Middle of the morning yesterday I went to wash my hands.?ÿ No water except for a trickle at one cold faucet.?ÿ I called the city to see if they were working on the mains.?ÿ Nope.
Well my electric HWH was making noise like it was heating, but it was stone cold.?ÿ I went to check the breaker box since we had a noisy t-storm move through earlier.?ÿ I wondered if lightning had anything to do with it.?ÿ As I was checking the breaker I could hear water rushing...underneath the house.?ÿ?ÿA field verification discovered my back yard was afloat with about 3" of water and it was running into the street.?ÿ So I shut off the water.
I had my water service from the meter to the house replaced last September. It's all new.?ÿ But apparently where the new service ties in to the existing plumbing under the house is NOT new.?ÿ I was lucky to get my plumber out there on short notice.
It was a muddy mess but she got it taken care of about 5 PM.?ÿ She said she was actually happy to have a 'distraction'.?ÿ Seems as though most of her time has been full of snaking out pipes full of paper towels and handi-wipes that people have flushed.
Life goes on.?ÿ I'm sure the check has cleared by now.
Is that the same lady that dug the service line? If I recall she left quite an impression on you.?ÿ
That's her. When your house is as old as mine, you need good people to keep things up.
Her cell number is on the fridge.
@paden-cash Prior to baby 3 we lived in an older home that "kept me busy" nearly every weekend. We bit the bullet and moved into a new home a few years back with more room for the family. I do say I miss all the chores the house provided, but not the sewer issues. Never gonna miss sewer issues.
We had the on-site water system replaced (inside the house done by previous owner). 4 call backs. He directional bored a 1-1/2" PE line with schedule 80 fittings on either end. He had a schedule 80 female to slip screwed over the brass compression fitting on the PE pipe. The first one failed as I came around the corner of the house just in time to see the water bubble up out of the ground. He replaced that with brass coupler over compression fitting then a schedule 80 male to female slip fitting. Then a couple of weeks later the other end near the street failed sometime during the night. Fixed that. Then the brass shutoff valve at the house cracked (manufacturer defect most likely). Fixed that. Then the compression fitting at the street slipped a little bit, fixed that. Nothing since, hopefully nothing else happens.
@paden-cash Prior to baby 3 we lived in an older home that "kept me busy" nearly every weekend. We bit the bullet and moved into a new home a few years back with more room for the family. I do say I miss all the chores the house provided, but not the sewer issues. Never gonna miss sewer issues.?ÿ
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I'm good on the sewer stuff...until the cast iron rust out (probably not in my lifetime).?ÿ The line from the sewer main is 6" bell and spigot that comes into the house with a bend and runs up straight through to the roof vent.?ÿ The VCT main was replaced in '88 with PVC and my Fernco CIP connection to the new main seems to be holding.
But All the 1" galvanized "distribution" water line under the house is in need of repair.?ÿ Over the years everything that comes up into the house has been replaced with poly, pvc or pex.?ÿ ?ÿYesterday's work was done in prep of the entire replacement...now all I need is about 3 grand.
Got ya all beat- ?ÿ Black butyl trailer house plumbing- good luck with repairs and replacements on a Weekend in a town of 700 population- the day I sold that was one of the best days of my life.
I did my time in the trenches with a trailer house.?ÿ In 1975 the only supply store around that carried that stuff was 50 miles away.?ÿ One had to plan for contingencies for sure.?ÿ I think I still have a couple of fittings in the garage.?ÿ You never know when you might need something... 😉
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Galvanized pipes began to burst along with two water heaters within 5 years after moving into this home in 1987. When the last pipe burst under the back bathroom I did not even try to fix that and went to Fix Your Well and came back with a load of 3/4 inch hot water pvc and a large supply of a variety of connectors and connector hoses to feed all faucets and showers and put cutoff valves at the sinks and toilets and to the water heater.
Basically, me and my helper worked two days under the house and replaced everything to feed the house except one shower and tub. The connections are behind my corner office desk and I must move all that for access.
In that bath, I would really like to remove the steel tub and install a corner shower stall. It would take relocating the toilet about a foot and relocating the sink to the other side of the bath. Maybe someday.
I am currently attempting to move my two-room office down to one room and create a huge closet and dressing room for my wife and daughter.?ÿ
About 6 months ago, I made a new valve tree in the well shed and used 3/4 inch bronze ball valves as the pvc valves would leak if they were adjusted.
My son worked on the well pump after that and now it runs when it wants and is not providing an instant supply of water. The pressure tank is not holding pressure and I have checked connections and replaced the pressure switch and water tube a couple of times. When it warms up will need to pull out the piping in the well to replace the foot valve and I may replace the out of production Sears Glastron well pump with a submersible.
I've found out that there is always something to tend to and the next part I get is not as good as the one that just failed.
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The pressure tank is not holding pressure and I have checked connections and replaced the pressure switch and water tube a couple of times.
A couple of my friends have found their fiberglass pressure tanks developed micro leaks.?ÿ No overt signs, but the air was escaping faster than it was being replenished, so the tank had very little apparent capacity. It could be found with soap bubbles. One guy kept applying patches with epoxy and got it fixed.
@bill93 Mine is a steel tank with a bladder inside and is pressured with air at 2lbs below when the pressure valve kicks in.
I am fairly sure that the connection into the water pipe is where my problem is. It is about a 3 inch plastic connector with an Oring seal and I probably need to apply some non-hardening thread sealer.
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