NOT what I had planned for this week.

Adirondack case guy · Oct 31, 2016

We started loosing water pressure in the house Sunday. It dropped to just 10# The pump, 160' down in the well was running non stop. Just flipped the breaker off. I was afraid that maybe I was going to have to pull the pump due to a leak in the plastic pipe comeing up. This morning I went to the well house and started shutting the supply valve to the house down and pump pressure at well head quickly came up. "Good, not a problem IN the well".
After 57 years, I guess the 1-1/4" galvinized pipe rotted through.
Biggest problem that I have is that we have added on to our original home since we built it in 1970, on all 4 sides, and I need to get the new water line into it in a way that it won't freeze.
Hopeing to dig a woodchuck hole under the Alaskan slab floor in the tool room at the back of my shop and bring it up thru the concrete floor there, and plumb it back to where it originally came through the cellar wall. Fun, Fun.
For the short term, I have streached a garden hose from the well house across the lawn and backfeeding the house. Will have to keep a faucet trickling tonight so the hose doesn't freeze.
Loren

old-9 · Oct 31, 2016

On the last strait 1.25 inch pipe can you push a 1 inch pvc into the basement? 1 inch is a lot of water. joe

Case Nutty 1660 · Oct 31, 2016

did the same thing here ,, we pushed the next size smaller black plastic pipe through the leaking one under the road
cnt

Rons b · Oct 31, 2016

Pulling the well would have been an easier job

Adirondack case guy · Oct 31, 2016

I don't think that any person can push 100' of plastic thru the old pipe with 50yrs of lime and iron build up and a couple of 45* elbowes in it. Even our PVC pipe in the house are clogging up with lime deposits.
Loren

Frantz · Oct 31, 2016

Well the bad news is, it only lasted 47 years... the good news is we're all 10 years younger than you thought a moment ago!

Gotta love water line projects... at least it's on the clean side of plumbing.

Bruce from Can. · Oct 31, 2016

Instead off leaving a tap trickling , hang a piece of wire in the toilet tank flapper . water will trickle through the toilet , to prevent any risk of frost in the line . And no one will forget the tap was intentionally left on , and turn it off. Some times in really cold winters , when the frost goes down a long ways , water lines from mains in town will freeze . Folks that do this trick in the fall may use a bit more water, but never have their supply line freeze. When I saw your pictures I thought , better now than two months from now.

Adirondack case guy · Oct 31, 2016

Bruce, I'm glad it happen now. It would have been a real problem a month from now when the frost started settling in.
Loren

Adirondack case guy · Oct 31, 2016

Not for me. I can do this alone. Finding help to pull the pump is a problem, and as said, I can't do that alone! Too many strokes and heart attacks in my past few years.
Loren

larry@stinescorner · Oct 31, 2016

good luck,,looks like you got a good start on it,,glad it didnt happen in a deep freeze

Russ from MN · Oct 31, 2016

Our son had the same thing happen, we tried pushing a 1 inch through, went ok until it came to the 45! Backhoe time!

jm. · Oct 31, 2016

Like we have both said a dozen times,, never be without my mini hoe KUBOTA, think how hard that project would have been. Looks good

jeffcat · Oct 31, 2016

Had to do my well pump three weeks ago. Came to $1800 for a new submersable and air tank. Feel for ya.

Philip d · Oct 31, 2016

That's a big project! Looking great though,at least you'll know it's good now

Married2Allis · Nov 1, 2016

Water and plumbing problems seem to always happen on weekends don't they?

unclemerle · Nov 1, 2016

Thank God you have a mini for the job.

ASEguy · Nov 1, 2016

Well at least your not frozen in and it'll be good for the next 70 years. What is your frost line there. It looks mighty deep to me.

John B. · Nov 1, 2016

Hope you get it fixed Loren. Looks like you're doing a good job. Years ago at my parent's home they;re on city water. I came home from night shift and heard water running in the basement after I showered. We looked outside the next morning and didn't see any water on top of the ground. I thought of looking in the old well and sure enough it was running into the 90ft well. Water use to come in the house from the well then it supplied the whole house and exited back outside after the kitchen. Well we ended up eliminating the pipe between the house and the well and back feeding all outside faucets thru the kitchen foundation. Just reversed the flow is what we did. Dad said they plumbed in city water back in 1951. Just last year the pipe between the meter and the house bursted. Nothing lasts forever...

RLA · Nov 1, 2016

It might not be what you had planned, but one nice part is you didn't have to remove
2 feet of snow to find the ground... The temps are in your favor.

ChasK · Nov 1, 2016

Have you thought off adding a hydrant along the garden? Or is there no need?

ditchwitch · Nov 1, 2016

How far do you have to tunnel under the slab. You could use a pressure washer to help get the hole made to slide a pipe thru. They also have a thing called hole hog or pierce arrow you could rent from a rental place works off air compressor. Depending on the dirt there you could push a piece of black iron pipe thru with your little excavator and pull back out to make your hole for pipe. Hope any of this helps and good luck.

NOT what I had planned for this week.

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