OK gang... new thread. When valve boxes are set do you guys use bricks, blocks of wood or other means under the box trying to keep the box from settling? We use nothing here but we change so many boxes that we've gotten pretty good. Unless the area is extremely wet we pack the soil quite well and then drive the boxes into the soil with the aid of a three pound hand sledge. We level with a torpedo or angle with slope accordingly. I find the bricks, dobies and blocks of wood to be quite a nuisance when we have to dig up a valve box for repair work.
If we do encounter a box that has settled too much then we never dig it up and readjust the height. We take off the original lid, dig up partially around the original box and insert either a full box or stubby box over the original box, using it as a sleeve. I know this probably isn't practical on the commercial side but it's a very quick fix for us.
What about pea gravel in the bottom for drainage and gopher control? I find it to be like digging up concrete. Besides, I could take pictures on many pea-graveled valve boxes where gophers have still gotten through.
If we do encounter a box that has settled too much then we never dig it up and readjust the height. We take off the original lid, dig up partially around the original box and insert either a full box or stubby box over the original box, using it as a sleeve. I know this probably isn't practical on the commercial side but it's a very quick fix for us.
What about pea gravel in the bottom for drainage and gopher control? I find it to be like digging up concrete. Besides, I could take pictures on many pea-graveled valve boxes where gophers have still gotten through.
