$11,000 Water Bill

[stuckmotor]

You might need an attorney for this

 

[justinramani]

Yeah -I'm sure we will, but I need a plan to get it fixed regardless. I'm not going to sit around and wait for another $11,000 water bill.

 

[turnkey4099]

I've never heard of PEX being that large. I've only seen it used for indoor water/heating systems (my home) replacing copper. You'd have to check to see if that size is available and suitable for in ground installation.

Dunno if it's ok but a plumber patched a leak in my pvc line with it, buried 3' deep. It was an awkward double 45pvc to get the line up to the level of the house input. Dirt settling broke the pvc.

 

[Redlands Okie]

I understand the urgency of getting it fixed.

However, from what the OP has posted this is a builder responsibility issue with little doubt. The builder hired the plumber and the builder has provided a warranty. Case closed.

Since the builder does not seem to want to replace the pipe then you need to get this into court right now. It's much easier to handle all of this legal stuff if its started while the work is still under warranty. And keep in mind once its fixed you still need a warranty for the replacement work. It seems it been repaired several times already.

Why are you waiting till the warranty is over? Your out of the area and your wife has her hands full. You and the wife seem to have access to on base legal resource. Get them moving on this problem. Your $11,000 dollar water bill is possibly just the start of your water expenses. If its leaked before it will be likely to leak again.

Any repairs you do or have done could easily void the warranty I suspect. So be sure to stress the repair work was done so as to keep the home habitable and legal to live in for your wife and kids. Running water being required in many areas to be allowed to legally occupy a home.

There are probably several ways to CORRECTLY run water to the house. PVC or Poly pipe. You just need to be sure its done right this time and has a warranty.

It may be a pain and not convenient but can the water meter be turned off and on each day when you all are not at home ?

 

[Deere Dude]

I know this is going to probably sound crazy, but what are the chances that a plumber can run 1.5 inch 200 psi roll pipe through the existing 2 inch line??? He would need to remove any sections of the pvc had have been repaired, but as long as the od of the 1.5 hdpe is less than the ID of the pvc it should work in theory..... any thoughts?

If you do anything on your own the plumber will gladly just bow out. I am a fan of 180# black poly and was thinking about your situation and the fix you suggested. You won't get a roll of poly 1300 feet long and the 3 or 4 connections would not slide through a 2" pipe.

It really is up to the builder to fix it right and sadly he may just fix the spot and call it a day, hoping that is all the leaks. Then another month later the warranty is off and you would be screwed big time.

I ran black poly to 3 different houses and to barns with distances up to a couple hundred feet and in dirt rock crap soil. No problems in 30 years. In fact the only problem I had with any plumbing is in my current house with CPVC cracking inside the crawl space.

If you are below the frost line and sandy soil I would not hesitate to use black poly. I would use a smaller pipe, maybe 1-1/4" and crank the incoming pressure up to 100# approx. and put another regulator at the house end and set to 50# or so. Saves on pipe material and a lot fewer joints, maybe 3 or 4 total. You need 4 full stainless steel clamps on each joint.

 

[kenmac]

My bet is , you won't get it inserted very far. If you are the type that has good luck, it will insert all the way. I'm never that lucky

 

[dragoneggs]

My bet is , you won't get it inserted very far. If you are the type that has good luck, it will insert all the way. I'm never that lucky

I say no way... too much friction over that distance. Maybe if you can get a string through via vacuum... then a stronger wire back the other way secure to pipe after smoothing the sharp edge on the poly. If there are any inside seams it will surely hang. Just my :2cents:

 

[Creamer]

For me Black Poly is the only thing - with brass fittings. I just replaced my 1200' run that was put in in 1973. The pipe was fine but the nylon fittings were cracking. We went with black poly with brass fittings. that is all they use around here.

Where I grew up in SD we ran water 1.5 miles in black poly pipe 6' deep Dad put it in in the mid 60's and it has never been touched and it has not had a problem. The rural water system they put in about 15 years ago out there was all done with black poly pipe knifed in.

 

[Oldoak]

For me Black Poly is the only thing - with brass fittings. I just replaced my 1200' run that was put in in 1973. The pipe was fine but the nylon fittings were cracking. We went with black poly with brass fittings. that is all they use around here.

Where I grew up in SD we ran water 1.5 miles in black poly pipe 6' deep Dad put it in in the mid 60's and it has never been touched and it has not had a problem. The rural water system they put in about 15 years ago out there was all done with black poly pipe knifed in.

:thumbsup: 100%

 

[check]

If you do anything on your own the plumber will gladly just bow out. I am a fan of 180# black poly and was thinking about your situation and the fix you suggested. You won't get a roll of poly 1300 feet long and the 3 or 4 connections would not slide through a 2" pipe. It really is up to the builder to fix it right and sadly he may just fix the spot and call it a day, hoping that is all the leaks. Then another month later the warranty is off and you would be screwed big time. I ran black poly to 3 different houses and to barns with distances up to a couple hundred feet and in dirt rock crap soil. No problems in 30 years. In fact the only problem I had with any plumbing is in my current house with CPVC cracking inside the crawl space. If you are below the frost line and sandy soil I would not hesitate to use black poly. I would use a smaller pipe, maybe 1-1/4" and crank the incoming pressure up to 100# approx. and put another regulator at the house end and set to 50# or so. Saves on pipe material and a lot fewer joints, maybe 3 or 4 total. You need 4 full stainless steel clamps on each joint.

But what about when the stainless steel clamps finally do rest? Down there however many feet, how can you protect them from the elements?