Ordinarily WE do it…but when the pipe in question is the house water supply, connected to the city water supply, in our basement—we call the guys with the really big pipe wrenches and the knowledge.
300.00 later we have a new 5 dollar part installed: a ‘bleeder valve’ on our house water line, just before the water meter, had been leaking for a while, but the leak accelerated to create a daily small puddle. This is karma’s advisement that you really need to think about this leak.
It could be worse. The pipe that’s embedded in the cement basement floor is sound. This is always good to know. And the city has probably bestowed a new water meter on us.
One item on the ‘before winter’ agenda taken care of.
my plumbing is limited to what I can actually see and to what I can access. So, the drains under the sinks, perhaps under the bathtub, and replacing wax rings under toilets. When it comes to major stuff, especially that hooked up to the city water supply, it’s time for the pro.
Glad you got that leak fixed, but sorry it cost $300.
I think that’s about average for that type of work—here. I think it boils down to—how much risk do you want to undertake as a DIY?
In OKC every homeowner has a water key and can simply flip open the manhole and access it. Here, you have to call the city for on-off, because it’s 5 feet down and requires a special tool.
In our area, if it’s inside the house, you have plausible deniability up to the point where you put in a whole new water line. After that, you are supposed to get a licensed plumber to do the work for you; nevermind that I’ve done repairs where I looked at what the ‘professional’ installed before and said “How can they call that quality work?” We have a cutoff just past the water meter and can shut off the water in case of a major leak. After the fiasco last summer where an outside hose bib line catastrophically failed, I’ve been saving the shekels so we can have the licensed guys replace the main line to the house. It’s galvanized steel, 30+ years old, and if the previous failure is any indication, due for it.
“Only 5 billion years until The Milky Way gets gobbled up!”
“Oh, thank goodness, I thought you said 5 million years!”
Yeah, I know. It’s an old joke. Story here.
Off the wall; Is Brothers of Earth related to Hammerfall?
No. It’s kind of a stand-alone.
We can as homeowners do anything inside that’s within code…or not within code if a next buyer never challenges it. We’re pretty good—I will say, better than the actual licensed electrician whose installation blew because he crimped a wire under the cover plate and screwed into it. We fixed that. Actually he was there because we don’t mess with fuse boxes OR city water lines, but it was real frustrating to have to redo a licensed guy’s work. If it’s outside the house, and you’re hiring it done, or if somebody says something, you need a work permit. We got one for our new fence, which entailed presenting a diagram down at the courthouse and paying a fee, because it’s exterior and fronts on an arterial, where visibility can be an issue—understandable. Had we been diy’ing a fence section along an alley, replacing extant fence, likely there’d have been no fuss.
Ouch! But could have been worse (digging up basement) and probably would have been after winter freeze set in. But ouch.
When pipe begins to wear and go, I’ve known it to go to bits…so I was very very happy to know that the pipe that comes from from the cement is sound as can be. Just the valve section had gone wonky—never used so far as I know. But definitely the source of the problem.