"Xcalibur" wrote in message
...
Folks:

I am the proud owner of a home, as of this past fall. I'm a new
homeowner and this is a learning experience.

When I had the inspection done, the inspector suggested that I
put a clay barrier around the north and west side of the house
to prevent water seeping into the structure. I need to dig a
trench of 6 inches down by 6 inches wide along the perimeter of
the home.

Aside from the obvious answer, is there any tool or machine that
would make this job easier. Sure, I can get on my knees and use
a hand shovel, but that's a fairly work intensive project. If
there is something easier, I woudl be interested in hearing
about it.

Thanks for any information that you can suggest.

Cheers!

Xcalibur

I'm not sure what you mean about "on your knees" - my first thought is
that's just about the size of a standard long hadle round-point shovel I
dug a trench several hundred feet with one. But I'm not sure what a "clay
barrier" does to prevent water from coming in - and I don't understand what
something as small as 6 by 6 could do. We stopped surface water with what
we call a "French ditch" or "French drain" - a trench 2' wide and 2' deep
and then filled with rocks. Our rental centers have what we call a "ditch
witch" - a motorized machine that will dig a ditch - usually used for laying
underground wire, cable or pipe. I now have an old farm tractor that pulls
a garden plow that will turn a furrow about 6 by 6. I'm curious to hear
more about your problem and solutions from others.