# How do I run a water line through my basement wall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619 "2012-08-06T15:01:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/1 "2012-08-06T15:01:25Z")
We live in central Ohio. I just built a barn. It is located about 300 feet from the house. I’d like to run a water line to the barn from the house. The idea is to drill a hole through the concrete wall in our basement (4 feet below the surface) and run the water pipe through the hole. I would then rent a trencher and dig a 4 foot deep trench to the barn. Because of the distance, I will be running plastic water pipe. The black plastic stuff. I really hate drilling a hole through the foundation. I’m worried about water leaking in to our basement. What’s the best way to do it? I did some google searching, and did not find a detailed and concise “how to” tutorial on how to do it. All I found were some message boards where people talked about using a PVC liner, hydraulic cement, expandable foam, etc. I guess I’m just looking for more detail on exactly how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/2 "2012-08-06T15:14:47Z")
Just get an impact drill, run the plastic pipe through a PVC sleeve and use hydraulic cement around the hole. You can fill the sleeve with silicone or tar like stuff, maybe roofing cement, to seal the gap between the sleeve and the water pipe. Of all the leaks in my ancient basement, none of them are around pipe pass throughs. You can also use a ton of sealer around the outside. And when you back fill, add gravel to carry water away from that area. Backfill your trench carefully. You’re using plastic pipe, but I know someone who punctured a copper pipe when a rock hit it. Keep the trencher until you know the pipe isn’t blocked or leaking after you backfill. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/3 "2012-08-06T15:21:54Z")
Wouldn’t the safest thing be to avoid penetrating the foundation below grade level and instead to bring the water supply line through the outside wall and then to drop it into the ground? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/4 "2012-08-06T15:24:59Z")
Do you know if there’s weeping tile around the outside of your foundation? I wonder it, in addition to sealing around the pipe, it wouldn’t also be a good idea to dig all the way down to thar and fill the hole up to and around the pipe with gravel. Wild speculation, that, it might be overkill. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/5 "2012-08-06T15:35:21Z")
I needed a water spigot in my backyard. I didn’t want to dig down and drill through my concrete foundation wall and connect under the house (crawlspace instead of basement). Instead I trenched from the front yard to the back. Connected to the water pipe a few feet from my inground water meter (its in the front yard). Really wasn’t that much extra work and I had the trencher rented for the whole day anyway. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/6 "2012-08-06T15:37:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Wouldn’t the safest thing be to avoid penetrating the foundation below grade level and instead to bring the water supply line through the outside wall and then to drop it into the ground? He needs the pipe underground so it won’t freese in the winter. **aceplace** has a good recommendation, if that’s a reasonable thing to do in your situation. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/7 "2012-08-06T16:18:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Instead I trenched from the front yard to the back. Connected to the water pipe a few feet from my inground water meter (its in the front yard). Really wasn’t that much extra work and I had the trencher rented for the whole day anyway. The water going to our house is supplied by a well located about 50 feet away from the house. My first idea was to dig down to the water pipe between the well and the house, install a tee, and then run water to the barn from the tee. That way I wouldn’t have to drill a hole through the basement wall. The problem with this approach – and least I think it’s a problem – is that I think it would also be a good idea to install a shutoff valve (near the tee) on the water pipe going to the barn. If I go with this plan, the valve would be four feet underground. ☹ I don’t feel like digging down 4 feet to shut the water off to the barn. Of course, I guess one could argue that I don’t need to be able to shut the water off going to the barn. Not sure… ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/8 "2012-08-06T17:06:20Z")
I would just put the shut off in the barn. Similar to the shut off in your house. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/9 "2012-08-06T17:11:21Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The water going to our house is supplied by a well located about 50 feet away from the house. > > My first idea was to dig down to the water pipe between the well and the house, install a tee, and then run water to the barn from the tee. That way I wouldn’t have to drill a hole through the basement wall. > > The problem with this approach – and least I think it’s a problem – is that I think it would also be a good idea to install a shutoff valve (near the tee) on the water pipe going to the barn. If I go with this plan, the valve would be four feet underground. ☹ I don’t feel like digging down 4 feet to shut the water off to the barn. Of course, I guess one could argue that I don’t need to be able to shut the water off going to the barn. Not sure… Of course you should be able to shut off the water to the barn. That’s absolutely necessary. So put the valve four feet underground in a concrete housing, with a 6-inch pipe going up to the surface. When you need to turn off the water, just reach down into the pipe with a piece of rebar bent into a hook and turn the valve with that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/10 "2012-08-06T17:55:36Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Of course you should be able to shut off the water to the barn. That’s absolutely necessary. So put the valve four feet underground in a concrete housing, with a 6-inch pipe going up to the surface. When you need to turn off the water, just reach down into the pipe with a piece of rebar bent into a hook and turn the valve with that. Good idea. **Crafter** , you should have one shut off outside that will cut off the house and barn, and seperate shut offs inside each structure. Hopefully you never have to use the exterior cut off. ETA: Then again, with a well, do you need an exterior shutoff? Can’t you just turn off the pump? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/11 "2012-08-06T18:09:30Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > …put the valve four feet underground in a concrete housing, with a 6-inch pipe going up to the surface. When you need to turn off the water, just reach down into the pipe with a piece of rebar bent into a hook and turn the valve with that. Yea, I thought about doing something like that. But with nothing but air in the pipe, I was concerned the valve would freeze in the middle of winter. I really wish I could buy a commercially-available valve that can be 1) installed 4 feet underground, 2) actuated from ground level, and 3) is guaranteed not to conduct away enough heat in the winter to freeze. I searched a bit on google, but didn’t find anything. Probably because I have no idea what the valve would be called, assuming such a thing exists. ---
**Author:** ![lonestar88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lonestar88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lonestar88)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/12 "2012-08-06T18:31:41Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Yea, I thought about doing something like that. But with nothing but air in the pipe, I was concerned the valve would freeze in the middle of winter. > > I really wish I could buy a commercially-available valve that can be 1) installed 4 feet underground, 2) actuated from ground level, and 3) is guaranteed not to conduct away enough heat in the winter to freeze. I searched a bit on google, but didn’t find anything. Probably because I have no idea what the valve would be called, assuming such a thing exists. It’s called a gate valve w/extension. The ones we use around here have a small (6" diameter) valve box mounted at the surface. You pop the lid off the cover, and have access to the valve nut. The ones I’ve seen are open air to the valve, but that’s in Houston, I don’t know what they use up north. > **[Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=gate%2Bvalve%2Bwith%2Bextension&sugexp=chrome,mod=8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)** here’s a link to the City of Houston, standard valve box detail [http://documents.publicworks.houstontx.gov/document-center/doc\_details/1007-02085-03-valve-box-detail.html](http://documents.publicworks.houstontx.gov/document-center/doc_details/1007-02085-03-valve-box-detail.html) ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/13 "2012-08-06T19:29:17Z")
I would not tee off the water line from the well. This provides a failure point between the well and the pressure switch that can lead to very time consuming trouble shooting and unexpected complications. Normally for what I do is drill through the wall with a hammer-drill, and run the pipe though the wall then pack hydraulic cement around it both inside and outside. I would never run your pipe without some kind of conduit, granted I’m in New England where we grow rocks, it might be an extra precaution you might not care for. For conduit I typically run 4 inch corrugated ABS. In places without water concerns I’d put the conduit through the wall and cement around it. In places with water concerns I’d end the conduit a few feet from the wall. If the conduit is down hill on the house side I’d cement inside both ends of the conduit otherwise just stuff it with rags to keep dirt out. If the basement was water problems I’d use a poly pipe as the conduit, but larger diameter poly gets expensive so take that into consideration. In this case the poly goes into the house. Is the barn heated? If it is not you’ll want to look into a **frost free hydrant**. That would be your shut off on the barn side. Another thing to consider on a run of that distance is friction resistance, how many gallons per minute do you have and how many do you need? Too small a line will result in no pressure on the barn side. Last thing is whenever doing trenches it’s a good idea to lay extra conduit. It’s cheap money to save all that same digging should you decide in the future you want something more. I typically lay an extra 4 inch corrugated and a 1 inch pvc electrical conduit. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/14 "2012-08-06T23:43:06Z")
Crafter\_Man how were you planning to protect the faucet & pipes you’re installing in the barn? Just curious. My uncle had chicken houses and we wrapped Electric heat tape on each exposed hose and water trough. They were on a timer that kicked in at dusk and turned off just after sunrise. Worked really well in our 20 degree winters. I don’t know if they’d put out enough heat way up North. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-run-a-water-line-through-my-basement-wall/630619/15 "2012-08-07T12:52:56Z")
Appreciate all the responses. Especially from **TriPolar** , **lonestar88** , and **boytyperanma**. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Crafter\_Man how were you planning to protect the faucet & pipes you’re installing in the barn? I was planning on installing a couple frost free hydrants (as mentioned by **boytyperanma** ), one inside the barn and one a few feet outside the barn.