Plumber repaired burst water main; appears he... [updated 6/13: Fixing...]

[phucheneh]

LOL. Just how much of your piece of shit house was he supposed to fix while he was under there screwing stuff up?

If you're in that type of job, that's what you do. 'Hey, I fixed this [poorly], but also, the pipe is hanging and is going to cause it to start leaking again...'

It's not that hard. Tunnel vision like that is exactly why most mechanics suck dick at their jobs.

'Oh, well, I fixed that oil leak you mentioned by replacing the seals in the front of the engine...oh, what's that; your timing belt broke? Well, yeah, I noticed it was trash, but I didn't figure I should say anything...'

 

[Ksyder]

yeah, 50 psi should be fine. Are you getting low flow at all taps throughout the house, or just at one or two? Whenever your water main is closed and then reopened, like the plumber had to do for his repair, sediment from the pipes can get blown out and clog your faucet aerators.

I don't know about this extreme case, but I've fixed low flow many times by cleaning out the screens on the faucet. At a place I used to live it would get these little tiny stones stuck in it.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Turn off all the water in house and check your water meter to check for leaks. If its spinning then you have a leak.

 

[Number1]

WHat kind of water pressure are you getting before the regulator?

If it's much higher than 50 that's probably the reason you find the water pressure low now that you have a regulator in the line.

 

[Jimzz]

Are you near NoVA? I can show you how to sweat pipe.

Sweat on some pex adapters and then crimp the pex hose. That will open it up and remove those sharkbites.

Pex pipe is also fine. Most pro. plumbers use it now. And if your main line is 3/4" that is fine. My old one was 1/2" half the way and 3/4" the other and still worked.

 

[jagec]

WHat kind of water pressure are you getting before the regulator?

This. No point in mucking around with the regulator if you don't know what you're regulating.

 

[Doppel]

yeah, that looks ghetto as hell, IANAP

Yep, that sagging pipe along with a leak,isn't a job well done.

 

[phucheneh]

That AC duct doesn't help. It prevents the pipe from making a straight line. And seeing as it's hugging the the floor, and the house has been raised, I'm wondering exactly how many people have messed with this crap. In jobs which ended with a 'fuck it, they'll never go in the crawlspace, who cares what I do.'

I'm not familiar enough with this stuff to even try and date anything...I'm wondering which came first, the copper pipe or the duct.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Don't try to hang the sagging pipe with another type of metal. Copper cant come in contact with other metals.

 

[phucheneh]

Damn, I just realized something. That pipe going forward, I think (will verify) goes to the hose spigot in the front yard.

...I just washed my car out there. Oodles of pressure. In addition to this work, I guess the guy didn't have sense enough to check some faucets and say 'this is not 50psi; something is wrong.'

edit: for support, I was thinking generic metal strapping, either stainless or galvanized, but with a rubber isolator of some sort? It doesn't hurt if the metals are close but not touching, right?

I know galvanic corrosion all too well. Ask me about the Jag with the rotted out trunk because someone used stainless hardware on the bumper and taillights. :'(

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Damn, I just realized something. That pipe going forward, I think (will verify) goes to the hose spigot in the front yard.

...I just washed my car out there. Oodles of pressure. In addition to this work, I guess the guy didn't have sense enough to check some faucets and say 'this is not 50psi; something is wrong.'

Very likely

 

[Squisher]

phucheneh, there are a lot of youtube videos showing how to correctly sweat pipes. It is pretty easy if you clean stuff good, use flux, and get a feel for how hot the pipes are before you put the solder to them.

 

[Adul]

The blue pipe is pex, that is fine. The problem is it was put on with sharkbites. Those will reduce the inner pipe size so that does not help.

How big is the main line? Mine is 1", yours looks small but maybe its the picture?

SharkBites, you should be using compressing fittings not a sharkbite.

 

[stormkroe]

Are you near NoVA? I can show you how to sweat pipe.

Sweat on some pex adapters and then crimp the pex hose. That will open it up and remove those sharkbites.

Pex pipe is also fine. Most pro. plumbers use it now. And if your main line is 3/4" that is fine. My old one was 1/2" half the way and 3/4" the other and still worked.

This.

PEX is becoming the standard, it already is in 99% of new homes in Canada. It does NOT leak.
Remove the joke-bites, rent or buy a crimper and crimp it on with the rings.
While you're in there, you should T in a pressure gauge for your own piece of mind. I see new construction plumbing installs almost every day, 3/4" is fine for the customer side of the meter. The fact that your hosebib has good pressure makes me 1000% sure it's the shark bites.

Also, wrap the copper line in electrical tape and support it with some plumber's tape. The electrical tape will stop the cathodic problem. Then kick your plumber in the balls.

 

[phucheneh]

Yeah, I wasn't doubting the actual plastic so much. I use flexible PVC air hoses, and they're pretty damn durable, especially considering I drag them across rough concrete. But when I saw those connections, my thought was simply 'I dunno what this is, but I don't like it.' Hence why I posted on ATOT where, I gotta say, I am generally not let down when it comes to home repair stuff.

Why crimp on threaded connections versus soldering in copper, though? Copper just seems easier; you can buy a torch for less than the cheapest crimping supplies, I'm gonna guess?

Also, while I'm at it, another random question: Should the crawl space be cold? Like, 60*, probably? It's like 85 or 90 out today, and the house is 72 I think. I'm wondering if I have a leak or if it's just heat transfer from the ducts plus the lack of sunlight.

...I honestly think this is my first time going into the crawlspace. Did I mention I am terrified of spiders?

While making an earlier post, I felt something on my back, and interrupted my thought with OH GOD SPIDER FUCK FUCK FUCK GET IT OF GET IT OFF...

...and then I thought...why am I typing this?

 

[Humpy]

Don't try to hang the sagging pipe with another type of metal. Copper cant come in contact with other metals.

What? How is it soldered if it can't come in contact with other metals? You probably meant avoid contact with iron but even then it is the anodic iron that is corroded and deposited on the cathodic copper.

The fact that your hosebib has good pressure makes me 1000% sure it's the shark bites.

Don't be so sure, the hose bib is after the Sharkbites.

Why crimp on threaded connections versus soldering in copper, though? Copper just seems easier; you can buy a torch for less than the cheapest crimping supplies, I'm gonna guess?

Exactly. Just cut off all that stuff you paid the plumber to do and solder in a shut off valve and copper pipe. I'm not sure why there is all the discussion about the pex. It is a silly place to use it.

 

[Fern]

-snip-
Why crimp on threaded connections versus soldering in copper, though? Copper just seems easier; you can buy a torch for less than the cheapest crimping supplies, I'm gonna guess?

Personally I prefer PEX to copper. I had my entire house redone with PEX.

But I see no good reason to install a foot or so of PEX in an existing copper plumbing system.

Just got to Lowes or Home Depot and you should be able able to find stuff to assemble a kit to solder the copper. The torch part simply screws onto one of those inexpensive bottles of gas used for camp stoves and lanterns. They are about $4-5.

Here: http://www.lowes.com/pd_95168-13877...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

It'll screw on to a standard 1LB propane tank like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Worthingto...r-2pk/17012846

You'll also need:

1. A length of copper pipe/tube. Notice that there are two thicknesses (wall of tube), get the thicker one.

2. Some copper slip fittings/couplings/adapters to connect the new pipe to the existing. I can't tell from the picture what you'll need. Make sure to get it figured out BEFORE you got to the hardware store. You don't want to crawl under there, shut off the water supply, drain the water etc and then find out you don't have what you need.

3. Looks like you need a a copper elbow or two to make the bends.

4. A wire brush to scrub the tube surface clean before soldering. A piece of fine sandpaper works good too.

3. Solder.

4. Soldering flux. http://www.lowes.com/pd_98948-743-3...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

5. A pipe cutter: http://www.lowes.com/pd_330219-1687...uctId=3308326&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1

That outta do it.

Look for a video to see how to solder/sweat it. It's simple. Do it once and you'll have the hang of it. Just do your best to make sure the solder is 'sucked up' good and all around the pipe you're working on. You don't want to finish, find you have a leak and then go back through the process again (cut off water, drain, dry, clean etc.)

Good luck.

Fern

 

[Greenman]

It looks like there is a bond wire on the pipe that enters the block wall. If it is a bond wire, you'll need to add a jumper of the same size to bridge the gap created by the pex, or replace the pex with copper. If you replace the pex with copper, don't use acid core solder. Get solid wire solder that's lead free, and get yourself a can of LA-CO flux, it's the best there is. Pick up a cheap torch and you're good to go. Note that you won't be able to solder the pipe if there is any water at all dripping through it.

To hang the pipe get copper coated plumbers strap, you can get it at the home depot.

50 psi is on the high side for indoor water pressure, we generally set the regulators at 32psi.

 

[dud]

The gauge on my filtration system reads 67 PSI and the water pressure is fine. 50 is lower than 67 so yes, your pressure is low.

 

[weadjust]

It doesn't look inaccessible. He took a picture of it.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDxx_od_LL0
Get yourself a gauge that will fit a hose bib, (8 bucks at the big box) to confirm actual pressure. Fact is, 50psi is adequate. Try not to confuse pressure with volume.
With all the work you have done, I'm thinking perhaps debris is clogging some (all) of your aperture screens. Have even seen this happen with city crews working down the street.
Had to clean them all out, including the toilets. I'm not fond of it, but PEX is ok, However, I would never have used it in the area your pic shows, I repeat NEVER! I can confirm that the line
going out is a hose bib,(or your neighbor has a really low water bill), if you live in cold country, I would have done a much better job of isolating it. Piping support straps now come it plastic.

 

[ManBearPig]

deleted

 

[phucheneh]

Yeah, there's a bit more to this that involves a 'you're not a plumber' argument, to which my response was essentially 'I'm also not a damned lazy retard.' Similar discussions have been had about electricians...

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm going to just fix it myself with soldered copper, and for the lulz, act like I did nothing when the asshole comes back, and see what he says. 'Boy, I can't believe we're having issues! It looks like you did such a good job!' :hmm:

I'll then whip him to death with the PEX and bury him under the house.

 

[ManBearPig]

deleted

 

[phucheneh]

Am I understanding these shark bite things properly? The o-rings are on the ouside of the pipes, right? Someone had mentioned them being a restriction...

I'm thinking the water pressure flow/delivery issue, as far as the whole house being low but the hose being good, is a function of this PEX repair coupled with the length of that 5/8" copper pipe.