ᐅ Conduits on the Property – Any Ideas? – It’s Not Too Late Yet :)

Hello house building enthusiasts,

My civil engineer is starting the groundwork now (gravel slab for the house and garage). Since he is making the gravel slab up to the property boundary, I’m concerned it might be tight for running electrical cable to the front and back gardens. Additionally, I’m planning an irrigation system, and the water hoses will need to be routed accordingly.

Would it make sense to have the civil engineer install conduits directly, so I can later lay underground electrical cables and PE water pipes without having to dig again? I’m thinking especially about areas without topsoil cover, like the garage and driveway.

Do you have any other tips on what I could implement at this stage?

The house is built without a basement, and the garage has strip foundations without a slab.

Thank you all.

You need to install the pipes (electricity, water, control cables) in areas that will be inaccessible later on. Only you know where you will need power or separate circuits, since there are no plans available. It’s important to have the proper conduits running from the house to an accessible spot.

Regarding your irrigation system, you will have to do some digging anyway. Do you already have a completed irrigation plan (number of zones, number and locations of manifolds, number and placement of sprinklers, drip and root watering systems, etc.)? How will the irrigation be powered? Does the pump provide sufficient flow? Where will the irrigation controller be located? You need to run the control wires from each manifold to this controller — plan these conduits accordingly.

Since you will need to loosen the soil again after construction, you can use a trenching machine to dig the irrigation trenches.

I recommend Hunter rotators with pressure-compensating housings. Please avoid Gardena.

Explain the construction world to a woman!
She says: It all gets deducted from the meter later anyway, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with the foundation slab. Everything else is "planned" within the foundation slab.
What the utility companies or the telecom want to install for cables and where is a completely different matter than what the homeowner intends.

She is referring to water hoses (PE). I assume these are irrigation pipes.
These do not necessarily have to run from the main meter but could, for example, come from a cistern.
Distributors are usually (and more practically) spread across the property.
There is a main line that supplies the distribution boxes, from which the water is further divided.
During the construction phase, I would also prefer to run everything through multi-duct conduits. Better to have one empty conduit too many than too few.
As Nordlys says, "it's better to have than to need."

rick2018 schrieb:

She refers to water hoses (PE). I assume this means irrigation pipes.
These do not necessarily have to come directly from the meter but, for example, from a cistern.
Distributors are usually (and more sensibly) spread throughout the property.
There is a main line that supplies the distribution boxes, which then branch out further.
During the construction phase, I would also preferably run everything through multi-duct conduits. Better to have one empty conduit too many than too few.
As Nordlys says, “having it is better than needing it.”

But that comes later, after the construction access road and slab… nothing is installed under the slab. Cisterns make sense later when the downpipes are laid.

I think we are currently misunderstanding each other.
I had mentioned that irrigation on the property will be done later.
Supply lines, control cables, electricity, etc., anything going into or out of the house should be planned from the start. It’s best to use multi-utility conduits or perform core drilling later on. For a house without a slope or basement, it makes sense to run these through the foundation slab. Otherwise, it’s more difficult to hide them as they will be routed above ground.