trench update

jambaloney here!!

first off - ted, this pic is for you, you started the trench last june and this is what you did - a great start!

last december, i picked up where ted (my step-dad) left off, you can read the whole story here.

the trench is kinda coupled with the our overall sump pump development. okay, i am lazy today, here is the background on that.  ultimately, we want our damp basement to have a permanent drain that is unaffected by weather, power etc.... dig, dig dig... last winter i made it this far:

that trench is about 6" deep... this year i have been a busy bee (pp, tell me which hive to join ;-)

below is what the trench looked like march 08 after a full winter in which there was no freezing in either the sump pipe (short one) or the gray water pipe (long one) - that was a MAJOR improvement over the previous winter:

 here is the trench beside the manor..

and here it is heading away from the manor and downhill - notice the rocks in the trench:

i did a bit of work in march - here is a shot from april 06..

and here is what it looked like a week ago before my last round of digging in which i really went for broke - notice the rocks in the trench again:

the rocks are there because i do the digging in spurts - i have to. the soil here can be very hard due to clay deposits and there is a large one right where this trench runs... coupled with that is the fact that we are in a geologic area called the "Till Plain" which means "tons of stuff the glacier left" or, in layman's terms, rocks!!! when we have gone only a few days without rain, parts of the yard are like concrete, then, when it rains a lot, you can sink right in. i wait to work on the trench until after a lot or rain, in the meantime, the sump pump and the gray water runoffs help move things along a bit. here is the latest progress - take note of the ever growing piles of large rocks (also note the fancy bridge i built, i will gladly sell the plans to interested parties)

here is a pic looking up at the manor. we have used all the small-rock dirt i have dug up in the past months to fill in holes and gaps elsewhere around the manor - the dirt on left hand side in this pic is only half of what i dug up this round alone, the other half we used to cover the exposed roots of the "bonsai" tree you see on the left... kymber then covered that with some manure and a wildflower shade mix - gonna be a sweet  little meadow!

here is a pic up close to the foundation wall:

hey - let's measure!!!!

we now have a trench that is 36" below the top of the foundation wall - i have to go down to 42" plus another 4" to get a pipe under...not that bad, i can pretty much dig it all near the manor as the angle of the trench is relatively steep.... PROGRESS!!

tools of the trade, w - this spoon is for you!!!

and a casualty - new post to follow....

some of the rocks are so big and so cemented in the clay that when i hit them, my teeth rattle... i have learned that the best way to get them out is to bash them to pieces in place with a sledge and then take them out in bits, here is a great example..

 seeing as every post has a pic of the sky in it, i am obliged to include one.... this is june 19@ 22:02, still some light in the sky... it started getting light out @ 4:00 the next morning - long days this time of year!!!!

you always see the trout after they are cooked... here is a nice shot of breakfast when i get back from fishing...

have a great day - cheers all!!