Anyone use a ditch witch or the like for digging trenches?
I have some large tree roots on the side of my garage right where I need to put in a trench.
I did my back yard a few years back with one, but was not told about greasing the chain until it fell off. By then I did not have a chance to get back there and see how well it would do before I ran out of daylight.
As it stands, I will mostly likely have to dig on at least one side by hand… (Hopefully no roots on that side.)
I’m tired of having a garage that floods in the rain. If I can keep the water out, I’ll replace my sill plate and put it on blocks. I have been putting it off pretty much since I moved in
Never used one, but I would be interested in how you replace the sill plate and do the blocks. I need to do this with mine on one side where the garage has settled.
I plan to brace the walls, jack it up a little, cut bottom of the studs off as they are rotting.
Put a row of blocks on the edge of the slab with anew bottom plate then lower and secure.
how big are these tree roots? If they are small (under a couple in or so) itll tear them right out, but if they are big you should probably dig around them by hand and chainsaw them out if chopping at them with a shovel or hatchet gets you nowhere. Just make sure the chainsaw chain stays out of the dirt
So, renting the ditch witch is $168 or so for the day.
I can most likely only use it on one side of the garage, so I’m going to do it by hand
Already broke one shovel handle. I should only have a few large roots to get through that are ~3-4" dia.
Unfortunately for me, on the back side a root is at least 4" dia and runs 10-12’ along the garage then under.
Looks like I’m setting up for another summer long project. I don’t have a chain saw to cut the roots, but I do have an ax and a lot of aggression I need to work through
My garage is the best…
This is the best it has ever looked after rain. It’s just damp and not a huge puddle that extends
around the 3 interior sides.
No sill left what so ever.
Rats used to love my garage
Notice the stain where grade is
roots to deal with
More roots
Probably the root most responsible for screwing me
Back side. Notice the stain/rot level
Trying to give an idea of depth
Attempt #2
Pretty good pic showing how fucked I am.
The remaining side.
No pics of the Front, but the driveway is slightly lower than the garage, so the puddle extends out of the garage
door on both sides.
Now the question is: What to do w/o much money. No replacing the garage. No replacing the pad etc…
I was hoping that replacing the sill with a row of cinder blocks and new sill would help, but it is farther below grade than I had thought.
If you are just replacing one, brace the garage, cut/remove the mounting bolts on the sill. Then cut the studs at the equivilant height of 2 new 2x4’s and insert 2 new 2x4’s and add/replace the bolts holding it to the slab
Thats what I would do anyway.
I’m sorry to say that I have picked this project up again…
3 years later, not much has changed. I will need to update the siding now too…
I’m about half done with the digging now. I would like it to be deeper so I can get the 4" drain pipes below the garage slab.
My neighbor seems to think my garage is responsible for all the neighborhood rats (it’s not) and had put some stone and poison along his fence for me…
never mind the fact that I have a dog.
before
I’d accidentally use some carb cleaner and a welder and forget to have a fire extinguisher handy. Might consider doing one or two courses of CMU along the bottom (stone filled cores) and extending the mounting studs for top plate…would be pretty weather-proof afterwards
