Anybody replaced a main water line?

chiefjason

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Got a leak in the main water line between the city meter and the house shut off. Slab house. Got the water to the house shut off and pressure released. No water flowing. City meter still running.

We have a couple calls in to plumbers. One wants me to call him back mid week when the yard dries up a bit more from the snow, but it's calling for rain today. Second can back flush the hot water heater and scan the yard for thermal changes from the leak. He is supposed to call back today. Both are really busy from the cold snap.

Basically, I have time to run this through my head a bit more. The plumbing is pretty straight forward. Threaded ends on both sides, ball shut off valve on the house side, lots of PVC through the yard with a few connections to get the length.

Hardest part is digging the trench, I'll need to rent something. Next worst part is they were nice enough to lay the power line through the front yard. We have a work order in with 811 to mark the front yard. I have a rough idea of where it is, but not digging until I know. You only make that mistake once.

So, any experience? I've already tackled my HVAC, girls exhaust fan and vanity light this week, and replaced a toilet. Why not try my hand at plumbing while I'm at it. Ugh.
 
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What do you do in your spare time? :eek:
 
They are not all that hard really. Like changing brakes.. Annoying, dirty, but not difficult.

Around here the main lines tend to be only 6-12 inches deep. So real easy. Now where you live it can vary though. I know whoever installed the water line for the well at my farm in Ramseur, dug it much deeper than that.

I haven't done a residential main line before, but I did help change out a 12 or 15" main water line for a college dorm before. Now that was a nightmare.

bit of advice is to change out the whole line if you can. Generally if you get one leak, others will follow. Unless of course this is one of those tree root drilling into the pipe deals. Which are always fun.
 
Iā€™d dig it up near the house and figure out if the leak is in the yard or under the slab.
 
If it's a residential supply line, it's probably 3/4 or 1'' pipe. If it's PVC, you won't need to dig a trench, just find the leak, dig up that spot, and repair the line. No need to replace the whole line for one leak if it's good quality PVC pipe. It's fairly simple, really. The most important part is to use cleaner on the joints so the PVC glue will seal up well. Good luck!
 
What Don said ^^^

Even if it is copper. Look up shark bite fittings. Iā€™d take the meter box top off with a pair of channel locks and cut the meter off also. Find your leak and just fix it right there whether It be copper or pvc.

NC811 takes 72 hours. I hate waiting on them. I deal with them almost daily at work.
 
How old is your house?
what material is the pipe?
Can you find the leak?
 
I've had a few family members that have had the same problem. In all three instances the leak was within 5' of the meter and none had an obvious wet spot in the yard that would point to a leak.
 
Having seen Jason's home it could also be black plastic vs PVC.

No words of wisdom, but if you need a hand, all you gotta do is holler. You have the number...
 
How old is your house?
what material is the pipe?
Can you find the leak?

About 14 yo bought new.
Everything I can see is pvc.
No idea where the leak is. Itā€™s been too wet to notice anything.


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Is the house cut off before the line hits the slab?

Cut off is about 3ā€™ from the slab. Which is how I narrowed it down to the yard.

Got a tool and turning the water on when needed and off when not.


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Having seen Jason's home it could also be black plastic vs PVC.

No words of wisdom, but if you need a hand, all you gotta do is holler. You have the number...
Make sure and get the number of his new burner phone. ;)
 
Never seen any good coming from fixing a leak in the line from the house to the meter. Sooner or later its going to leak again. (My dumbass cheap neighbor with red brown water hose and hose clamps). There was a $hit ton of houses built in the last 30 yrs with a flexible gray or blue (PVC, polybutelene ?) hose type pipe. Mine was. Class action lawsuit paid to have mine replaced. Dont know if any of that money is still available or not. I think mine was replaced with white PVC. Not my first choice but copper was twice as much and I was not sure if I would get the money from the CALS. Lot a years ago and like $800. Good luck.
 
I've had a few family members that have had the same problem. In all three instances the leak was within 5' of the meter and none had an obvious wet spot in the yard that would point to a leak.

Ditto...... I dunno why, but it's usually closer to the meter.
 
Higher pressure, usually there is a pressure regulator close to the shutoff in the house that brings the pressure down to what your appliances and faucets like.
 
Cut off is about 3ā€™ from the slab. Which is how I narrowed it down to the yard.

Got a tool and turning the water on when needed and off when not.


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You are luckier than you may think. I have no cutoff between the meter and the slab. I'm amazed the code would allow this, but apparently it's OK. I dread the day I have a leak after the meter.
 
You are luckier than you may think. I have no cutoff between the meter and the slab. I'm amazed the code would allow this, but apparently it's OK. I dread the day I have a leak after the meter.
You can turn the valve off at the meter w/o a special tool. Use a 9/16" wrench, open end on the valve, run a large screwdriver through the box end to turn it on and off.
 
You can turn the valve off at the meter w/o a special tool. Use a 9/16" wrench, open end on the valve, run a large screwdriver through the box end to turn it on and off.
Yes, Pink is right. You don't need a cut off wrench.
 
Higher pressure, usually there is a pressure regulator close to the shutoff in the house that brings the pressure down to what your appliances and faucets like.

I have a pressure regulator on the house side of the shut off. And yes, the city side is much higher than the house side. My neighbors blew out and cut a hole through the yard and shot water 15' into the air and all over the back yard. It was not pretty but at least you knew where the leak was. lol

Never seen any good coming from fixing a leak in the line from the house to the meter. Sooner or later its going to leak again. (My dumbass cheap neighbor with red brown water hose and hose clamps). There was a $hit ton of houses built in the last 30 yrs with a flexible gray or blue (PVC, polybutelene ?) hose type pipe. Mine was. Class action lawsuit paid to have mine replaced. Dont know if any of that money is still available or not. I think mine was replaced with white PVC. Not my first choice but copper was twice as much and I was not sure if I would get the money from the CALS. Lot a years ago and like $800. Good luck.

Everything I can see on both ends is white PVC.

I dug a test trench about 3/4 of the way down just in front of the city meter and turned the water on. No wet showing yet but it is a small leak. Pipe is about 18" below grade and I could push an 18" section of rebar almost all the way to the pipe without much effort. There were some soft spots along the line, but that soft spot was several feet lone where the others seemed to be much smaller. Like Push down deep, move 6" and not be able to push half as deep.
 
Yeah - I have one so I can cut off before the meter. I just expected to have one at the house (garage or someplace easily accessible)

Yeah, I can't believe they didn't add one. If you have your original home inspection there is a section on plumbing that should tell you if they hid one somewhere. Section 6.1 maybe? We dug ours out because I was having trouble getting the shut off closed completely. Finally got it done.
 
I have a pressure regulator on the house side of the shut off. And yes, the city side is much higher than the house side. My neighbors blew out and cut a hole through the yard and shot water 15' into the air and all over the back yard. It was not pretty but at least you knew where the leak was. lol



Everything I can see on both ends is white PVC.

I dug a test trench about 3/4 of the way down just in front of the city meter and turned the water on. No wet showing yet but it is a small leak. Pipe is about 18" below grade and I could push an 18" section of rebar almost all the way to the pipe without much effort. There were some soft spots along the line, but that soft spot was several feet lone where the others seemed to be much smaller. Like Push down deep, move 6" and not be able to push half as deep.
It sounds from a distance like it would be fairly easy to trench out and replace the whole length of PVC. Of course, it's always easy when using my keyboard :)
 
I have a pressure regulator on the house side of the shut off. And yes, the city side is much higher than the house side. My neighbors blew out and cut a hole through the yard and shot water 15' into the air and all over the back yard. It was not pretty but at least you knew where the leak was. lol



Everything I can see on both ends is white PVC.

I dug a test trench about 3/4 of the way down just in front of the city meter and turned the water on. No wet showing yet but it is a small leak. Pipe is about 18" below grade and I could push an 18" section of rebar almost all the way to the pipe without much effort. There were some soft spots along the line, but that soft spot was several feet lone where the others seemed to be much smaller. Like Push down deep, move 6" and not be able to push half as deep.
It sounds from a distance like it would be fairly easy to trench out and replace the whole length of PVC. Of course, it's always easy when using my keyboard
Yeah, I can't believe they didn't add one. If you have your original home inspection there is a section on plumbing that should tell you if they hid one somewhere. Section 6.1 maybe? We dug ours out because I was having trouble getting the shut off closed completely. Finally got it done.
Sorry to say I am the third owner. Home built in 2007 and the original owner is apparently deceased.
 
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Jason, With pressure before the pressure regulator as high as you describe, make sure what grade PVC is in ground. If they cut corners and put in PSI 100 -that is not acceptable with that line pressure -should be Sch 40 160PSI - I have seen this a lot. Also check the connection to meter-if you haven't already, dig out house side of box and expose line. As I said in another post, been doing this 30 years, if I can help -PM me I'll give you my phone. It's the least I can do for the fine holster you made for my GP100.- And have you dug out street side of shut off?
 
We find leaks in the road at work with a stethoscope with a lead weight hanging on it. We can set it down over the line and hear the water running if itā€™s close to the leak
 
Jason, With pressure before the pressure regulator as high as you describe, make sure what grade PVC is in ground. If they cut corners and put in PSI 100 -that is not acceptable with that line pressure -should be Sch 40 160PSI - I have seen this a lot. Also check the connection to meter-if you haven't already, dig out house side of box and expose line. As I said in another post, been doing this 30 years, if I can help -PM me I'll give you my phone. It's the least I can do for the fine holster you made for my GP100.- And have you dug out street side of shut off?

Iā€™ll be sure to check that. I have not exposed any pipe yet but dug about 12-14ā€ down, and from the city meter out about 5ā€™ because the yard was soft there. The screw connection in the box looks fine. Didnā€™t see any obvious signs of water. Oddly the leak was slower today.

Got one plumber wanting me to call him
Wed. The other one is out of town till tomorrow afternoon. Iā€™ll be up early starting to dig. Itā€™s my day off, might as well. Going to start at the meter and dig towards the house. I know within a few feet of where the power line is. Might have to check that area slow if I get that far.


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Jason, typically the power company will put the power lines about 30-36" deep. It may not be as bad as you think to dig it out and repair.

Several years ago I put in 2 freeze proof faucets and a drip irrigation system, with a total of 800' of 1" PVC - 18" deep, all dug by hand. It was good exercise, but I don't want to do that much by hand again.
 
Just keep in mind the temps at night and anything uncovered could freeze if you do not get it covered back up, least you have a couple warmer days but water leaks time of year are never fun. Depending how much area you have to cover you might can dig a series of holes and space them 3 or 4 feet apart instead of digging it all out and see if any start getting water back in as it will travel the pipe for a little way usually. Not sure which would be easier depending how deep it is.
 
Walk from the meter to the house sticking a probing rod in down to the water line every 6-12ā€ . May find it that way
 
Walk from the meter to the house sticking a probing rod in down to the water line every 6-12ā€ . May find it that way

Ahead of you. Did that this afternoon. Yard was noticeably softer just by the meter. Dig there some before work. Thatā€™s where Iā€™ll start in the morning. I could push the rebar almost down to the depth of the line without a lot of effort. It was like that for several feet. Some sporadic areas along the line were soft but none were that large or that soft.


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What Don said ^^^

Even if it is copper. Look up shark bite fittings. Iā€™d take the meter box top off with a pair of channel locks and cut the meter off also. Find your leak and just fix it right there whether It be copper or pvc.

NC811 takes 72 hours. I hate waiting on them. I deal with them almost daily at work.
You can get 811 to do an emergency locate for a broken waterline. Emergency locates are handled asap, usually in under 3 hours.

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We find leaks in the road at work with a stethoscope with a lead weight hanging on it. We can set it down over the line and hear the water running if itā€™s close to the leak
You can do basically the same thing with any shovel, or even a stick. Jam it into the ground and put your ear on the shovel handle.
 
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If you end up replacing the whole line, consider piping options like HDPE over PVC.
 
Remember: 811 is not perfect (far from it actually). Just because you get a cleared ticket DOES NOT mean the area is 100% clear. Try your damnedest to locate the electric line yourself. Also remember the tolerances that 811 locates get. For an electric service line, I believe it's 24" to either side of the locate (if there is a locate).

Regarding the water line fix, the hardest part is finding the break. After that, as long as it's not many feet deep (which a service line should not be--the guy who put it in didn't want to dig that deep either!), it's just a patch repair job. I wouldn't pay a plumber for that. Shut your meter off if you've not done so already. Ask the water utility for a leak forgiveness program. They'll usually put you down to the lowest billable rate on big bills. You don't get the water for free, but they'll take you out of the tiered usage rate (meant to penalize high users).
 
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