Anyone Here With Skills in Construction?

[gwm72513]

The thing is, I've been thinking about turning my (more like a shed) garage into my "house of concoctions" but it doesn't have running water or drainage. Since I live up in Canada you can guess that the winters get well below freezing. What could a guy do to run a water line from the house to the garage without having it explode in the winter? I don't want to dig too deep down unless I have to. Is there a good way to insulate/keep the pipes warm? If I have to, do any of you know how far down the frost level would be?

 

[Flem]

The frost level varies by location. I'm sure some of your local contractors or county/city offices have that information. Here in Western Pennsylvania, the level is 30 inches. I'm sure it's MUCH deeper where you are. Good luck!

 

[Sirs]

ok as far as what your local depth limits are for plumbing all you need to do is call a local plumber and ask them most won't mind answering a few questions from you or shouldn't if they do you should be able to ask the local inspector they can tell you what code is for plumbing depth

 

[gwm72513]

I guess that would make the most sense. I'm also worried about the exposed part coming from the side of the house since I don't want to compromise the integrity of my foundation.. I'd imagine a few good wraps of some sort of insulation would work?

 

[roblloyd]

I think you will have to come up through the floor. Unless the water is heated just sitting there it will freeze no how much insulation there is.
Kind of a pain, but maybe have a rain barrel type setup inside that you could fill from a hose once in a while. 50gallons of water should last a while for most things you'd want to do right? Cleaning just lug inside the house.
Or what about running a hose when you need it?

 

[gwm72513]

Yeah, I was hoping I could do it as easy as possible. I would like to have a permanent setup in my garage because all the sinks in my house are too small and inconvenient for cleaning and such. I like the idea of the rain barrel, it could definitely work.

 

[millwright01]

Unless you heat your garage and run it out through the basement wall at the same level as you service comes in, it will freeze. You would need 6 feet there. Your service is buried at 6-8 feet. And if you are in that South Hill clay area, its HARD to dig through.
You could wrap it with heat tape and hope the power didn't go out, but eventually you will freeze up when the heat tape fails and the cost would break you. The insulation will only work if you keep the water running constantly, and even then I wouldn't guarantee it.
The barrel would work and if you bought a 120V rv pump you could pump water from it to a sink/taps.

If you just want to use it only in summer, just blow it out like you do with sprinklers in the fall.

Just throwing some ideas at you.

good luck

 

[gwm72513]

Hmm, your right. Starting to sound less feasible. The rain barrel may be the only way to go or suck it up and just do everything in my house.

 

[Sirs]

if your gonna heat the garage all the time you could do a gravity fed sink and put you a couple 50 gallon barrels in ceiling just need a hose to fill them ever so often. gravity fed sinks work fine just like a regualr one in fact some better lol

 

[Dugger]

Like millwright says, if you don't heat your garage, forget it. Not even a rain barrel works in the winter where you live. If you do heat your garage, a supply pipe buried deep enough will work, but a drain will still freeze, unless you have it buried deep enough and connected to your sewage disposal or a dry/wet well. You could always drain to a bucket and just chuck it.
Heating your garage is key.

 

[gwm72513]

Yeah without a doubt I will have the garage heated. Could you imagine working in -40C weather! I like the rain barrel idea, seems a little easier, I might just have to rig something up.

 

[roblloyd]

Just have to add a little chlorine to it so it doesn't start to grow things in it. It would be safe to drink if done correctly. I'm sure there are other sanitizers you could use if you don't like the chlorine idea.
I'd check with a camping store if you have one locally.

Maybe k-meta would work?

 

[mmadmikes1]

A hot water heater that is well insulated will work as a storage tank. set temp as low as possible and add a timer. it wont freeze. Just have to keep it above 0. A washer machine hose with 2 female ends can be used to fill it with garden hose though the drain outlet on bottom. 50 gallon tanks are at second hand stores all the time. It will probably need 220 power and it that scares you, hire someone who needs the money

 

[Affe]

I'd recommend the "rain barrel" idea, though I'd use something more like a 55 gallon food grade barrel. As long as the majority of the barrel is contained within the shed (and the shed is heated), you shouldn't have any issues. Gravity will become your friend when it comes to water pressure, so you'll want it to be as close to the ceiling as possible. Perhaps surround it with some fiberglass insulation and cover the ceiling of your shed with some aluminum radiant foil insulation to reflect heat during summer months.