I did this for almost 6 months straight. I was on the re pipe/tunneling crew. Putting them hangers in with the studs isn't fun. Great video man. It's great to see you succeed on yt. 👍👍
Straight respect, I currently do this I’m a 2nd year apprentice and it’s brutal work switching between crawlspace jobs and tunneling jobs non stop trenching
We do this to save our customers money and the mess of having their floors busted out..most often it's a washer drain that we end up rerouting. At the end of the day what is most important is a happy customer who feels confident that they can depend on their plumber to inform them of all the options available to safely fix any plumbing issue they are having. Some customers would rather go ahead and do an entire repipe to avoid future issues but materials are getting so expensive that our customers have been very grateful that we give them as many options as possible so they can choose which best fits their situation. It's such a shame that so many companies are more about the dollar than the customer.
Couple of years ago, I bought an old 1960 farm house down here in Cleburne, Roger. Man did they do things a different way back then. The house would flood every time it rained, so I put in some channel drains and re-routed some down spouts. While I was trenching and running the new lines for run off water, I tied in the washing machine to empty the gray water out to the pasture. A few months later the septic kept backing up, so I borrowed a snake from work and ran the lines. After all was said and done, found out the cast iron that exits the foundation went directly into the old concrete bell end pipes. 99% clogged with roots from vines and trees. Ended up having to replace everything from the house to the septic system. Just amazed at how things actually got done back then. Replacing drains through the concrete, everything is lead and Oakum. It's been a long strange journey since then.
We have cast iron pipes that are not leaking, but the plumber recommended replacing 30 feet of them because of sludge build up. My wife already wanted to do that because a friend of hers had it done. She grew up in this house. Overflow of the washer drain has been a chronic problem. We are expecting the pipes to need to be replaced some time so will probably go ahead with it. $22,000 is less than the numbers I see you make..
If the only problem is sludge build up...you could call someone to hydrojet them out. Now depending on how old they are and the current state they are in, jetting it could cause the pipe to crack. I'd call someone and ask about that, if it's something you're interested in and the plumber could tell you if it's a safe option for you.
Where are you doing this repair? In my state the minimum coverage for a sewer coming out of a home is 12 inches. Coming out of the side of a home or building exposed like that would never pass code requirements.
The age of the pipe(especially cast) should be considered carefully. A through camera inspection is the tool needed to determine your decision to repipe or repair. Cast sanitary sewer pipe that is 40 years or older, I would lean towards repiping. With the washing machine drain another option would be to put in a grey water tank and isolate the washing machine drain from the rest of the sanitary sewer lines in the house.
Any considerations for this type of exterior repair in climates that experience long periods of freezing weather? I realize that north Texas does get cold in the winter but not like say Iowa or Minnesota. Cheers!
Roger my biggest question is this after you tunneled out underneath a concrete slab house and made whatever repair you have to, how do you backfill all that in such a way that it's tightly packed and you're not going to experience any kind of slab settling??
I totally agree.... you can't WO spending another trillion dollars backfill properly. It will settle, it will shrink, and that weakens everything above it. That sidewalk, for instance, will be cracking, sinking, or both within 3 years
Most of the time we bust the floor due to the slab being embedded around the pipe. We have fantastic concrete people here. Especially if it’s a small isolated leak on a not so old house.
Man that's crazy. I live in a tiny brick home in the Midwest was quoted 5k to repipe entire house going from galvanized steel to copper. Going to pull the trigger next year. Amazing and interesting stuff.
Sounds like you were quoted for a repipe on your water pipes. This video is about DWV (where the poopy goes). Im not a plumber in the midwest but im curious why they are going to copper and not pex
I would spend 30 minutes or so with them everyday and ask questions so you get a theoretical understanding (if you don't already) and a level of confidence to repair at least the minor things. That level of confidence will follow you for decades to come. It's amazing how much stress relief it is when something does happen and you say "oh I know what to do"
If a customer would try and spend 30 minutes or more talking to me and asking question after question, I would have to politely say “ sorry I’m trying to concentrate on working “
after tunnelling, what was the backfill procedure if anything. living in California I never thought of this as an option. would this be solid in tectonic states ya think?
pulling the toilet flange studs out yesterday morning, the entire flange lifts up 1 inch as if its just sitting there. turns out it was, pipe was broken off 9 inches from flange center to wall. giant void under slab. 20lb chipping hammer'd out about 2sqft, pipe was broken right at the vent y-pipe. had to chisel by hand & heat gun the the broken ring in the coupler, cleaned it up with a die grinder with a carbide burr. used 4 bags of pea gravel to fill in voided areas, tried to pack down best i could. the rebar "y" put in for support was completely rusted and just broke off with one tap. so i packed everything down directly below where the pipe sits, pea gravel, mixed up mortar and made a mini footing for the flange pipe to bed into. more pea gravel to about 4 inches, then floated. longest 9 hours on a sunday ever.
While i respect your for giving this customer another way to fix it. I am not going to bash the other company too bad bc that houses pipes were F'd up lol
This is a similar repair to what I want. I have a sagging PVC pipe from a bathroom on the far side of the house. A plumber came out and said he had to cut a 12 foot trench across two bedrooms to replace it. Its only a few feet from the edge of the house and the bathroom is at the corner of the house. I think this type of repair would be the cheapest by far vs cutting right down the middle of the house.
Dallas allows PVC pipe to be buried underground? When selling my house, I had somebody back out of the contract after a home inspector found a small section of PVC pipe for a basement drain.
Someone chose the trench option before I moved into my house. I have a brick access for what I believe to be my washing machine and kitchen sink drains.
Reroute or tunnel? Really depends on where that fixture is.... are we gonna have to run around 2,3 sides of the house? Yeah we probably ain't gonna have enough fall, going to need to tunnel.
So question for the experts. I started to have a problem with a toilet. I had a plumber come out and they ran a camera and it turns out that the sewer to my septic wasn’t laud to grade…its flat and in one spot it’s a negative grade. This was supposed to be to be my forever home after retiring. What are my options to fix without tearing up the entire slab? Is the home inspector responsible for not IDing the problem? Will insurance cover the repair? Looking for a way to fix this as I’m on a fixed income. Any help would be great.
What type of transition fitting is that above the clean out? Why the clean out under the slab, if I skipped the part that answered that, my oppologies! We do spot repairs for drainage, and reroute water lines. The majority of people who live in slab houses here can't afford what you did.
That’s a test tee under the slab. At one point it had a test plug in it and they filled the system with water to check for any leaks. After the test the test plug was removed and a regular plug put in its place.
Hi, what's your opinion on a trenchless sewer inline repair. Is that an option for a private house. What would be the cost? When would that be an option?
Can I ask why u use two different clean outs directed backwards at each other instead of a two way single clean out. I’m a new plumber and would really like to know why you do this I would appreciate it!
Most likely code. The fitting you are referring to, a two way clean out tee, could be against code where he’s at. Frankly, I wouldn’t use one either. You’re not supposed to lay tees on their backs. While the two way tee is not your standard tee, it’s still a tee in my mind and wouldn’t sit right with me. What he is doing is putting two wyes in facing opposite each other. Pretty standard practice for a two way clean out system, and the way I was taught. Hope this helps some, and welcome to the trade!
Our house has a similar problem and one option may be for us to route sewer lines out and around the house as you have done here. What was the final price or approximate price that the homeowner had to pay?
Why don't you use Two Way Cleanouts they are super effective and less fittings.The tee cleanout under the slab who is going dig to run a sewer machine or camera thru that cleanout really Roger!!!!
The company I work for does this as well. We use the tee (we call it test tee) for city inspections so the only section that gets tested by filling with water is the one we put in. As far as the 2 way clean out if the blockage is past the clean out u won’t be able to be sure your going out towards the street. We use back to back combos as well. Hope u learned something from this
@@elpolloloco2334 100% this! That is indeed a test tee. What you didn’t see in the video is that tee first being plugged with a test plug and the system being filled with water to check for any leaks. Then the test plug is removed and a plug is put in its place. No one is going to dig to use that “clean out,” because it isn’t one :)
@@commandoconstruction2720 They generally do not freeze in cold region either.... yes their would be less movement in the ground, but there would still be a little bit of movement, to the point where it would probably not matter anyway, but i still dont feel confident putting copper in the ground, i wouldn't even put them inside walls, or rather im not even alowed to anymore.
@@adrijonorge9816 Pipes freeze in my area all the time, in winter. My tenant left her heat off with a window open. The heat pipe froze and burst, leaking water into downstairs apartment and basement. Most people change to Pex, when changes are made, or for new construction.
Did you just say the sewer line coming from the kitchen while you’re under the house? That’s not a sewer line, that’s considered a drain line in the code book sir.
Love your content! Home owner in Round Rock, Texas here. A plumber that cleared my line reccomeded your channel and I really appreciate that he did.
What was the name of plumbing company?
While I am not a plumber, I find your videos extremely interesting and yall seem like an amazing company. Keep up the good work!
I did this for almost 6 months straight. I was on the re pipe/tunneling crew. Putting them hangers in with the studs isn't fun. Great video man. It's great to see you succeed on yt. 👍👍
Straight respect, I currently do this I’m a 2nd year apprentice and it’s brutal work switching between crawlspace jobs and tunneling jobs non stop trenching
We do this to save our customers money and the mess of having their floors busted out..most often it's a washer drain that we end up rerouting. At the end of the day what is most important is a happy customer who feels confident that they can depend on their plumber to inform them of all the options available to safely fix any plumbing issue they are having. Some customers would rather go ahead and do an entire repipe to avoid future issues but materials are getting so expensive that our customers have been very grateful that we give them as many options as possible so they can choose which best fits their situation. It's such a shame that so many companies are more about the dollar than the customer.
Couple of years ago, I bought an old 1960 farm house down here in Cleburne, Roger. Man did they do things a different way back then. The house would flood every time it rained, so I put in some channel drains and re-routed some down spouts. While I was trenching and running the new lines for run off water, I tied in the washing machine to empty the gray water out to the pasture. A few months later the septic kept backing up, so I borrowed a snake from work and ran the lines. After all was said and done, found out the cast iron that exits the foundation went directly into the old concrete bell end pipes. 99% clogged with roots from vines and trees. Ended up having to replace everything from the house to the septic system. Just amazed at how things actually got done back then. Replacing drains through the concrete, everything is lead and Oakum. It's been a long strange journey since then.
We have cast iron pipes that are not leaking, but the plumber recommended replacing 30 feet of them because of sludge build up. My wife already wanted to do that because a friend of hers had it done. She grew up in this house. Overflow of the washer drain has been a chronic problem. We are expecting the pipes to need to be replaced some time so will probably go ahead with it. $22,000 is less than the numbers I see you make..
If the only problem is sludge build up...you could call someone to hydrojet them out. Now depending on how old they are and the current state they are in, jetting it could cause the pipe to crack. I'd call someone and ask about that, if it's something you're interested in and the plumber could tell you if it's a safe option for you.
I'm in Idaho and like slab houses represent maybe 3 to 5% of all homes here. We usually would open up the floor
Slap and grade is…. The worst. I can’t believe they still make these houses. Love the content!
Where are you doing this repair? In my state the minimum coverage for a sewer coming out of a home is 12 inches. Coming out of the side of a home or building exposed like that would never pass code requirements.
The age of the pipe(especially cast) should be considered carefully. A through camera inspection is the tool needed to determine your decision to repipe or repair. Cast sanitary sewer pipe that is 40 years or older, I would lean towards repiping. With the washing machine drain another option would be to put in a grey water tank and isolate the washing machine drain from the rest of the sanitary sewer lines in the house.
Any considerations for this type of exterior repair in climates that experience long periods of freezing weather? I realize that north Texas does get cold in the winter but not like say Iowa or Minnesota. Cheers!
Roger my biggest question is this after you tunneled out underneath a concrete slab house and made whatever repair you have to, how do you backfill all that in such a way that it's tightly packed and you're not going to experience any kind of slab settling??
You backfill as much dirt as possible sometimes it’s not enough but you get a mechanical engineers report to make sure everything is all right
I totally agree.... you can't WO spending another trillion dollars backfill properly. It will settle, it will shrink, and that weakens everything above it. That sidewalk, for instance, will be cracking, sinking, or both within 3 years
Mud-balling the refill dirt & using a tamper? Your laboriously tamp it back into place.
@@Pr0teinShake - What about using flowable fill from a concrete company??
@billnict1 not the same, has to be dirt
Idk why man I just know that's how it is and what's used
Bought a house that needed the sewer line fixed under the house. Thank god I found a place that could do an epoxy liner.
Most of the time we bust the floor due to the slab being embedded around the pipe. We have fantastic concrete people here. Especially if it’s a small isolated leak on a not so old house.
Man that's crazy. I live in a tiny brick home in the Midwest was quoted 5k to repipe entire house going from galvanized steel to copper. Going to pull the trigger next year. Amazing and interesting stuff.
Sounds like you were quoted for a repipe on your water pipes. This video is about DWV (where the poopy goes). Im not a plumber in the midwest but im curious why they are going to copper and not pex
Copper is superior. Rats will eat your pex
I would spend 30 minutes or so with them everyday and ask questions so you get a theoretical understanding (if you don't already) and a level of confidence to repair at least the minor things. That level of confidence will follow you for decades to come. It's amazing how much stress relief it is when something does happen and you say "oh I know what to do"
If a customer would try and spend 30 minutes or more talking to me and asking question after question, I would have to politely say “ sorry I’m trying to concentrate on working “
@@nolantanaka565 i can respect that. I would hope that not every plumber has that attitude though
after tunnelling, what was the backfill procedure if anything. living in California I never thought of this as an option. would this be solid in tectonic states ya think?
Here in ky if u did that u have to run it in 4” drain ones it leave the house
pulling the toilet flange studs out yesterday morning, the entire flange lifts up 1 inch as if its just sitting there. turns out it was, pipe was broken off 9 inches from flange center to wall. giant void under slab. 20lb chipping hammer'd out about 2sqft, pipe was broken right at the vent y-pipe. had to chisel by hand & heat gun the the broken ring in the coupler, cleaned it up with a die grinder with a carbide burr. used 4 bags of pea gravel to fill in voided areas, tried to pack down best i could. the rebar "y" put in for support was completely rusted and just broke off with one tap. so i packed everything down directly below where the pipe sits, pea gravel, mixed up mortar and made a mini footing for the flange pipe to bed into. more pea gravel to about 4 inches, then floated. longest 9 hours on a sunday ever.
While i respect your for giving this customer another way to fix it. I am not going to bash the other company too bad bc that houses pipes were F'd up lol
I’m a small plumbing contractor, when I go to a job like that, I refer them to a guy like you lol
Hey Roger IK I haven't said much but nice seeing your vids once in a while.
This is a similar repair to what I want. I have a sagging PVC pipe from a bathroom on the far side of the house. A plumber came out and said he had to cut a 12 foot trench across two bedrooms to replace it. Its only a few feet from the edge of the house and the bathroom is at the corner of the house. I think this type of repair would be the cheapest by far vs cutting right down the middle of the house.
I wish i could work at your company!
Dallas allows PVC pipe to be buried underground? When selling my house, I had somebody back out of the contract after a home inspector found a small section of PVC pipe for a basement drain.
Someone chose the trench option before I moved into my house. I have a brick access for what I believe to be my washing machine and kitchen sink drains.
Reroute or tunnel? Really depends on where that fixture is.... are we gonna have to run around 2,3 sides of the house? Yeah we probably ain't gonna have enough fall, going to need to tunnel.
So question for the experts. I started to have a problem with a toilet. I had a plumber come out and they ran a camera and it turns out that the sewer to my septic wasn’t laud to grade…its flat and in one spot it’s a negative grade. This was supposed to be to be my forever home after retiring. What are my options to fix without tearing up the entire slab? Is the home inspector responsible for not IDing the problem? Will insurance cover the repair? Looking for a way to fix this as I’m on a fixed income. Any help would be great.
When you dig a tunnel, how do you backfill to prevent the slab from sinking?
Its funny you ask...I made a video about it ruclips.net/video/n9OeKQFLGsk/видео.html
At 4:41, why did you put a clean out if all is going to be buried?
So we could test only what we installed for the inspection.
Bro if if I see a $60000 dollar 💰 repipe I'm gunna build my family an outhouse and buy some bottle water
Lmao
What type of transition fitting is that above the clean out? Why the clean out under the slab, if I skipped the part that answered that, my oppologies! We do spot repairs for drainage, and reroute water lines. The majority of people who live in slab houses here can't afford what you did.
That’s a test tee under the slab. At one point it had a test plug in it and they filled the system with water to check for any leaks. After the test the test plug was removed and a regular plug put in its place.
Thanks for the content boss
Thanks for watching!
On minute 7:06 is that a 1/8 bend with a 1½" inlet?
that’s what it looks like to me maybe 3x3x2
WTF, that’s bad work and how many couplings did that pipe need?? Damn
Like the other guy, looks more like 3x2 and there seems to only be maybe two couplings in the middle. The rest are hangars.
what do you use to dig your tunnels with? hand or rent vac truck? and what material do you use to backfill with and how? informative video, nice job.
I made a video not too long ago how we backfill jobs like this!
@@RogerWakefield what's the title of video, thanks. we do the same in south florida
What is that fitting where the kitchen sink ties into the laundry ? I can't tell from the angle ?
Hi Roger
Hey Frank
Hi, what's your opinion on a trenchless sewer inline repair. Is that an option for a private house. What would be the cost? When would that be an option?
Can I ask why u use two different clean outs directed backwards at each other instead of a two way single clean out. I’m a new plumber and would really like to know why you do this I would appreciate it!
Most likely code. The fitting you are referring to, a two way clean out tee, could be against code where he’s at. Frankly, I wouldn’t use one either. You’re not supposed to lay tees on their backs. While the two way tee is not your standard tee, it’s still a tee in my mind and wouldn’t sit right with me. What he is doing is putting two wyes in facing opposite each other. Pretty standard practice for a two way clean out system, and the way I was taught. Hope this helps some, and welcome to the trade!
Are those clouds and dirt gVee kswiss!?! 🔥
When snaking upstream from the two way clean out, have you ever snake up into the toilet ?
Is it possible? Absolutely. Hahaha
That's Jack leg stuff where I practice my trade.
How ever I do enjoy your channel.
Our house has a similar problem and one option may be for us to route sewer lines out and around the house as you have done here. What was the final price or approximate price that the homeowner had to pay?
I believe the total for his work was $16,530.53
So much digging..Seems like a nightmare
What I do is remove the entire house, install new and put the house back in place.
Certified not a plumber
Why did you use pvc instead of abs?
why doesnt texas use crawl spaces
And the cost for this job $39,999. In this economy you’re lucky to even get a professional plumber to come out.
Why don't you use Two Way Cleanouts they are super effective and less fittings.The tee cleanout under the slab who is going dig to run a sewer machine or camera thru that cleanout really Roger!!!!
The company I work for does this as well. We use the tee (we call it test tee) for city inspections so the only section that gets tested by filling with water is the one we put in. As far as the 2 way clean out if the blockage is past the clean out u won’t be able to be sure your going out towards the street. We use back to back combos as well. Hope u learned something from this
@@elpolloloco2334 100% this! That is indeed a test tee. What you didn’t see in the video is that tee first being plugged with a test plug and the system being filled with water to check for any leaks. Then the test plug is removed and a plug is put in its place. No one is going to dig to use that “clean out,” because it isn’t one :)
Why do you guys use cobber underground?
It doesn't rust
@@fnafplayer6447 it still corodes, and it is movement in the ground. i would much rather use sometinh like Polyethylene.
Warm region. Pipes don’t freeze.
@@commandoconstruction2720 They generally do not freeze in cold region either.... yes their would be less movement in the ground, but there would still be a little bit of movement, to the point where it would probably not matter anyway, but i still dont feel confident putting copper in the ground, i wouldn't even put them inside walls, or rather im not even alowed to anymore.
@@adrijonorge9816 Pipes freeze in my area all the time, in winter. My tenant left her heat off with a window open. The heat pipe froze and burst, leaking water into downstairs apartment and basement. Most people change to Pex, when changes are made, or for new construction.
I'm not ridiculing your work, and I have to ask because I genuinely don't know... why did you put in a tap tee under the slab?
So you isolate the old piping when testing for city inspection
Minute 7:06 you used a 45 with a side outlet ?? What in the world ?? Only a handyman does some 💩 like that… I am disappointed
How is someone supposed to come up with 60k for a re pipe
The reason I will never own a slab house.
Did you just say the sewer line coming from the kitchen while you’re under the house? That’s not a sewer line, that’s considered a drain line in the code book sir.