DIY Moling for new water main feed

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Kent
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I need to run in a new water main feed necessitating moling under an existing passageway. I intend to dig the required holes at either end myself but still I am being quoted around £1000 to undertake the moling. I am aware of existing services (gas feed just below the surface) and my thoughts are that I could hire the required equipment and undertake the moling myself (ground is sandy soil). Any thoughts on this?
 
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Aware you say.
Guy hit big electric cable in his back garden and the power company was unaware it was there.
You hit anything you never knew was there it's going to get you a bigger bill than £1000. Maybe.... Who knows.
Big risks imo.
If you get trouble will you know how to fix? Might have to take kit back with job not done.
All sorts under ground including war bombs
 
The route is parallel with one side of the house (will be about 3' away from the wall) and I know for definite where my (and my neighbours) services run (water and power are nowhere near). I do know that I have a gas feed (the neighbours gas feed is visible at the front of the house) as I have exposed that at one end (need to expose it at the other). Behind my house is open land (large garden) and beyond that there is another large garden and it isn't feasible that services should run through my property to other houses. I only need to mole about 8m in total so although I know that there is always a risk, I think its one that I would be prepared to take.
 
If anything goes wrong, (and they often do), the first thing you will be asked is for copies of your utility plans you obtained from the various utility companies. Without these you could be dead in the water, so to speak, if you come a cropper and damage ANY underground services. Even utility companies have to err on the side of caution when excavating groundworks. Our local water company, (Anglian Water), had to repair a leak the other month a short way up the road from our house. Their plans showed a clear area around the suspected leak so they started to dig. Then one of the diggers found an electric cable running parallel to the water supply pipe. Work stopped immediately until UP Power came out to check. Their plans showed no cables present but they had to test the cable. It eventually turned out to be safe but imagine if it hadn't and the water board had severed it?
If they are charging around £1,000 just for operating the mole then ask for a price if they do the complete job and see what the difference is.
 
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Things can go very wrong. Insurance cover is essential.

Contractors installing new gas mains in the village discovered this drainage pipe, The Local Authority have no information about the pipe and it does not appear on the maps of utility services.

1663618462848.png



Investigations found it to be silted up and it seems most probable that it was the drain for this long gone village water pump
.
pump close up.jpg
 
For the sake of 8 meters would it not be as quick to just dig a trench?
 
Unfortunately Mattylad, the previous owner enclosed the area where I need to mole - they essentially built over the path running down the side of the house. I did think about breaking up the tiled floor but as the tiles are decent (plus I don't know how much concrete they laid the tiles on) I decided against it. At a previous house I did dig a trench (about 25m I think) to replace the lead mains and I would do again if it wasn't for that floor!
 
Unfortunately Mattylad, the previous owner enclosed the area where I need to mole - they essentially built over the path running down the side of the house. I did think about breaking up the tiled floor but as the tiles are decent (plus I don't know how much concrete they laid the tiles on) I decided against it. At a previous house I did dig a trench (about 25m I think) to replace the lead mains and I would do again if it wasn't for that floor!
Does the path encompass the entire amount of your property?
Can you not dig beside the path until you get to where you have to cross it and then use a combination of digging and say a high pressure water jet from a pressure washer to clear a hole through?

You do not have to take the exact same path as previous water pipes for all of it.
 
If you can get to any part of the house, you can terminate the communication pipe there, then run your own pipes internally.
 
Moles and 'Directional Drilling' rigs, can and do go wrong. Firm round my way used to do a lot of work for Anglian Water, until their Mole went AWOL on a job at Corby. Smashed through a large live water main, promptly followed by a large gas main. By the time they realised what had happened and had done something about it, water had flooded the Town Gas network. The cost of getting the water out, purging the Gas pipes and getting everyone back on gas was eye watering. The resulting compo bill put the contractor out of business.

Another Company were directional drilling a water main under a stream, when the drilling head came off. A mere snip at £35K apparently, but it was decided it wasnt cost effective to try and locate it for retrieval.

Your call.
 
Love the DIY sentiment. Moling is fairly specialist as it uses expensive equipment and you can’t see where it’s going. Experience, surveying and insurance are the key here.

The cheaper and safer option for us DIYers is trenching. Sure it will be a ball ache to dig and you will have more remedial work to fix, but it’s relatively safe and you just need a breaker and a shovel.
 
Just give Colin Furze a call, he should be able to sort a tunnel out for you :)
 
I always like to provide a resolution to my posts so here goes. Had a gas contractor at my house a few weeks back moving the gas supply pipe and meter so took the opportunity to ask the blokes if they did privates reference moling. Not something they had done before (private moling) but they were up for it so I dug three holes and had them mole all the way for £350! Would have been gutted to pay the £1000 that others had quoted as these blokes were complete within the hour - job done!
 

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