Water line in front yard - need a plumber - NV

Water started spurting out of our standpipe on Friday. The District of NV came by to look at it today and sure enough, the leak is on our side of the shut-off valve.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of thing before? I'm guessing I need to call a plumber to replace the source line which means digging up my front yard to trace the line. Any recommendations on a plumber? What do I need to do vs. the plumber?

Thanks,

Gord

Milani is good.

and expensive

Their "trenchless" installation looks interesting.

yeah, I don't see this as being "cheap"

Imo your decision will be based on time vs cost. If you have the time to dig up the old pipe yourself which will be the bulk of the work then you may only need a plumber to actually do the connection. You can do it yourself tho as it will just be a compression fitting at the street side and at your pressure regulator inside the house. Finding the line should be easy, as it should basically be a straight line from the shut off to the house. As you already know where the shut off is just dig back from there. You could just replace the broken section of pipe, but it’s probably worth doing the whole thing. It ultimately depends on the condition of the pipe and where/why it broke.

Posted by: Taz123

Their "trenchless" installation looks interesting.

yeah, I don't see this as being "cheap"

I know a guy who marketed the pipe genie, apparently it was invented localy in Vancover , if you you got a bunch of stuff in the way like gardens/shrubs/retaining walls ect it can save  some work for sure,

Its my understanding it costs the same as a contractor digging it all up

Posted by: syncro

Imo your decision will be based on time vs cost. If you have the time to dig up the old pipe yourself which will be the bulk of the work then you may only need a plumber to actually do the connection. You can do it yourself tho as it will just be a compression fitting at the street side and at your pressure regulator inside the house. Finding the line should be easy, as it should basically be a straight line from the shut off to the house. As you already know where the shut off is just dig back from there. You could just replace the broken section of pipe, but it’s probably worth doing the whole thing. It ultimately depends on the condition of the pipe and where/why it broke.

Thanks, the issue is that the routing is not just straight and likely goes under a giant tree/rhododendron before taking a turn and heading into the house.

The District folks said that they could tell that the sound was getting louder, which indicates that there is likely a crack...which makes me nervous to go digging around with a spade given the 1970s vintage of this line.

sound like a job for Pipe Genie OR I wonder if you could just route an alternate line ?

it shouldn’t be an issue to reroute the line like XXX_er say but you do need to be aware of where any other services are located. I wouldn’t worry too much about the cracked line, you’ll have to shut off the water at some point anyway. If you do it yourself plan the new line and dig that trench first to leave the old line in place till you’re ready to switch it over.  

I’m working up in Berkley over the next few days, if you’re close I can come by for a look and give you some free advice. I’m too busy to offer any help with actually doing the work tho. 

Get a couple of quotes from say Milani, North Shore Plumbing and Daryl Evans Mechanical (mtb’er I think) as a place to start to see if it’s worth trying to save any money by doing some of it yourself.

As syncro said, you don't need to "replace" the line.  You can pick any route you want, as long as it is within your property lines and doesn't conflict with other underground services.  Trench the new route, lay in the new line, then cut the old line and leave it in place.  My neighbour did exactly that when I was living in Kits about 10 years ago.

And trenchless is costly, but very effective if you have a lot of things that can't be moved, and if you're allergic to hand-bombing your own trench, then could be worth it.

In any case, make sure your routing is well away from any big trees - the root systems will eventually cause problems.

Don't forget to shut off the city supply valve before cutting!!!

Posted by: syncro

it shouldn’t be an issue to reroute the line like XXX_er say but you do need to be aware of where any other services are located. I wouldn’t worry too much about the cracked line, you’ll have to shut off the water at some point anyway. If you do it yourself plan the new line and dig that trench first to leave the old line in place till you’re ready to switch it over.  

I’m working up in Berkley over the next few days, if you’re close I can come by for a look and give you some free advice. I’m too busy to offer any help with actually doing the work tho. 

Get a couple of quotes from say Milani, North Shore Plumbing and Daryl Evans Mechanical (mtb’er I think) as a place to start to see if it’s worth trying to save any money by doing some of it yourself.

Sent you a PM -thanks.

I'm not allergic to the work, just don't necessarily have the time at the moment. Thanks everyone for the comments!! I appreciate this community!

How did it turn out Taz?

I've got a quote from Milani ($$$, but they would be quite quick) and I have another coming from Waterline. Many other places on the shore don't do outside plumbing, so that was a bit of a surprise. Neither are concerned with it failing suddenly, nor concerned with undermining - so the rush isn't as bad as I thought.  New information - Trenchless works maybe 50/50 for metal lines as they tend to not be strong enough to handle the "pull" - if the line was PEX or Poly, then it is usually the way to go.  In our case, 1970s vintage means we are trenchin.

More to come.