Any ideas on how to get a water line in a brick building with a concrete floor?

CCWKen · Dec 20, 2015

The OP didn't mention a drain but if you bring water in you need to have a way to take water out. Perhaps an oversight?

CobyRupert · Dec 20, 2015

4570Man said:
The frost line is pretty shallow here. Most water lines are about 18" deep and as shallow as 12".

Lucky you. This is hole is to access the hydrant valve for the pipe that pops up about 1ft inside a slab. It's 4ft deep and still froze last winter. About three evening sessions of digging for about 1/2hr each.

Do you have heat in the building or will you need an underground hydrant valve, heat box, etc.?

4570Man · Dec 20, 2015

There are currently no plans for a toilet. I'm pretty sure the shop is lower than the septic tank, but I need to double check that. For a sink I had planned to run a drain over the hill in the back. The building is heated to at least 45.

quicksandfarmer · Dec 20, 2015

I've always wanted to try the Bullet Mole:
Video Demo of BulletMole installing irrigation pipe and electrical conduit under sidewalk and driveway

Does the house you're bringing the water from have a basement? There's lots of videos on youtube with ways of tunneling under driveways and sidewalks, if it's only 20 feet that's two pieces of pipe, not very far to tunnel. What sort of foundation does your shop have? According to the Bullet Mole website it can penetrate cinder blocks.

truckdiagnostics · Dec 20, 2015

Way I am suggesting to install your drain does not need pitch to the house you put a small plastic sump pit in with a pump, that grinds it and pumps it to the house. In you application I think it would work well, I can't imagin not having bathroom in our shop. They are used a lot around here for basement remodles where you have to pump up to the sewer. Had one installed in our old house, comes as a kit everything is sealed, helped a guy on the last one, not hard. Hardest part was getting the concrete out of the basement

4570Man · Dec 21, 2015

The house doesn't have a basement. I'm pretty sure the water line comes in the front of the house. It is probably a 200 foot run around the back of the house to the water line. Or 40 feet to the back of the house which would involve digging under the foundation of the back of the house. A bathroom would be nice, but would greatly increase the price of the project. I live about 1/4 mile away, so it isn't a huge deal. I can live without a bathroom in the shop, but it would be way more important to my dad. He has health issues and has to use the bathroom often.

EddieWalker · Dec 21, 2015

For just a sink, running the drain out into the woods and watering some bushes is the easiest way to go.

MillWeld · Dec 30, 2015

No one addressed how to make the turn when inserting the water line. Easy if you have a big hole but if it is only 1.5 - 2 inches diameter what do you do? I might need to know someday.

Deere Dude · Dec 30, 2015

4570Man said:
The house doesn't have a basement. I'm pretty sure the water line comes in the front of the house. It is probably a 200 foot run around the back of the house to the water line. Or 40 feet to the back of the house which would involve digging under the foundation of the back of the house. A bathroom would be nice, but would greatly increase the price of the project. I live about 1/4 mile away, so it isn't a huge deal. I can live without a bathroom in the shop, but it would be way more important to my dad. He has health issues and has to use the bathroom often.

I have a barn/storage/workshop smack dab between the house and the road. Around 1/8 mile to the house from the workshop. No trees next to the buildings. No close neighbors so to go number 1, I just step outside. But, when I walk out to the shop and then feel an urge for something more it is a 1/8 mile trek doing the penguin walk back to the house and that isn't fun. My wife has a time consuming garden next to the shop also.

I am remedying that right now by building a lovable loo. I saw this on Larry the Cable Guy and is on the internet and is really nothing more than a plywood box with a flip up door with a 12" hole in the lid and a toilet seat on that with a 5 gallon bucket under it. Throw a little carbon based shavings in the go to the can, then some more sawdust from planing wood over that and keep doing that. Maybe some RV deodorant but supposedly you don't need that. I have an outside hydrant outside for washing hands etc.

They used a mulching system, but I plan on either burning the waste or burying it.