Before you dig, call 411. In the case of Boxes in Fields, before you dig check the PVC chart. Well, check the PVC chart when its completed. When it is completed next year or the year. Right now the chart is more like a series of pictures showing where electrical, internet, sewer, and water lines crisscross the property and how deep the lines are buried. And let me tell you these pictures have come in handy more than once for several different reasons besides just trying to recall where buried lines lie.

But as with all things, these pictures are just approximations not actual facts. Lines have been laid, covered up, uncovered. Snagged, bent, broken. Modified, relocated, and removed. Changing plans on the fly makes it very difficult to lay lines once and only once. There was a water well, then water storage tanks, and now water collection tanks. There was temporary trailer connections, shop and work connections, and now Dwelling connections for both above the shops and on footings.

Adding electrical, sewer, and water lines for the Dwelling boxes turned out to be more challenging than intended. Previous lines had to be located and modified, the Rainstream had to be worked around, and decisions had to be made about the Kid’s Box. Did he want to install water and sewer or was he going to continue to use outside bathroom facilities? Did the Planner and I want to install the lines anyways for a future mother-in-law cabin? The Kid’s time for the living in to real world is quickly approaching meaning we will have a spare room for visitors. If the decision was left to the Kid, he would live like a bum in squalor. Teenagers, ugh!

Sometimes the best decisions are made by simply starting. There was over 100′ of trenches to dig meaning there was plenty of times to finalize the line locations. Starting with the most crucial intersection, the Planner dug inch by inch so as to not grab the water or septic line already buried. This is the third time this precise location has been dug with a backhoe. The first time was during the initial Trench, Trench, Trench installation way back in November 2016 and the second was when the Septic Sucker was installed at the end of December 2020 . Now we are digging it back up to add sewer and water and sewer lines. This time will require some finessing of PVC to get all the new lines to fit correctly at the right elevation for proper flow and distance from each other.

Nice and slow, inch by inch, measuring between scrapes to assess depth for buried lines according to past photos. Not that it mattered anyways when there was a water line running east to west that never was photographed. No sooner did the Planner snag the water line when he stated “oh yeah, I forgot about that water line.” Ugh.

With a quick trip to the local hardware store, the broken water line was fixed and the rest of the hole was dug out by hand with gardening shovels. Yes, gardening shovels. Who said Labor Day weekend was for vacations anyways?

For future references if you ever have to install any buried lines, having them lie in straight connecting lines would be the easiest. This means a little more extra work on the front end but it will make the PVC maze easier to understand years down the road when all this is not fresh in the memory. With the most difficult section dug, it was easier to establish how the trenches were going to run because we could assess the elevation fall from both boxes to the sewer inlet at the tanks.

Trenches were dug. Sewer pipe with clean-out at the southeast corner of the Dwelling Box. Sewer line and water line to the Kids’ Box were capped just outside the backdoor. The Kid’s Box will be a little more tricky to complete as the lines have to run under the northwest corner and continue down the length of the box to the southwest corner. All of this work will have to be trenched by hand since the tractor cannot get close enough with the backhoe to be effective.

Last month the Planner had grief with the Shop Box Water Collection intersection at the Work Box and the PVC leaked three times at the various junctions before sealing correctly. Not wanting a water leak when there is no water to spare, the capped water line to the Kid’s Box was left under pressure overnight. And true to form, the water line leaked at a junction. Five days ago this was a perfectly solid water line crossed east to west over the much deeper sewer line running north to south. One tractor snag and one leaky joint resulted in a neat and tidy four-way now looking like a maze of PVC. While this roundabout of PVC lines is perfectly legal in terms of code, it is not amazing to look at and working around it is a total pain in the fanny. But it does not leak!

With the sewer lines to both boxes completed and the water line not leaking, the trenches were covered.

The water line and connecting junction for the Dwelling were installed and covered but not connected. To connect the water lines, the Rainstream will have to be moved as the existing water line runs directly under the back end of the trailer and across edge of the deck. Moving the trailer right now is not desirable. Eventually it will have to be moved but for ease of living it will remain where it sits. Unless, of course, hurricane season turns out to be super active come August and September. We will cross that bridge, if and when, we get there. If, if, if…..

Unable to test the water line as it not connected, the Planner confidently covered up the trench stating more than once there won’t be any leaks because the lines were easy to install as they were straight with no crazy junctions. Straight, without crazy junctions if the bend over the sewer was dismissed.

Deciding against our better judgment to get the Kid involved in his life, the Planner and I finished digging out the sewer and water line to his box. If we waited on him to complete the digging, the hole would sit unfinished indefinitely. Our thinking was this: if we dig now, once the Dwelling is complete no further trenching will be necessary. We can decide to furbish the box at a later date and time. Maybe extra work, maybe not. Only time will tell.

Not even halfway through the month and July is turning out to be very productive. Every day we work on the Dwelling is one day closer to moving out of the Rainstream. One day closer to living in something larger than a post stamp. One day closer to having room to cook meals that require more than one pot. One day closer….