Should this water meter be moved?

[klm917]

I am working through replacing old galvanized steel pipe in my basement. Most of the house is copper, but the previous owners left a few old runs of galvanized steel in place including right after the meter where it runs under the concrete foundation for a few feet. (There were other underground branch lines to elsewhere, but I've bypassed those already. so this is the last one)

My plan was to run copper along the yellow lines I drew below. My only concern is if somebody trips on it or kicks it and damages the pipes, and just making sure in general that I'm not putting undue tension or weight on the meter or main service line (which is soft copper I believe). Right now even though it's a trip hazard, it's very solidly in place due to the galvanized steel anchoring it to the ground.

For the pros of this forum, would you recommend cutting the main service line shorter and putting the meter closer to the wall before connecting to the vertical copper pipe, or do you think the way I am proposing below, with the yellow lines, is perfectly fine?

I have been doing most of this work myself but I would hire a pro to do this if it's worth it. I wouldn't touch anything before the meter.

Thank you!

 

[Jeff H Young]

Unistrut or another form of support. the meter itself even a block is a help ,big help

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Breplum]

Definitely: Unistrut and then ideally, vibraclamp or equal. That is a bomb-proof way any plumber would approve.

Moving meter; reserving judgement. Leave it up to your plumber's opinion

 

[Jeff H Young]

On big jobs we use an oversize standard clamp with a 1 1/16inch thick plastic around it works good but not as good as cush clamps way cheaper just not as good at noise reduction . kind of like the insert that hook on hooks for copper have.

 

[klm917]

Thanks for the insight everyone, I think the decision is to go with a pro on this one given the complexity and the risk.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Thanks for the insight everyone, I think the decision is to go with a pro on this one given the complexity and the risk.

I dont think its complex at all . If you can solder . or even shark bites which I dont recomend but how hard is 2 90s ? Id like to replace both valves possibly just because they are old I think, but if they work you dont have to change them.
To answer your first question about moving the meter itself a slight preferance to leave it be but Id fear not and move it. just might require water co. shutting down the water at street

 

[klm917]

Thanks for the encouragement. I’m getting pretty good at soldering so the piping itself doesn’t worry me, I’m more worried about supporting it properly and putting tension on the main and also that it would be a trip/kick hazard. And, an inspector is going to have to look at this (I need to put on a pressure reducing valve as part of a water heater replacement).

a contractor buddy of mine was saying that an inspector is not going to like pipes running along the floor and recommended the meter be moved up closer against the wall which does seem like a more elegant solution. I’ve talked To the city, they can shut of the water at the street no problem but I’m not sure I want to touch anything before the meter, might be my limit just because a mistake could cause very big problems and also if any of my work has a small leak after the city turns it back on, it’s a big project to call back the city take it all apart again and redo it. (And I would need to take off work to do it on the city's schedule and if there are any problems potentially needing to take more time off work to fix them). So it may be time to call in the pros for this one - plenty of other stuff I can work on!

 

[Jeff H Young]

I dont know your area , we almost never have water meters in side houses about 99 percent are at the street so its a differant world. But why is an inspector going to be nosing around in a very old house whinning about your water meter location? And gosh who cares if he likes it would he make you move it ? If its really an issue with you now that I can understand you want everything to look perfect down there that ok too its in a high traffic area .
The Main thing Id kind of like to see you have is a new valve at the meter. I think its has a gal 90 on that side too maybe?
the valve and any old galvie I want gone only thing is like to save you some serious coin getting it done yourself. if the valve is still good and you got brass over there Id leave it there but concider that new valve on your side of meter

 

[klm917]

Yeah, it's all copper and brass before the meter (galvanized doesn't start til after, i used the magnet test) but that old gate valve doesn't turn off fully so I would like to replace it. My plan when I was thinking I'd DIY it was to just add a new valve after the meter like you said but if I hire it out I can just have the whole thing done correctly, new valves on both sides, and last for the long haul (also opening up some floor space in this storage room when the meter is moved). We just moved into the house and plan to be here for a long time so I don't mind investing a little bit of $ when it's appropriate.

why is an inspector going to be nosing around in a very old house whinning about your water meter location?

Well, I figure I'd have to show him the PRV installation (required by code because I have over 80 psi) which would be over there. And since it'd be newly performed work he could then say it was done wrong and make me change it? - I don't really know what to expect from the inspection though and whether that fits within the scope of the permit or not

 

[Jeff H Young]

If you know somebody in your jurisdiction that had a problem under identicle circumstances and he had to move the meter and add a prv then I guess do it that way . better check with city in that case and find out what valve is acceptable they might spec out a certain valve

 

[Jeff H Young]

Let us know how it turns out the project and your interaction with inspector throw a few pictures in as well I like to see finish product

 

[klm917]

I will do that. Hopefully will have a plumber in here soon to take a look so I’ll let you know what he says too.

 

[klm917]

Let us know how it turns out the project and your interaction with inspector throw a few pictures in as well I like to see finish product

Had a pro in to finish this project, see picture as requested - I would have never thought to set things up this way so that's why the plumber's expertise was definitely worth it to me.

EDIT: alright, nevermind, having a hard time uploading the photo. I'll try again later.

 

[Fitter30]

It's a remote read meter corner of the basement. Don't have plans to finish that corner. Built a lift off box over it to take away the trip hazard mark it water meter.

 

[klm917]

What the plumbers ended up doing was going straight up from where the main service ends, about a foot, putting in the new main shutoff vertically, then another 90 and back towards the wall. The meter sits on that run. Then a 90 to the left and a long horizontal run to connect with the vertical pipe (with a new clamp securing it to the wall). Pressure reducing valve is on that longer run. Everything's tucked back by the shelf or up against the wall.

 

[Jeff H Young]

thats ok would have liked to seen the PIC. but you are satifsfied but there was that whole deal about inspectors so you like it thats good but what about inspector? you installed an expansion tank as well. I just didnt know why he would care

 

[klm917]

Found a way to share a picture. https://imgpile.com/i/CNYWiX It's wet in the picture because I took that right after the install was finished but it's all dry and functioning great now.

I just had the inspector in here and he passed the water heater, and did not even look at the meter/PRV, as you suspected.

Anyways, thank you all for your help on this project, both on this thread and on a few others. Much appreciated!!

 

[Jeff H Young]

that works good could use a little support though. Glad you passed inspection the entire thread was confusing as to why an inspector would be at house . I guess he was there on unrelated buisness a water heater installation maybe but all good

 

[klm917]

that works good could use a little support though. Glad you passed inspection the entire thread was confusing as to why an inspector would be at house . I guess he was there on unrelated buisness a water heater installation maybe but all good

Yeah, the whole project grew beyond original scope. It was a water heater installation, but when they issued the permit they told me to test the pressure and install PRV/expansion tank if required. Sure enough my pressure was 90 psi, so I set out to install a PRV.

My meter was directly connected to old galvanized pipe that actually ran underground then came up in a few spots in the basement before transitioning to copper, so it was going to be much more difficult than usual to get a PRV on there. I ended up abandoning/bypassing the underground galvanized pipe with some new copper runs hanging from the ceiling.

Then on the last part I grew concerned that the inspector would check the PRV and my work near the meter might end up looking shoddy (and raising alarm bells with inspector) or not properly supported so that’s why I hired the pro. I still saved thousands of dollars on the whole project, got rid of all the galvanized, and have some working ball valves on my main, so I’m happy with it how it all turned out.

We had wanted to eventually get rid of the galvanized anyways, but what I thought was a simple water heater replacement ended up instigating it much sooner. Old houses!