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Anyone repaired a water line?


Jim Oaks

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There is a break in the waterline going in to my house. It's under a concrete slab next to the house. I cut a square hole in the slab and dug that dirt out. The leak is a little farther under the slab.

I've got metal lines from the 70's. Not copper of PVC.

I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fix it once I get to it. The pipe has rust on the surface. Suggestions?

Also contemplated whether I should replace the line from the meter to the foundation with PVC since I've unearthed a bunch of it, but I don't know how I'd connect it to the old pipe.

Also, the house has a crawspace but I can't really get to the waterline that's under the house.
 
Its all been down there for the same amount of time...
 
Back when I did plumbing this was always a pain, and if it's rusted through in one place it will do it again. Imo your best bet would be to dig up your main shutoff and disconnect the pipe at the shutoff. Should be a threaded conection. Then dig a nice trench back to your house and route the pipe through a more accessible area. Make sure you get the pipe well below the frost line. I would suggest using pex pipe to replace, it has a much longer service life.
 
The old line is about 18-inches underground.

My only shutoff is at the meter.

The line goes straight back from the meter for probably 30 feet to a spigot, and then comes from there at an angle to the house under a concrete slab that needs replaced.

My thought is that if it busted in one spot it will do it in another. Tempted to fix it temporarily until I get back from our fall adventure and then replace it.
 
Frost line is pretty high in Texas :)

I would probably attempt to replace the whole run from the meter to the house with PVC or poly or something... pretty sure the line from my pump house to the house is some kind of white poly pipe, it's PVC in the pump house... Had a coworker have to redo his line from the meter to the house last year when a tree crushed his line and it leaked really bad...

If you want to do something temporary, some rubber (like inner tube) covered with some sheet metal and a bunch of hose clamps should slow it down.

Is this under that slab from your house thread that is in about a billion pieces? I guess I wouldn't be too worried about ruining that either...
 
Probably could patch it temporarily. I’d replace the whole thing with PEX though and I’m a fan of having quarter turn ball valves for shutoffs.

That said, I hate plumbing. I know how to do a lot of it, but I’d rather work on electrical.
 
Plumbing party




Garage roof raising party.

We need to party.
 
Plumbing party




Garage roof raising party.

We need to party.
I’ll provide burgers and beer if we can have a fix-my-junk party so I can come down and help with the other parties:icon_welder::icon_rofl:
 
There should be another shutoff valve near the place where your line branches off the main. That is the place to start with your replacement pipe. I agree that the best thing to do is replace that whole line, otherwise in another year or two or three, you will get to do this all again...
 
Please replace the whole thing. If I fix something less than 100%, it always bites me. The fixing it again pisses me off even worse. At least it's not burried 4 feet down like we do in New England and hopefully you won't hit granite ledge when you're digging.
 
4' down...lines here are 8+' down and we still have occasional issues with frost.

Digging under crawl space will be PIA, but better to do it once and get it done correctly, than to have to do it again.

I paid someone to do the plumbing when I recently added bathroom in basement. Doing the electrical myself was piece of cake.

The joys of home ownership.
 
As a retired corrosion engineer all I can say is replace it in it's entirety with non-metallic and be done with it. Once you have one corrosion leak more will follow and leak frequency will increase exponentially. Remember, Rust Never Sleeps.
 
You can get pipe leak repair sleeves that can be opened to go over the metal pipe and then clamped tight, and they work just fine, but temporary, lol

As simple as this type: https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-Galvanized-Repair-Clamp-160-805/100119228



Yes, I would do a new trench and use PVC(drinking water rated) or PEX, instead of metal, for water mains, either is about the same, PVC is cheaper

PEX has an edge in side the house for hot water pipe, PVC is not great for hot water
And PEX seems to have a lot more adapters for retro fitting to older plumbing


There are plumbing companies that have Trenchless machines that can tunnel under slabs, might be worth a call to see how much it would cost to do that, you can install the new pipe or get a price from them for both
They could also core a hole in foundation if you can't do that, to get the new line where it needs to go
Or you could cut the metal line near where it goes into the house and add the new line to it there, it shouldn't be too corroded from there to inside the house, but never know, lol
 
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yup, those repair sleeves work good. my steel water supply line got broken somehow, years back. and since we are in sand about a half mile from the ocean, it was corroded badly. they make those split sleeve repairs pieces and also a repair sleeve that you cut out the broken piece and this one slides over and each side clamps down with long rubber sleeves inside to seal.
i put it on and kept putting off fixing it, and i think its still on there from 2006 or 2008. i cannot remember digging it up to fix it but maybe i did when the 3/4 pvc line under the patio broke and i had to saw cut the slab and dig a little six inch hole down the two feet to repair? who knows.
 

20230822_162721.jpg

20230822_165021.jpg

20230822_164540.jpg

The top line is an old gas line.

I noticed that there's a bulge on one side of the water line. When I turned the water on it split and water started shooting out of it. That bulge peeled off and I could feel a hole maybe 1/4 inch on the side of it. I'm guessing it was patched here before. I don't think I'm going to be able to use the clamp since on side has some kind of repair build up. I'll have to find something else.

I need to get this sealed so I can have water again. After our fall gathering I'll replace all of it with new line.

Let me just say that busting up concrete and shoveling dirt in 105 degree Texas heat sucks.

Still better than paying someone $190 an hour to find my leak.
 

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