I was given a Sense monitor for the power panel after my solar panels were installed and when researching it I saw the Flume system so grabbed that a couple of months later. Probably a year later I had a slow leak from one of my outside bibs and was told within an hour that I had a leak. Walked around and found it within a few minutes and issue solved (loose fitting). One of the best purchases for sure!
It’s great! My shed has been completed and it turned out nice looking and sturdy and it is way better than the sheds that many of my neighbors had put up. Of course, I'm pleased with the outcome and this Ryan’s th-cam.com/users/postUgkxGZedDTcDfgD7fG_uU4esfx_EgxzlY2_1 Plans was extremely useful to me as a guide.
Under UPC plumbing code the only joints for waterlines are brazed. No mechanical (threaded), push to connect, crimp, solder or expansion. It will work tho in a pinch. Also good information on PEX type A. There are also hand expanders which are cheaper. The plastic made for type A will constantly try to return to its original shape; meaning for the rest of the life of the fitting it will always be improving itself. In MN, our frost level is 8 feet down so I'm glad yours was only two!
King county and snohomish county are 30 inches below ground. UPC says 18 inches below frost line. King and Snohomish county frost line is 12 inches. Just asked my local inspector. You also could have just installed a 3/4 Fip pex adapter directly on the yoke of the meter. Also highly recommend buring the water service in a layer of sand to protect from rocks even with that insulation. Your original existing "blue pex" for the water service might have actually been blue polybutylene depending on which year your house was built. Polybutylene was used from mid 70s to 1995. Pex piping wasn't approved for water distribution until the mid 90s. Its very unlikely that your original "pex" only lasted "30 years" or whenever your house was built when pex pipe has a life expense of 70 plus years unless it was pre maturity penetrated by rocks. Also check your water pressure. You don't have a pressure reducing valve, a lot of homes in the Seattle are above 80 psi, which is the code limit.
Nice work. In the future, put the Teflon tape on and then the pipe dope. The tape needs to be tightly fastened to the threaded fitting, but it will slide around if pipe dope is between it and the threads. Pipe dope after makes for extra insurance. This video could save a lot of people a LOT of money!
Great idea to do it yourself. I'm a public school teacher but own an older house so I try to DIY too. I do a lot of my own plumbing. But my question to you is: How did you manage to live without water for 2 days? Do you have tips/tricks how you lived without water for 2 days while you did the project? I noticed that some plumbers will install a temporary line of water on top of the ground while they do the trenching and permanent pipe for the ground that takes a full day or two. Is that what you did?
It just needs to be readily accessible ie not buried or something and he couldn’t wedge it thru the same narrow hole the pex tubing went through, so he ran it on its own.
Great work! The only thing I would of done differently is adding a sleeve where the pex a goes through the concrete for added protection. I’m getting ready to do this to my house in Burien since my water main is still all galvanized and was wonder how deep it need to be.
Yep I was thinking about that Brandon but didn't have much room to work with unfortunately. Hoping that layer of silicone acts as a slight protective barrier. Thanks for watching.
I do not know the regulations i USA but in Denmark and probably most EU-nations a pipe going throu a foundation wall need a pipe sleave for two reasons... 1) to protect the water line ex. do to movements between earth and the wall -> will slowly shear the pipe 2) to protect the house from rain water entering the hole around the pipe. Thou you probably will not get problems with the latter do to the driveway below -> rain water will drain down to that driveway and not into the house (we hope)... I know for a fact - from personal experience - that both scenarios are very plausable.
Uponor, i.e. PEX-A , not to be confused with PEX-B (Home improvement store stuff). Both are PEX, they are not the same, although PEX-B fittings 'can' be used on PEX-A if for some reason you had to. PEX-A is a much better option in most cases.
I am losing 2500 gallons per month from what appears to be a galvanized pipe on this 101 year old house. The pipe through the wall is 25 inches below grade and 31 feet long under a low wall and sidewalk. Plus, there are tree roots. Is my only option to dig? I was hoping I could devise some crazy method of maybe fitting a narrower pipe through the old one or something even weirder.
Seems like underground leaks are expensive. I had one in the crawl space under an addition. I'm on a well, and the first indication was water coming thru the basement wall into the original house. My best bid was $10,000 and the next best was $20,000. I decided I could dig a lot under my crawlspace for $10,000. I found where the polyethylene pipe had been badly scratched in several places during excavation for the addition (before I bought the house) and one of those scrapes had split several inches. A few dollars at home depot and done.
The foam will make it more challenging to find a leak should you have one at a later date. If a root can break a copper pipe then it sure can break a piece of foam.
At least I know now how much it costs for a plumber to do this. I think that I've gotten lucky using an aqua pea. I have a digital water meter. I monitor it daily to make sure the meter is still sitting still when I'm not using water. After a month, I think everything should be good.
Very interesting video. I live in the desert southwest and just had my main water line replaced. It cost me just under $5,000 but, like you said, it's part of being a homeowner. I really like the last segment about the FLUME. I'm going to look into that for sure. Thank you sharing this video!
Thank you for a good video. I checked the code for Skagit County, and 12" is in the code unless the frost line is lower. Our HOA Maintenance Manager said he recommends 18". I replaced a line 23 years ago with PVC, but I thought Pex might be a better way to go. A great idea about the tracer wire. You are the first place I saw that mentioned.
First video I've watched of yours and just wanted to say I love the way you work! Also, you should sleeve any plumbing penetrating concrete. The micro oscillations from running water will wear down pipe over time against concrete.
I actually searched that subject as I need to replace all of my pipes (they are original to the house when plumbing first became available). Any tutorial video suggestions ?
Pex yes pex no more soldering sweat joints or expensive copper pipe. Pex now had pex pipe that can be buried in the ground good stuff. I saw that toy on a another channel almost two years ago it’s amazing.
Yes a guy used this same stuff i cut tree and they wanted me to back fill it we did so by hand but there weee rocks ..all over ..they say its briken.why would anyine use that soft line
@@BYOTools Idaho. I looked it up to double check, the city says at least 5-6 feet buried to make sure it's below frost line. And it definitely is, based on where it comes through the wall in the basement.
Is it really " Bad Practice" to address a leaking water line with a compression fitting? There is no way the city I live in will allow a non professional to install a water line. How do you get a permit?
at 8:14 you used the open r gun tool, and thats right where i found my leak, prob from it making plastic weak, so we used old style cup links to fix it, and water company also said it was illegal to turn my water meter off 😂😂😂, he said i disnt hear that, and that i was ro call them and not turn meter off myself. new one on me, but it is agianst the law here to turn off your self. but git it fixed do to a craked line where someone had used that tool before .
If you weren’t going to remove the galvanized pipe completely from inside the wall and patch with hydraulic cement, you should have left the threaded end on and installed a cap. By cutting flush, you give water a way to seep in.
No in fact in my house it's the opposite: it drops twelve inches per three feet of run in order to duck under the sidewalk and enter the house in the daylight basement.
You didn't need to bring the copper tracer wire INTO the house. They only need to trace UP TO the house, after that it's obvious where the water line is as seen from INSIDE the house. You should have placed a WATER LINE TAPE above the water line to help anyone who digs in the future.
how do you identify a buried pipe that is not your main? I have well water and I am positive its not on the main well line, but there is a wet field appearing in my backyard
High water bill and he says in video the water meter is spinning !!! It only spins when water is running Aka if it’s turned off in the house ( like he said it was) than there’s a leak outside !!!!
My water bill was 150 bucks for 1 month. I am 1 person. I turned the water off in the house, the meter read zero. Looks like the leak is from my house to the meter. What a wonderful headache. Home ownership effing sucks.
Wow! I am surprised your City allowed you to do that type of work. I believe where I live only licensed master plumbers are permitted to evacuate ground and repair broken supply and sewer lines that leave your meter and go out toward the street. Strangely ,the homeowner is responsible for the cost of the repair up to the curb line. Anything after the curb line the City Water Dept is responsible.
It’s his responsibility but most every state has restrictions on master plumbers doing the work!!! Whether the h/o wants to do the work themselves or not, if the city in fact does have a requirement for a license and they found out he could be liable to pay a hefty fine if they found out ! He could be in the clear though depending on his states/towns code requirements!!
I work for a water supply system in Texas, I’m not sure about other states, but messing with your water meter at all is a federal offense. That being said you might ask you local water supply if it’s okay to install the reader to track your usage
I was given a Sense monitor for the power panel after my solar panels were installed and when researching it I saw the Flume system so grabbed that a couple of months later. Probably a year later I had a slow leak from one of my outside bibs and was told within an hour that I had a leak. Walked around and found it within a few minutes and issue solved (loose fitting). One of the best purchases for sure!
LOVE hearing that Stephen. Thanks so much for sharing and letting me and the BYOT Fam know.
It’s great! My shed has been completed and it turned out nice looking and sturdy and it is way better than the sheds that many of my neighbors had put up. Of course, I'm pleased with the outcome and this Ryan’s th-cam.com/users/postUgkxGZedDTcDfgD7fG_uU4esfx_EgxzlY2_1 Plans was extremely useful to me as a guide.
Beautiful job saved that money can go towards your child’s education beautiful
I’m in Sw Michigan, 42’ is frost protection, 5’ in
Driveways, and roadways, we have a high water table, wish we had your conditions.
Under UPC plumbing code the only joints for waterlines are brazed. No mechanical (threaded), push to connect, crimp, solder or expansion. It will work tho in a pinch.
Also good information on PEX type A. There are also hand expanders which are cheaper. The plastic made for type A will constantly try to return to its original shape; meaning for the rest of the life of the fitting it will always be improving itself.
In MN, our frost level is 8 feet down so I'm glad yours was only two!
I have not been able to confirm this statement as accurate, at least in 2024.
EIGHT feet! Even for your subarctic climate that's rich.
King county and snohomish county are 30 inches below ground. UPC says 18 inches below frost line. King and Snohomish county frost line is 12 inches. Just asked my local inspector. You also could have just installed a 3/4 Fip pex adapter directly on the yoke of the meter. Also highly recommend buring the water service in a layer of sand to protect from rocks even with that insulation. Your original existing "blue pex" for the water service might have actually been blue polybutylene depending on which year your house was built. Polybutylene was used from mid 70s to 1995. Pex piping wasn't approved for water distribution until the mid 90s. Its very unlikely that your original "pex" only lasted "30 years" or whenever your house was built when pex pipe has a life expense of 70 plus years unless it was pre maturity penetrated by rocks. Also check your water pressure. You don't have a pressure reducing valve, a lot of homes in the Seattle are above 80 psi, which is the code limit.
Nice work. In the future, put the Teflon tape on and then the pipe dope. The tape needs to be tightly fastened to the threaded fitting, but it will slide around if pipe dope is between it and the threads. Pipe dope after makes for extra insurance.
This video could save a lot of people a LOT of money!
Thanks so much for the tip and for watching. Truly appreciated and hope this helps people in the future for sure.
@@BYOTools your videos really do seem to come from a sincere place to help people out. Kudos.
It's hilarious how you are digging while your baby is pushing the dirt back in 🤣🤣🤣
but it was a "good talk" between Dad and daughter
Great idea to do it yourself. I'm a public school teacher but own an older house so I try to DIY too. I do a lot of my own plumbing. But my question to you is: How did you manage to live without water for 2 days? Do you have tips/tricks how you lived without water for 2 days while you did the project? I noticed that some plumbers will install a temporary line of water on top of the ground while they do the trenching and permanent pipe for the ground that takes a full day or two. Is that what you did?
I understand the copper wrap line for outside, but why did it need to go through the wall as well?
You run a pulsing electrical signal thru it and the sensor used picks it up to visualize where pipe is underground
The wire can also be used as a grounding wire, because most houses are grounded through the waterlines.
It just needs to be readily accessible ie not buried or something and he couldn’t wedge it thru the same narrow hole the pex tubing went through, so he ran it on its own.
Great work! The only thing I would of done differently is adding a sleeve where the pex a goes through the concrete for added protection. I’m getting ready to do this to my house in Burien since my water main is still all galvanized and was wonder how deep it need to be.
Yep I was thinking about that Brandon but didn't have much room to work with unfortunately. Hoping that layer of silicone acts as a slight protective barrier. Thanks for watching.
I do not know the regulations i USA but in Denmark and probably most EU-nations a pipe going throu a foundation wall need a pipe sleave for two reasons... 1) to protect the water line ex. do to movements between earth and the wall -> will slowly shear the pipe 2) to protect the house from rain water entering the hole around the pipe. Thou you probably will not get problems with the latter do to the driveway below -> rain water will drain down to that driveway and not into the house (we hope)... I know for a fact - from personal experience - that both scenarios are very plausable.
00⁰
@@BYOTools qqq
Uponor, i.e. PEX-A , not to be confused with PEX-B (Home improvement store stuff). Both are PEX, they are not the same, although PEX-B fittings 'can' be used on PEX-A if for some reason you had to. PEX-A is a much better option in most cases.
Excellent job. Run a 1.5 inch pvc pipe meter to house so if you ever get a leak or have an issue replacement is a 20 minute job
I'll definitely do that if I have to redo mine, since it's at least 5 ft deep under the frost line.
That is honestly golden advice!! Thank you for that.
Yes you are awesome excellent plumber
I don't understand what this comment means.
What?
I am losing 2500 gallons per month from what appears to be a galvanized pipe on this 101 year old house. The pipe through the wall is 25 inches below grade and 31 feet long under a low wall and sidewalk. Plus, there are tree roots. Is my only option to dig? I was hoping I could devise some crazy method of maybe fitting a narrower pipe through the old one or something even weirder.
Fudge!!! I think I am in the same boat!
Seems like underground leaks are expensive. I had one in the crawl space under an addition. I'm on a well, and the first indication was water coming thru the basement wall into the original house. My best bid was $10,000 and the next best was $20,000. I decided I could dig a lot under my crawlspace for $10,000. I found where the polyethylene pipe had been badly scratched in several places during excavation for the addition (before I bought the house) and one of those scrapes had split several inches. A few dollars at home depot and done.
Sorry to hear that you had to deal with that issue but great to hear that you where able to take it on yourself and save big $$$
Good work
Can you please list all the items needed including the tools?
The foam will make it more challenging to find a leak should you have one at a later date. If a root can break a copper pipe then it sure can break a piece of foam.
Why did you not reuse the existing hole through your foundation?
At least I know now how much it costs for a plumber to do this. I think that I've gotten lucky using an aqua pea. I have a digital water meter. I monitor it daily to make sure the meter is still sitting still when I'm not using water. After a month, I think everything should be good.
why not a copper to pex adapter on your shut off.
Very interesting video. I live in the desert southwest and just had my main water line replaced. It cost me just under $5,000 but, like you said, it's part of being a homeowner. I really like the last segment about the FLUME. I'm going to look into that for sure. Thank you sharing this video!
Does your jurisdiction allow a homeowner to connect directly to the curb stop/meter?
In King County everything after the meter is the responsibility of the homeowner.
Yeah I'm not gonna try to DIY this, frost line is 4ft here and mine is actually like 6 ft under lol
😂😂😂😂😂... I just Googled mine... no dice.
Four feet is about the limit of DIY.
Thank you for a good video. I checked the code for Skagit County, and 12" is in the code unless the frost line is lower. Our HOA Maintenance Manager said he recommends 18". I replaced a line 23 years ago with PVC, but I thought Pex might be a better way to go. A great idea about the tracer wire. You are the first place I saw that mentioned.
second that about the tracer wire: would never have thought of that
How many times can you expand an upaloopadoopadeedoo fitting? Unlimited?
Can't find an exact answer for you on that one but if I do I will let you know. Great questions and keep up the great work on your channel.
No mention about calling 811 for marking utility/electrical lines?
First video I've watched of yours and just wanted to say I love the way you work! Also, you should sleeve any plumbing penetrating concrete. The micro oscillations from running water will wear down pipe over time against concrete.
Build Your Own Trench
Re-piped my whole house with PEX every faucet is now PEX very easy to do. The last one to be done is the main one! just waiting for the day!
I actually searched that subject as I need to replace all of my pipes (they are original to the house when plumbing first became available). Any tutorial video suggestions ?
Pex yes pex no more soldering sweat joints or expensive copper pipe. Pex now had pex pipe that can be buried in the ground good stuff. I saw that toy on a another channel almost two years ago it’s amazing.
Makes life Soooooooo much easier haha. That tool is expensive but I might have to buy one because its so easy to work with.
4ft is code in NJ plus sleeve going through the foundation.
Yes a guy used this same stuff i cut tree and they wanted me to back fill it we did so by hand but there weee rocks ..all over ..they say its briken.why would anyine use that soft line
Is the copper pipe touching the galvanized one? Not good if touch it will rust and worse rust than normal steel pipe rust
2 feet deep? Dang, I wish lol. I live up north so mines at least 5 feet deep.
FIVE FEET!!!!! Wow! Where do you live, Alaska? LOL!
@@BYOTools Idaho. I looked it up to double check, the city says at least 5-6 feet buried to make sure it's below frost line. And it definitely is, based on where it comes through the wall in the basement.
why pex and why not copper all the way to the meter?
Copper is a PITA to work with and is $$expensive$$. PexA is like $50 per 100 feet roll whereas copper is about that much for several feet.
How much did it cost you to do out of interest?
Nice job sir. Thx for sharing. One thing I would concern is the tight space you drilled in the concrete wall to allow the Plex goes through.
You are raising your daughter right!
Is it really " Bad Practice" to address a leaking water line with a compression fitting? There is no way the city I live in will allow a non professional to install a water line. How do you get a permit?
How would they know? Will someone snitch in you?
at 8:14 you used the open r gun tool, and thats right where i found my leak, prob from it making plastic weak, so we used old style cup links to fix it, and water company also said it was illegal to turn my water meter off 😂😂😂, he said i disnt hear that, and that i was ro call them and not turn meter off myself. new one on me, but it is agianst the law here to turn off your self. but git it fixed do to a craked line where someone had used that tool before .
Can you repair the pipe leaking under my manufacture home, please
If you weren’t going to remove the galvanized pipe completely from inside the wall and patch with hydraulic cement, you should have left the threaded end on and installed a cap. By cutting flush, you give water a way to seep in.
A huge savings! I’m sure you’re glad that you didn’t have hard rocky soil to dig through.
Does the water line need to slope down to the main water shut off at the curb?
No in fact in my house it's the opposite: it drops twelve inches per three feet of run in order to duck under the sidewalk and enter the house in the daylight basement.
👍
Thanks for watching SB!
Where's the link to the very detail oriented tutorial on soldering video?
You didn't need to bring the copper tracer wire INTO the house. They only need to trace UP TO the house, after that it's obvious where the water line is as seen from INSIDE the house. You should have placed a WATER LINE TAPE above the water line to help anyone who digs in the future.
That makes sense. I had not heard of a water line tape before, looking it up now.
how do you identify a buried pipe that is not your main? I have well water and I am positive its not on the main well line, but there is a wet field appearing in my backyard
Do you have an irrigation system back there? I am also btw trying to solve a similar problem. I have looked at inexpensive (
How did u detect the leak in the first place? Weve had rain every week
High water bill and he says in video the water meter is spinning !!! It only spins when water is running Aka if it’s turned off in the house ( like he said it was) than there’s a leak outside !!!!
My water bill was 150 bucks for 1 month. I am 1 person. I turned the water off in the house, the meter read zero. Looks like the leak is from my house to the meter. What a wonderful headache.
Home ownership effing sucks.
🙏👏👍💪
Thanks for always watching Alain.
Great detail , thanks for helping make this a possible job to do.
Wow! I am surprised your City allowed you to do that type of work. I believe where I live only licensed master plumbers are permitted to evacuate ground and repair broken supply and sewer lines that leave your meter and go out toward the street. Strangely ,the homeowner is responsible for the cost of the repair up to the curb line. Anything after the curb line the City Water Dept is responsible.
City is responsible up to the meter. Since his meter was before the leak, it's his responsibility.
It’s his responsibility but most every state has restrictions on master plumbers doing the work!!! Whether the h/o wants to do the work themselves or not, if the city in fact does have a requirement for a license and they found out he could be liable to pay a hefty fine if they found out ! He could be in the clear though depending on his states/towns code requirements!!
@@Bigdogdealings Not the case in WA
I love your videos!!! Keep it up!❤
Relieviate? That’s not a word…
I heard that too. Combined alleviate and relieve. Great made up word. 😂
Hard no to giving my water usage data to some private company.
Lmao... they already know bro.
The water company knows.
I work for a water supply system in Texas, I’m not sure about other states, but messing with your water meter at all is a federal offense. That being said you might ask you local water supply if it’s okay to install the reader to track your usage
Karen
@@turbodeiseltruck I’m not saying anything bad about it lol. Just saying it wouldn’t hurt to make sure it’s okay first.
@@turbodeiseltruck😂😂😂😂
He did not mess with the meter, he fixed a leak in his yard.