Plumbing problems are baaaaaack

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NurseDoe

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Hello Again.
When last I saw you the nightmare of plumbing problems for our main water line had finally been resolved. Since that time, 2-4 more leaks developed in that mysterious black pipe that led to digging up the area and patching with some VERY expensive clamps made for that purpose. Now ANOTHER leak. Seriously. The guys dug it up again and I want to replace about 2-3 feet of the evil pipe that runs under the patio right before the regulator (?) to the house. I want to get copper because I hear that tree roots don't love it as much. I just want to know if there will be any problem joining the copper pipe to the evil black poly pipe. I can't afford to replace the whole run. I just want to replace the area from the house and 10 feet or so out from the patio so I don't have to keep digging it up .
 

Terry

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It's doable. You can use an insert barbed fitting, or a Ford Fitting.
With black poly, once it starts to crack, it's hard to tell if what you leave in the ground will last or not.
Sometimes you get lucky with a repair.
 

Craigpump

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If you bite the bullet and replace it all, you won't have to spend more money fixing it....

If your soil is acidic, poly is a better choice
 

NurseDoe

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image.jpg
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If you bite the bullet and replace it all, you won't have to spend more money fixing it....

If your soil is acidic, poly is a better choice
If you bite the bullet and replace it all, you won't have to spend more money fixing it....

If your soil is acidic, poly is a better choice

Thanks Terry. As you know we have dug up that area countless times. At this point it is more patches than pipe. I am ready to go to home Depot and get some copper and will ask for the fitting. I did learn to solder the copper in the bathroom, but hoping not to have to do that again. Trying to find pipe big enough and long enough that I don't have to piece it together.
Thanks,
Doe
 

NurseDoe

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I would LOVE to replace it all. We had actually dug a trench last year hoping to do that. But water company said it was good. It would be about 350 feet or so of pipe, which is not in the budget after having to replace the hotwater heater and gas furnace this year. Let's hope we find something to work for a couple of years so I can replace the whole run
Thanks
 

hj

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IF that picture shows your pipe, then it is blue and it is polyBUTYLENE, which completely different from black poly. If it is PB, the you have a long haul ahead of you because once it starts leaking it will never stop until it is replaced. If you had called about 10 years ago the company would have replaced it for free, which is why I always told anyone who had it, (inside or outside the building), to call and tell them it was leaking, until the program was phased out.
 

FullySprinklered

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When I look at your pictures, I'm seeing dirt. I don't know what's going where or what the problem is or nothing.
Now, cheap is my middle name. If you want to fix this thing and get yourself some functionality while you budget for the big one, here's what to do. Get some pex pipe and some sharkbite fittings and cut out the bad areas and push-fit everything together. The 1"x 3/4" will get you from the poly to the pex, and from there to wherever. If it leaks, dig it up and do it over. Cheaply.
Never seen a PRV buried in the dirt before.
 
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Dj2

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"Never seen a PRV buried in the dirt before."

I was thinking the same way, a PRV should not be buried in dirt.

To the poster: You are facing a re-pipe job. The sooner you do it, the sooner you will have some peace of mind. Get a home improvement loan, if you have to, and just do it.
 

Reach4

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IF that picture shows your pipe, then it is blue and it is polyBUTYLENE, which completely different from black poly.
Why do you think it is not blue poly?

Do you think that the blue in this picture passing through galvanized is polybutylene and not polyethylene? :oops:
huge_well2a.png
 
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NurseDoe

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The first picture is where the black pipe is leaking probably. I am not sure what kind of pipe it is. When the water company has come out in the past and saved us, they said that they have NO idea why that pipe is on private property. It is the pipe that they use. This seems to be why we have such a hard time finding parts needed to fix leaks when the kids have accidentally broken it with a shovel. The second picture is where the pressure regulator is and I only took it because I was SO mad that someone had filled in it with dirt right after I bought a nice new protective box for it. I can't actually show you in a picture where the pipe is going, but will try tomorrow. I think I posted pictures here last time this happened. It is hundreds of feet to the main. I am hoping just to replace 20-50 feet of pipe where it keep breaking. The guys are planning to dig up a good section to try to find the leak. I just want something that is NOT whatever is there. I am thinking copper just will have much fewer problems than that black stuff. I will take some pics of the pipe tomorrow. It is weird stuff. Thank all of you for suggestions. Sadly, home loan is not happening right now.
 

Craigpump

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Reach, there is blue polyethylene and blue polybutylene, the shades of blue are different. What's in your pic is blue polyethylene, same as black poly but with a dye in it.

Nursedoe, we understand your dilemma, but from an honest contractor standpoint, you will spend more $$$ on patchwork repairs in the long run.
 

Tom Sawyer

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Replace all of it. You can't have soldered joints underground. They have to be brazed.
 
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Reach4

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Reach, there is blue polyethylene and blue polybutylene, the shades of blue are different. What's in your pic is blue polyethylene, same as black poly but with a dye in it.
Wooo hoooo! Thanks.
 

hj

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quote; You can't have soldered joints underground.

You can't have soldered joints INSIDE A BUILDING UNDER THE CONCRETE FLOOR, but you can have them outside underground.
 

hj

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quote; Why do you think it is not blue poly?

Because I have seen a lot of blue PB, but no blue PE outside. When was it installed? Cracked pipes were a characteristic of PB. In one case a repair was made to a split line in the morning and by evening it had split in another spot 2' from the first one, which looks similar to what you have with two clamps near each other. You would have to dig up a larger section of pipe to locate the identification information on it.
 

Absaroka Joe

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Blue HDPE (Pure-Core, Endo-Pure, etc) is surely the most common water service in my region for quite some time.
 
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