Repair a leak in the Mains Water Line to your house
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- Опубліковано 2 лип 2024
- How to fix a poly mains water pipe yourself
Oh dear, are you just like me and dealing with a leaking water mains or town supply line? this can be a notoriously difficult and expensive job.
In this video I make a repair to our leaking water supply that doesn't cost much at all!
In this 9 minute video, I give you the steps we went through to stop the leaking of water (and money) down the drain.
00:00 We discovered a water leak that cost us thousands
00:46 Water gushing out through the gaps in the concrete
01:52 Cut concrete driveway to access water mains pipe
02:20 Don't patch your concrete like this
03:01 Digging down to find the water mains pipe
03:55 PE Poly pipe leaking under mains water pressure
04:14 What causes a water pipe to start leaking?
05:02 Pipe Cutters used to cut poly water pipe
06:03 Turn water mains off before working on plumbing
07:00 How to connect Poly pipe fittings
07:31 Bury PE Pipe in sand to avoid damage
07:55 How to tell if you have a leak in your water mains
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There are a couple of different tools and things I use throughout the video, I'll add them here, when clicked these links will take you directly to Amazon or an eBay site, InspireDIY is an Amazon associate/eBay Affiliate. Using these links does not impact the price in anyway for you, but InspireDIY may be able to earn from recommendations.
The gloves I use for most jobs amzn.to/3xc08B3
Nylon Safety Coating Work Gloves ebay.us/CpgvCq
US & Canada; amzn.to/3hr6F46
UK; amzn.to/3hlKImY
9" grinder (not the safest tool I own) fitted with a concrete cutting disk,
Craftright 3.5kg Sledge Hammer ($40 Bunnings),
Cyclone Hex Fencing Bar ($63 Mitre10),
Trojan Long Handle Spade ($23 Bunnings),
Garden hand trowel; amzn.to/2TBKK1I
Pipe Cutters (love these!): Australia; amzn.to/2TKKgXj
UK; amzn.to/3cRD6az US; amzn.to/35nBCRf
Philmac metric Poly pipe compression fittings ($10 Bunnings) or and alternative Poly pipe connector (Imperial) amzn.to/3mkOlOh
Philmac (metric) 'T' fitting ebay.us/H2l9xT
Philmac (metric) 90 degree 'elbow'; ebay.us/TU4YXZ
Philmac (metric) 'straight' coupling ebay.us/26KKwg
Paving sand (any hardware or landscaping store)
Hose spray nozzle: AU; amzn.to/2ScA9tS
UK; amzn.to/3gacN1d
US & Canada; amzn.to/3iFQJwS
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Kent Thomas/Inspire DIY disclaims any control over, relationship with, or endorsement of views expressed by any third party, including but not limited to, sponsored partners, featured guests in any episodes, or other UA-cam (or other social platform) users. Any unsponsored links to other websites are provided only as a convenience, and not an endorsement of those pages by Kent Thomas/Inspire DIY. Kent Thomas/Inspire DIY encourages you to read the privacy statements of any third-party websites.
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Nice work mate, and a great attitude to this problem. Most people would be throwing their hands in the air about this. Solid job
Hey Bart, thanks so much for the lovely comment mate, I’d rather not have had this issue.. but I did, and hopefully it helps someone else out after seeing me clutz my way through try he repair😉 cheers, Kent
Great video, very informative. I've learned how to connect the pipes. Thank you
Great stuff Miguel, and I’m glad it helped🤙 Kent
I enjoyed your video mate. I have a water mains leak within the house which is anywhere between the front door to the pipework under the stairs. The Waterboard has just confirmed this after digging up the drive. I am trying to gain a bit of knowledge before I tackle this job. Being a full-time carer means saving the pennies. Thank you for all the info mate.
Hey Braden, it’s horrible to discover a water leak hey! Best of luck with the repair.. let us know how you get on👍 Kent
Thank you very much for sharing your video. It’s very helpful, because I had a water pipe leaks under cement of my driveway.🙏
Well done Michael, glad it helped mate👍 Kent
Worked like a charm. Thankyou
Glad to hear mate👌that’s awesome. Kent
Obviously an Australian (great) lucky you, poly pipe, unfortunately for me, old steel pipe, but what a great episode, love the safety and the can do attitude.
Thanks for the great comment Camden! Cheers mate, 🤙 Kent
Excellent video! I’m having to investigate a leak now that was repaired 3 years ago by previous homeowners. Fortunately it’s source appears to be in the lawn. Nice touch with the cardboards when adding the sand. Smart. Take care from America!
Thanks Resonant, good luck with the repair.. a leak under the lawn is hopefully easier than this one under a concrete driveway 👍Kent
Mine is under my lawn as well! Haven’t found the leak quite yet, but there’s a patch of bright green grass so I think. I’ll start digging there lol. Once I locate it, I shut the city main line off, then the house line off and behind removing correct? Also, the current pipe is galvanized. What should I use to replace it with? And how do I cut the galvanized portion of the pipe that’s compromised? Or should I replace the entire thing?
Got this problem today, house is 30 years old, it’s in grass I think tree roots are the problem there’s some roots in the water main box. I’m going to say best to replace the whole line with new from meter to house. I hate to do it more than 1 time in 30+years.
USA doesn’t recommend galvanized anymore.
You should always use a pair of footprints to tighten your fittings up. You would be surprised how many leaks I've gone to and it's just a previous repair that wasn't tightened properly. Great job though.
That’s a great tip Shane, cheers buddy🤙 Kent
Nice job. Hoping my issue isn't this bad. Hopefully just a bad connection to the main. We'll see. Have to wait for the water company to come out first.
I hope so too for your sake Robert, let us know how you get on and best of luck mate, Kent
What the part name do u use for repair
Just paid a plumbing company $4,700 to fix one of these poly pipes but it was 6 feet down under the lawn in the front and they had to use a backhoe to dig up the ground. We live in a freeze zone in the northeast U.S.
Oh J, what a shame to have to spend so much, does it freeze that deep? Wow! Living in this temperate part of Australia I don’t think I’ve even seen a frost here😂, good on ya mate, Kent
Did you have to pay the whole water bill?
Hey mate great video thanks. I currently have water coming up in my driveway and am having trouble locating the pipes, any tips? I guess the sonar thing is the best tool for locating the exact leak location. Just one tip: it's farrrrrr better to do the repair then leave the hole open and do the water meter photo thing for at least one night, THEN backfill etc.. because if you find it's still leaking.. you've gotta dig it all back up again!
Good stuff Kaldora🤙 cheers, Kent
I have the same issue with my ef'n pool. Why the hell did anyone ever think using poly pipe underground was a good idea? At least I'm not having to cut a hole in my concrete to get to it. Ugh.
Yeah man, I’m hearing it’s a problem! What’s the alternative? Copper? Cast iron pipe that’s not flexible?💁🏻♂️ cheers, Kent
Either compact the dirt underneath really well then no matter what is needed metal is for structural cars trucks heavyweight if you do a good job that wasn't necessary I have my front walkway zero cracks and it has no reinforcements, I did put 5 in of gravel that also makes it strong and flexible like train tracks train tracks are on gravel no concrete
Great tip Mike, Cheers bud. Kent
What add sand? Would like to know since I just repaired a line too
Hey mate, sand is soft on the plumbing and keeps sharp rock edges away - no more wear and tear 🤞 Kent
Are you back filling with construction sand?? nice video
Hey American Pancake (great name👌) yeah I did kind of, I used coarse river sand as a base, and then the existing soil on top before concreting last. Any other suggestions? Cheers mate👍Kent
Think mine is under the driveway (paved and shared driveway). *sigh* Mine literally started just after the water corporation changed over the water meters
Hey mate, ours seemed to happen as a combo of wear and the council upping the pressure 🙄 best of luck with the repairs,
Kent
Please let me know the parts used to make the t-connection . I think collar and coupler
Hey Sus, there’s a link in the video description of some imperial or metric poly fittings (depending on where in the world you are??) I normally source them from a plumbing store here in town👍 best of luck, Kent
6:35 - GoPro on a stick with a brick.... with a split personality named Cam & Mike
Haha well done pyroman 👌
those black pipes ... will leak one place to the next . learning from my experience, replace them all.......
Good advice Jacky👌 we’ve had 2 leaks so far from split pipes🙄 what product do you suggest? Kent
@@InspireDIY I am from New Zealand. there were batch of those black pipes used back 15-20 years ago . "nearly all the houses built with those pipes would leak or leaked ....quoting from experienced plumber who came to my house 3 times in 2 years to fix internal water leaks due to those pipes.... so I ripped all them out ... plumber replaced all those black ones with grey color ones..
Fingers crossed no more leaks for you then Jacky🤞, we’ll done mate, Kent
I agree it’s worth repairing the whole line to avoid subset leaks. There are some white pipes that are an excellent German product. If I remember the name I will repost. Good job on the repair cheers from America.
If the leak is before the meter there is no usage cost to you.
Yeah true that, unfortunately for me it was in my property 🙄 (after the meter) cheers AxeGuy, Kent
Bad idea to put an elbow it creates pressure, your forcing water to make a sharp turn .. instead you should of used that crowbar to break the rock that was under the pipe
Cheers skull, good tip🤙 Kent
Rather go fishing , you were much better off without rio rods when breaking cement . Not looking forward to my leaky slab job , starting to prefer pavers . Cheers .
Oh I’m with you John 🤙 prefer fishing any day! Kent
Why don’t you use copper pipe it makes it easier.
Hey Volgren, the existing pipe needing repair is poly, so better the devil you know huh💁🏻♂️, I think all mains feed in Aust is poly …could be wrong. I would love to learn to use copper too, Cheers, Kent
@@InspireDIY if you use polyester or galvanised pipe it will leak in a long period of time. With galvanised it will rust. So copper will last longer for life.
Yes use copper if you not confident with copper soldering you can always use propress tool and get b press fittings or just use sharkbite but cover it up with something removable