galv pipe under concrete

[Red55]

I saw a system once where they used an epoxy (two -part) and a bladder to repair a sewer line. Kinda like the system they use to reline chimneys. It was not DIY project, and the cost was almost the same as ripout and replace- which didn't make any sense to me. Oh and the sewer line they were repairing was the old clay sewer pipe not gav piping which clogs. -Ed

 

[heehaw]

years ago, i had to replace the natural gas line to my house: luckily, the metal line was big enough, i just cut off both ends and ran the new orange plastic line inside of the old leaky metal line. i doubt i'll be able to do that with the galv water pipes..
a lot of folks like pex, but i figure i'll replumb the house with cpvc: the fittings are cheaper and i've never had a failure with cpvc, after over 20 years ago when i used it for the first timeon my folks house
heehaw

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The advantage of Pex is that it is fast. Even faster then CPVC. You can run it anyway you want without having to measure. You also do not have any fittings other then what you need to tie into whatever appliance the water is going to.

I spent half of a day tunneling a hole big enough for me to work across to the other side of the room. Once I got there it took10 minutes to run both lines and anchor them to the joist (there was only 6" between the joist and the ground). Any other material and I would have been there considerably longer.

 

[heehaw]

i measured pex today: the 1/2 inch will go into 3/4inch galv pipe with room to spare, and the 3/8inch pex will go into 1/2inch galv: so thats probably how i will get the new lines into the area on concrete...that area has the washer, a toilet and a shower: 1/2inch pex and probably the 3/8's would supply plenty of water as long as we don't try to use them all at the same time.
heehaw

 

[CurlyDave]

i measured pex today: the 1/2 inch will go into 3/4inch galv pipe with room to spare, and the 3/8inch pex will go into 1/2inch galv: so thats probably how i will get the new lines into the area on concrete...that area has the washer, a toilet and a shower: 1/2inch pex and probably the 3/8's would supply plenty of water as long as we don't try to use them all at the same time.
heehaw

I would worry a lot about routing pex through old galvanized pipe.

The problem I see is that the pex will move and flex every time the water is turned on or off. The inside of the galvanized pipe is going to have lot of sharp jagged points and edges from corrosion and mineral deposits. In time one of these will wear a hole in the pex.

For the toilet, washer and shower the water supply really comes out of the wall inches to feet above the floor.

Be creative -- re-route the pex around the utility room in the crawl space and penetrate the walls where you need the water supply.

It is frequently far easier and less expensive to abandon an old installation, leaving it in place, and do a totally new install.

 

[heehaw]

i just need to go a fairly short distance under the concrete: then the rest will be done around the baseboards of the utility room: i figure i'll get a drill bit that i can put extensions on and run it thru the galv pipe, before putting the pex in: wouldn't have to do but about 6-10 ft: not sure of the exact distance, but it looks like it should be fairly easy to do.
heehaw

 

[heehaw]

continuing saga of galv pipe: we don't close on this house we are buying for a while: last week they had a water leak right at the foundation: an ended up having to replace all the galv pipe from the house to the meter: it "appears" the plumber used copper, which kinda surprised me, its only 60-70ft but i would have put in 1inch pvc: he also appears to have put in an electric line for some reason?? at least one goes into the hole under the house where the copper pipe comes up.. the copper may switch to pvc after it gets out from under the house, i couldn't tell and haven't been able to find out what plumber they used so far..anyway, that saved me some work.
heehaw

 

[EddieWalker]

In some places, copper is code, and the only thing allowed. It could be that, or it could be that the plumber is old school and only uses copper. Some are like that and refuse to use anything else.

Either way, congrats on your good fortune.

Eddie

 

[heehaw]

i got a price from one backhoe owner of $1.70 per foot for 1 inch sch 40 pvc, installed: which i thought was a pretty good price..whoever ended up doing the job put in a new pressure regulator and ball valve shut off: i would have put the pressure reg under the house, so i could run the lines with full pressure to the outside faucets, but it ain't worth redoing, for now anyway, or later turn the pressure up on that one and install a second one under the house?? a friends daughter had all of the copper plumbing stolen from her house in St. Louis, and they have a copper only ordinance...so its gonna cost them $2k to have it redone.
heehaw

 

[kenmac]

I bid a job today to replace all the copper water lines & the a/c system for a guy that has a vacant house & some thief stold all the copper & the a/c unit & coil. What gets me about this stuff is, people live all around these houses & no one ever sees anyone or anything