Tapping into the Hive Mind

[I talk to the trees]

I have a question for those of you out there with experience with plumbing contractors. I stepped out onto my front swamp-er, yard this morning, and found that there was a small lake directly in front of my home. After several hours of waiting for "Troy," the handy water authority guy, we were told that we had a break in the service pipe that leads from the road to our house. Basically, he told us "That's your problem, not ours. Get yourself a plumbing contractor. Good luck." Of course, a plumbing contractor is going to take one look at Mr. and Mrs. Musician-without-a-clue-about-plumbing, and see dollar signs.

 

So I am here to beg for assistance from the hive. Have any of you had to have a service pipe repaired or replaced? What should we expect in terms of time, mess, and (most importantly) cost? Obviously, I want the job done properly, but I certainly don't want to be hoodwinked into signing over every penny of our savings to someone who knows that we know nothing about the situation! (Did that make sense?)

 

Anyone have an extra Mike's?:banghead:

[Guest ToGMom]

Can't help you much with estimates, etc. as we are on a private well...BUT I would caution you, that as a city water customer, you are paying for every drop that leaks out onto your lawn...the sooner you get it fixed the better. ;)

[I talk to the trees]

Can't help you much with estimates, etc. as we are on a private well...BUT I would caution you, that as a city water customer, you are paying for every drop that leaks out onto your lawn...the sooner you get it fixed the better. ;)

 

Actually, the fellow from the water authority that came out to evaluate the problem told us that we were NOT responsible for the water which was leaking because it was leaking at a point before it reached the water meter, thus, the water isn't registering as used. Dh was the one who talked to the guy, but I told him that this man's explanation sounded like a load of hooey to me. *Someone* has to pay for this water, and you can bet it's not going to be the county.

[I talk to the trees]

Bumping this one to the top.

 

Anyone?

 

Please?

[Renee in NC]

There is no telling! It depends on where the break is, how deep the pipe is, what kind of pipe, etc. It may need a backhoe or it may need just a shovel.

 

I am REALLY surprised they didn't turn the water off.

 

We would turn the water off and dig the pipe up. THEN I would call a plumber. I wouldn't want to pay a man $60+ an hour to dig a hole for me.;)

[May]

Our neighbor had this problem last summer. They paid around $5000 for the job. The house sits back in the cul-de-sac so they had more pipe to replace. A section of their yard was torn up but they reseeded it when they were done. Get a couple of quotes before you proceed. Good luck.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

This happened to my parents when I was a teenager, and it happened to a neighbor of mine a year ago. My mom doesn't remember how much it cost, but just that it was very expensive. If I remember correctly, I think my neighbor said she paid $6,000.00, but I don't know if that included any extra work or not. It might depend on how long your yard is from the house to the street. I would get a few different estimates first if I were you. It might even be worth your while to join Angie's list or something like that temporarily to get references on various contractors.

[Dana]

A couple years ago we had a break in the water main. Initially the water company didn't want to send anyone out to check it since it was the day before Thanksgiving. :glare:

 

For us, the break was before our water meter. You can test this by shutting off your water to the house. If water still is leaking, you're not being billed for it. If the water stops leaking, leave the water off until it's fixed.

 

I imagine it'll depend on your water company as to who is responsible. For us, if the break had been after the water meter, it would have been our responsibility, but since it was before the meter, it was the company's responsibility.

 

Ours ended up needing a backhoe and our lawn was dug up quite a lot (down to about 5-6 feet to get to the break which was about a yard down from where the water was coming out of the ground).

 

If I were you, I'd start by shutting off the water to your house to see whether you're getting billed for the water. If you are, then give a plumber a call. If it's before your cut off, I might call back and question whether it's their responsibility.

 

Do be careful before just digging in your yard. In our state, you have to call before digging to get lines marked. They do have emergency calls, but if you don't inform the agency that you're going to dig and a wire gets broken, you're liable. (Information here is in the front of our phone book.)

 

Good luck! :grouphug:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Call them to clarify. And ask for tips on how to go about it if they say that you need to do it.

 

If you have to dig, then "call before you dig".

 

Use someone like Labor Ready or another day labor place to hire day laborers to dig.

 

Use the plumber only for the actual pipe.

[justlittleoldme]

I 2nd the figuring out who's responsibility it really is, because if its before the meter, I really think its the water companies problem. And do all the digging up of the pipe yourself, that saves the most money. Call 3 different plumbing companies to come out and give you a bid. Sometimes they are so desperate for work they will underbid each other. Roto Rooter always has the most expensive prices out of anyone.

 

Good luck!

[littlebug42]

This happened at the apartment complex I used to manage and we were responsible once it left the main pipe in the street coming on to our property. I seem to recall that it cost several thousand dollars but our break actually required digging up part of the city street. I also recall that our regular plumber couldn't handle it but we had to call a special one that dealt in plumbing requiring excavation.