Dave-G Posted April 2, 2023 Report Share Posted April 2, 2023 The header is the short version, the long version follows. The estate I live on was built in the late 80's by David Wilson builders. I bought it in 99 as a first time buyer - and was fairly inexperienced in home improvements etc. The front garden slopes down from the kerb by about 3 feet to the modern semi detached house with parking space down the side. Year 2000 saw me improving with a patio at the rear and side, with a path along the front about 30" wide made up of block paving and small slabs, and pebbles to the same height for about 8 inches from the house. I had laid the paving and patio on a concrete bed... that did not have any contact with the house or footings. After I retired I decided to block pave the sloping front: the part in front of the house was at that time a lawn, Pampas bed and a small rockery to stop the several neighbours cats using it as a toilet and scent marking patch being the main reason. After Googling it seemed the blocks needed something to butt up to to stop them migrating: the kerb and boundary edging each side served that purpose well and I imagined the front path laid on concrete was sufficient retainer. Time has shown I was naive in that thinking as the blocks and path have slid towards the house. My son-in-law who is a building site manager got me some steel marking stakes - about 2 feet long x about an inch wide. I plan to drive them down the side of the footings so they sit a little higher than the footings - to finish up about half way up the depth of the pavers and form a sort of concrete 'lintel' that will be hidden from sight by the pebbles. I can see where electric, phone & gas services enter but not the water pipe - and was about to start smacking in the stakes but got worrying about spiking the water pipe... How deep were services leading to houses in the 80's please? The footings are about 3" outside the house bricks. I'm slightly autistic and may have left some important detail out so a photo might help. Photo shows planks and wedges I have used to straighten up and retain the path till the edge bracing lintel is being made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKD Posted April 2, 2023 Report Share Posted April 2, 2023 The standard depth of most services back then was 18"/450mm. Minimum depth now is 600mm. I was marking out the perimeter of a block paved drive back then with road pins. Only used 5 or 6 and the final one went straight through the lead water main 😖😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terence Posted April 2, 2023 Report Share Posted April 2, 2023 Found gas water and elect cables less than 18incd down while fitting fencing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted April 2, 2023 Report Share Posted April 2, 2023 Pampas eh? 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith 66 Posted April 2, 2023 Report Share Posted April 2, 2023 **** law dictates that you are virtualy guaranteed to hit the pipe. I found this out the hard way myself. Back in 2017 our dog (aged 13) had to be put to sleep one friday. It was a bad day. We bought him home in my car & left him in the boot covered in ice packs as it was september & very hot. We had been grubbing out a small tree in the front garden & to make it easier to dig had soaked the ground with the hose. Thinking that the hole was already there we decided to put the grave there. So at 6:00am im out there digging the hole putting the earth on a tarp on the lawn. Nearly deep enough & i hit a tree root, go get the axe & wallop, A great hiss, Aaaaarghhh ****!!! I have just chopped the gas supply. What was already a bad day gets much much worse. My wife phones the gas company, Meanwhile im swearing mightily & squashing the pipe flat with a g clamp to stop the leak. An engineer turns up, sucks through his teeth & says "That will be expensive if we have to go under the path". I just reply " Best shoot me now". So my son & i repair to the back garden to dig a new grave, the clay is baked hard like concrete & we toil in the blazing sun. At some point three gas blokes poke their heads round the corner to see how we are doing, they are waiting for a part. Wife plies us all with lemonade & the gas pipe gets fixed. We get the dog buried about 11:00am & rush up the top of the hill to watch the blowdown of the Isle of Grain power station chimney. I can laugh about it now but its not a day i will forget in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centrepin Posted April 3, 2023 Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 13 hours ago, Mungler said: Pampas eh? 😆 I thought that too🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted April 3, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 Thanks everyone, I'll chop the spikes in half, whats wi the pampas cat magnet gags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udderlyoffroad Posted April 3, 2023 Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 It can attract a different type of cat. Apparently it was the sign used by people, who liked to host parties where guests put their car keys in a bowl, that good times happen here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted April 3, 2023 Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 49 minutes ago, Dave-G said: Thanks everyone, I'll chop the spikes in half, whats wi the pampas cat magnet gags? Yeah that’s just a pretend ‘I don’t know about pampas grass’. I bet there’s a caravan on the driveway and always a pineapple in the fruit bowl too 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted April 3, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 2 hours ago, Mungler said: Yeah that’s just a pretend ‘I don’t know about pampas grass’. I bet there’s a caravan on the driveway and always a pineapple in the fruit bowl too 😆 Lol, I'm not quite that sedentary just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnfromUK Posted April 3, 2023 Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 Be aware that whatever the specification is, the pipe will be where the gas board put it. A house 100 yards along the road and built in the 1970s (when it was still the official nationalised 'British Gas') had the main pipe 4" under the tarmac in the road just off their drive. Found when the council were repairing potholes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovemyheckler Posted April 3, 2023 Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 This is where they should be but I doubt if they are, they never are! SGN-Excavation-Guide-160216.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted April 3, 2023 Report Share Posted April 3, 2023 Hello, I was a plumber on Thames water in the 1980s and the depth of service pipes in our depot depended on which inspector went on site,🤔🤔, they all went out with a measuring stick 🤔🤔, there was a lot of new build housing estates going on then , I seem to remember it was around 2 ft , it was a free for all when we had the gas/electric ,/ water in same trench,🤔🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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