of concrete, top left ...... at which point the subby was sought from the cupboard, some suitable fittings banged together, my quick coupler off my 2" petrol pump robbed for the 2" lay flat, rolled out down to the lawn and it got introduced to the hole - was a little sceptical about its claimed 20,000lt/hr but jeez did it ever clear the hole in seconds -- rated for 30mm solids so cleared the bottom deepest corner, as best I could and dropped it in there - woosh - water gone ... haven't looked at the state of what came out down on the lawn but there's been a fair bit of stuff rattled through it and down the line this afters on the numerous repeat emptyings - bloody ground water's been a nightmare

running out of light - rapidly

the earlier pic above, with the bottle, is also showing a second line, virtually on top of our house line, which is not coming from the direction I was expecting and I am gonna have to investigate that one too ..... so yon hole is gonna have to grow from 20" x 30" to 20" x 48" - might also stand a chance of sorting the wire jumble too then ... got an 8' x 4' x 6mm plate there I can create a lid from
Gonna be a Friday/Saturday job though - got 36-40 mil of rain to come the next two days ... my body might just have recovered by then ..... but'll be up against the ****ing ground water again after that lot
good job I had that subbie in the tool arsenal .... never been used before - one of my first 'middle aisle' buys from Aldi when they opened in Aber - receipt was in the box 4/3/2014 .. 's bloody good, fair play

one of the more 'interesting'/WTF finds today were these two ..... quite WTF two 1" copper Yorkshire in lines are doing in the hole is a quandry ... will give 'em a clean off tomorrow and check to see if they are what I think they are?

just had a quick squint at the water level and's only at about 4", so ground water is obviously subsiding/slowing up
but for now - time to lay my wrecked body down for some zeds ..... getting too bloody old for this sh*t

 

[Routy56]

been a looong day ... on my knees .. backs of my upper legs and arse cheek muscles are dying tonight very slooooooooooow progress .. ground water has slayed me after all the bloody rain - - 's coming from everywhere
wasn't too bad to start with and baled out easily
View attachment 78194
more and more Quavers wrappers kept appearing with the cables they were wrapped around ..... WS .... cables everywhere with no rhyme or reason to their directions
View attachment 78193View attachment 78192
other half of that hole had to come out .... exposing more ground water tracks and a random Coke can
View attachment 78191
5th barrow load with some gert rocks in and an ever increasing pile of Quaver wrappers and general crap in the back ground
View attachment 78190
quite WTF this was laid on top of the one waterline is beyond me ??? complete pop bottle with lid in place .... second one I've found today !!!!!
View attachment 78188
as said the ground water's been bloody horrendous and just got worse through the day and as I exposed more 'routes'
View attachment 78189
at one point after I'd stopped for a sarnie it was up an inch over the lump of concrete, top left ...... at which point the subby was sought from the cupboard, some suitable fittings banged together, my quick coupler off my 2" petrol pump robbed for the 2" lay flat, rolled out down to the lawn and it got introduced to the hole - was a little sceptical about its claimed 20,000lt/hr but jeez did it ever clear the hole in seconds -- rated for 30mm solids so cleared the bottom deepest corner, as best I could and dropped it in there - woosh - water gone ... haven't looked at the state of what came out down on the lawn but there's been a fair bit of stuff rattled through it and down the line this afters on the numerous repeat emptyings - bloody ground water's been a nightmare
View attachment 78186
running out of light - rapidly
View attachment 78185View attachment 78184
the earlier pic above, with the bottle, is also showing a second line, virtually on top of our house line, which is not coming from the direction I was expecting and I am gonna have to investigate that one too ..... so yon hole is gonna have to grow from 20" x 30" to 20" x 48" - might also stand a chance of sorting the wire jumble too then ... got an 8' x 4' x 6mm plate there I can create a lid from
Gonna be a Friday/Saturday job though - got 36-40 mil of rain to come the next two days ... my body might just have recovered by then ..... but'll be up against the ****ing ground water again after that lot
good job I had that subbie in the tool arsenal .... never been used before - one of my first 'middle aisle' buys from Aldi when they opened in Aber - receipt was in the box 4/3/2014 .. 's bloody good, fair play

one of the more 'interesting'/WTF finds today were these two ..... quite WTF two 1" copper Yorkshire in lines are doing in the hole is a quandry ... will give 'em a clean off tomorrow and check to see if they are what I think they are?
View attachment 78187
just had a quick squint at the water level and's only at about 4", so ground water is obviously subsiding/slowing up
but for now - time to lay my wrecked body down for some zeds ..... getting too bloody old for this sh*t

Another great report Gra and I feel your pain buddy
Sorry but you will need to go much deeper to get a decent pump pit and room to work etc...
And to investigate those cables the skilful use of a CAT and Genny will pay dividends
Those Aldi (and Lidl) pumps are useful to have - we 3 similar here on standby duty.
What's the other side of yer tarmac driveway and is there maybe a low spot on your lovely lawn?
I'm thinking about digging a hole then thrust boring across to get some drainage going.
If possible it will give you drainage to be able to work.
And then maybe you can factor in a permanent solution to drain to water away from your vulnerable services?
And it's gonna piss down here tomorrow as well