So I've Got Something Stuck In A Pipe. Help / Ideas Please?

So I've been spending the past few weeks trying to run a cable under my pathway to connect power to my shed in the garden. I didn't think I needed it when the shed and pathway were installed but now (as usual) situations change where I now need power to my shed.

So the next job was to somehow work out a way of getting the cable to run under the brick path without damaging it. Other half was for getting part of the path torn up so they could lay a cable and pipe in place, which I was against. My first thought was to tunnel under it with a trench spade and this only got me about a few inches under. So after trawling the internet I found that some people had simple knocked a pipe under the pathway, clear of the hardcore and not undermining the path. Found myself a length of scaffolding pipe from the local scrap dealers for £2 and cut a hypodermic tip at one end. I then sledge hammered it through the entire pipe in less than any hour.

Hooray! I thought all I not needed to do was clear the mud out of the pipe. Simple enough. So I got a thin piece of threaded bar and started to knock this through, until it got stuck. I think there must be a stone stuck in the pipe. Eventually I got the bar out and then idiotically decided to have a stab with a larger piece of wood, thinking that the larger wood would dislodge the stone and clear the whole pipe.

Now I have a piece of wood stuck in the pipe that I think is again stuck on the stone inside the pipe and snapped off at the entrance. I need some ideas on how to get the wood and the pipe cleared out as I'm sure I'm missing something really obvious here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

You could try and flush out or dislodge the stone/s with a hose pipe, might just work depending on what your water pressure is like.
Shove the hose several inches into the "open" end of the pipe and then using gaffer tape or heavy duty packing tape, seal off the end with the hose pipe as much as possible to create even more pressure.
Once the stone/s are dislodged, you can then move on to the broken piece of wood, threaded bar, neighbours cat and try and remove that by using a smaller diameter pipe shoved in and whacked with a large hammer.

 

If you managed to get the pipe all the way under the path thus creating a tunnel, it might be easier and quicker to extract the pipe and replace it with a new one. You could spend hours trying to get the stone and wood free.

BTW I've use scaffold pipe for boring holes, but I use an angle grinder to cut teeth in the end and turn it like a drill using a steel bar.

 

My ground is pretty stoney anyway so I'm presuming its just a standard stone that wedged in rather than the hardcore. I'm really reluctant to remove the pipe as it's well and truly stuck in there.

I can get access to the opposite end but it's pretty much just a small access hole because of the shed begin near by. I could possibly open it out slightly bigger but not much. A good idea though if I could get access from the opposite end as where I think it is lodged is right near the end anyway.

An idea I had after making this thread was perhaps using a hammer drill with a really long drill bit attached to drill out whatever is wedged in there. I have one of these knocking around but would need to buy a really long bit for it.

I'm very reluctant to use water again. I tried tipping some water down it yesterday and in the end got myself and all my tools covered in mud. A good idea though but am not sure how to seal the pipe up with a lump of wood and hose pipe in it.

 

Just a thought but wouldn't the water make the wood swell? If it were me I would try to get the pipe out and start again with another pipe rather than keep trying to clear this one. Good luck, really feel for you have been in similar situations myself.

Val

 

If you leave it for a day or two most definitely.
My thinking was to get the wood wet and thus it will go pulpy and soft making the job of getting it out easier.

The down side of water and soil mixed.

All things considered, have to agree that starting over is probably the easiest.

 

http://electrical.theiet.org/building-regulations/part-p/faqs.cfm

I installed the electrics to my shed and greenhouse prior to it becoming mandatory to obtain (Part P) Building Regs approval, but I was experienced in specifying electrical installations, so I still used armoured cable, 450mm deep trenches with warning tape above the cable and separate consumer unit, etc.

If something goes wrong and you don't comply with the current regs, you can be prosecuted, plus your insurance company may decline to pay out, which could be rather expensive if dodgy electrics has caused your house to burn down.

 

Adding to what Scrungee has said, I believe all external cables have to be buried a minimum of 18 inches deep now.

 

Yes, you certainly need to be careful with electrics, better safe than sorry.

Val

 

Greetings all,

I am Jungle Jane's other half, I thought I'd pop in to say a few things about the electrickery.

Scrungee and Sheal: thank you for your advice regarding Part P. Not being certificated for Part P, I concede that in the eyes of the insurance lawyers I shouldn't be doing any exterior wiring. But for the benefit of the forum, I'd like to point a few things out. I am a licensed signalling technician working for London Underground, so I like to think I'm fairly competent with outdoor wiring. There is already an external circuit for my shed which I will be tapping onto. That circuit was installed before we moved here and it was professionally tested and signed off when we had the rest of the house rewired. I will be cutting the existing armoured cable into an IP55-rated termination box mounted to the garden wall. A spur will run the short distance to JJ's shed via the afore-mentioned pipe. The SWA will terminate in a garage-type consumer unit.

Again, I concede that this all means nothing to an insurance lawyer! But I hope it puts some minds at rest!

 

Welcome to GC Mr. Jane. You obviously know what you are doing with the cables which is great. Often on GC that doesn't happen so anyone with any knowledge of the 'area' under discussion tries to help out. Good luck with the wiring and the current pipe problem!