Drainage trench

About 18 months ago I dug a trench and laid a 4" (110mm) drain pipe underground along the back of the stables.

This was the end of the run of pipe intended to get the water away from the main stable tap.

I knew how hard it was digging through the gravel, concrete remnants and clay soil. I was not keen to start the remaining part of the job.

Unfortunately, the water that pooled under the tap by the stables was not soaking away and no amount of digging by Shelley cleared the water. The drainage job needed doing now.

We called in help by way of Steve 'The Dig,' who we had met a few weeks before. With him doing most of the digging we got two drains in and the pipe connected up in a day.

The water pipes under the tap restricted where we could get the drain.

We used a joiner and a short extension to get it as close as possible.

There was a lot more concrete path to break than I knew about but we got through that with a combination of SDS breaker and a sledge hammer.

I learnt a lot from the expert. Things like: using the spade upside down to break away small amounts of soil, don't try to get too much up at once and dig the whole length working down a small layer at a time.

The day after I made a rubber mat to direct the water in to the drain.

Hard work but satisfying now it's done.

==
Update: 1 April 2017

I've extended the rubber so that more water gets in to the drain rather than going on to the gravel. It's also more comfortable to stand on.

==
Update: 8 April 2017
Extended the trench by two metres to finish the planned run.