Project Homestead - part 4 - Where's the Gang?

Once the concrete walls were ready, it was time for sub-rough plumbing. Sub-rough plumbing really just consists of the drain pipes that are installed below the floors and will connect to the sewer line. The plumbing contractors dug trenches and placed/connected all of the drain pipes for the home.  Once that was done, I had to shovel the dirt back into the trenches and pack it down as prep for the gravel fill.

While the plumbers were doing their part, I spent two days with a 24 gallons of tar, a paint roller, and a roofing brush coating the foundation as damp proofing.

After the damp proofing was done, the backfill started.  I rented a bobcat to do some back fill around the outside of the garage where the dig was rather shallow and compaction wasn't critical. I also moved a lot of dirt so that the excavator and I could get a backhoe around back.

I opted to install a french drain and bring it to a vertical culvert where a sump pump can be installed later. Wow, that was a pain! The plastic drain tile (flexible pipe) kept shifting up when gravel was dumped on it and it took a long time to install.

After the french drain was installed, we started back fill with the excavator running the backhoe and me running a compactor.  Rather than fill the inside of the basement with 6" of dirt, level it and compact it then fill it with  4" of gravel that also had to be leveled, I opted for 10" of gravel and no need for compacting.

All told, the back fill, compacting and gravel project amounted to four days of labor and felt a lot like working on a chain gang without the chain.  One day, I drank water all day but was still 8lbs lighter that night and couldn't pee until the next day.  I shoveled and raked a crazy amount of gravel but, it was all even and ready for to support the 4" concrete slab that will be the basement floor or our new home.

LESSONS LEARNED:
1) Shoveling and raking a LOT of gravel was brutal but it was still better than back filling, leveling and compacting 6" of dirt and then shoveling 4" of gravel.
2) Hire a few laborers to help shoveling gravel next time!
3) The ICS foam block forms would have saved a lot of time and effort damp proofing the foundation and would be far more effective.
4) Never use the perforated hose style drain tile again! Using the solid PVC with holes drilled only on the top would be much easier and more effective.