ok I know this is gardening but to call a plumber is going to run money we dont have
who the heck do ya get water off in Texas?
the outside spout was leaking and the bathroom had water yesterday after DH used the hose ...so today late afternoon he decides while I am at work to check things out to fix it...the bathroom has no sink or cabinet now as they are out and he cut a hole in the wall to get to the pipes....no opening other wise and removed one brick where the spigot was...we have turned off the water in the house and turned off the water out by the fence and still water is in the pipes ..and yes we turned on every faucet and spigot to try and get the water to stop coming in to the pipe so he can replace the old one with new
PLUMBING HELP!!!!
There is usually a shut off valve outside the house, usually close to the house, and another by the curb where the water meter is, I hope that helps.
yeah that is the one we turned off out by the fence..only problem is water still goes through it ..we found that out when I left DH home alone on the back hoe and we had to replace a section of pipe then as he got it with the back hoe..LOL...
Mibus ~ who do you buy water from? Sounds like their cut off valve is stuck. They need to fix it so in an emergency, you can kill it. Meanwhile, it would be to their advantage if you have a major leak as all water thru the meter will cost you! Unfortunately, it is now Saturday so unlikely you will get them out till next week.
Good luck and keep your husband away from the meter with the backhoe... lol
Most water meters have a stop where you turn the key all the way to the right until it stops which should cut off the water. Some do not have a stop where you turn it a quarter turn and it is off, another quarter and it is on, and will just keep turning off and on. You might stand out front with the hose on while your husband turns the key to see if it will ever go off. If it does not, then as podster said, your shutoff valve could be defective and the water company should fix it. If it city water, alot of cities will waive one months excessive water bill if you can provide them with something like a repair bill showing that there was a bad leak and that month was in excess of the norm for you. They should have an emergency number for after hours shutoff. Once the valve is fixed, you could use compressed air to clear the water out of the lines, like we do for vacant foreclosures in the winter, to get a clearer view of the extent of the damage. Take care,
Mike
Thanks Mike and Pod
We already tried it out by the road but even then it has some leak through from the pressure...I am calling them monday and talking to them about the fact it does not turn it off completely when shut off at the main valve
he came up with a new plan this morning ..he took the shop vac. and hooked it up to the outside faucet in front then turned off the house water and used the vac to suck any water in the lines out and while that was running he put a ball value on and got it soldered in place....so he kinda did as you said Mike just sucking it out through that faucet so it went there instead of to the bathroom.
So we now have it fixed so he can get the rest of the tubing put together in place to fix the outside faucet plus the one into the cold water part of the sink.....which he is installing the shut off values on the bathroom faucets since the ones on there are soldered in place and would mean going through this again if anything ever happened to the sink LOL
Soo now I have one thing I do not like in Texas...LOL...the water lines are all under the house in cement and there is no place inside the house to get to any of the lines except where they come out the wall to a faucet..meaning if you have to replace or fix a line you have to tear out part of the wall to get to it. LOL
Wait until you have to tear out part of the foundation to get to a leak in the floor. My Dad had to jackhammer out part of the damaged cement in the living room. He then capped off the end coming into the house and re-routed everything through the attic.
When we were looking for a building contractor for a new house, we discovered that almost all houses in Texas are on slab foundations because they are so much cheaper to build that way. There was no one in the area with pier and beam foundation experience.
I'm glad you found a way to stop the water leak inside the house.
I did some looking around at one time when we started looking at houses online before we moved and found that the reason they don't' do the pier and beam as much is because of termites they say and of course to find a house with a basement in Texas is next to none because the water table is too high .
I am glad we got it figured out and fixed we now have everything back in place and working ...yyyyeeeaaaaahhhh a working sink and toilet in our room LOL
We chose water in slab rather than overhead. Should the plumbing overheard burst, I would hate the mess worse than in the slab. A friends plumbing has taken a hit from lightening and burned out the water heater and broken lines over head. It took new sheetrock from ceiling to floor and new carpet as well as ruin furniture... Yuk
Mibus ~ glad you are back in business. A suggestion as you are replumbing, put individual cut off valves on each water line as you go. We have two for each sink (hot and cold lines) one on each commode, etc. Then if a repair is needed it can easily be handled. Of course, still get the main cutoff corrected too. Good luck!
Another suggestion is to make a "door" of some sort on the other side of the wall from where the plumbing is so you can get to it next time. And there will be a next time. If you can get a frame made, even if it's just plywood, you can mount hardware on it to keep the "door" in place.
Yep we already thought of both things you are saying (pod and sliver) Thanks for the suggestions though I'm sure as tome goes on there will be other things we will have to do as this was built in the mid 80's and nothing lasts forever *S*
I am calling the Dean Water suplly tomorrow and talking to them about the main valve
pod, fortunately the house is still standing. My Dad passed away nearly 20 years ago. So his fix is still working. The main problem I see is that it takes forever to get hot water, but I can't talk my Mom into getting an 'on demand' water heater or two. The suggestions made are good ones to remember. We have been looking at houses in Bay City since my DH is working there 4 days a week. We have been looking at older homes because I want trees in my yard.
Wouldn't on demand water heaters be wonderful! We have overhead water pipes for only a short distance and made sure the attic space was well insulated. Some plumbing in slab is done with copper pipe run inside pvc. That way it can be pulled for repair...
Just trying to point out some consulation, Phyl, we ALL FACE PLUMBING PROBLEMS. Another fact of life. At least for us. We usually have some sort of back up that floods the house on July 4th. Can't tell you how many times that has happened. Of course, there is always a plumber somewhere that will come for double the hourly charge. If it isn't the plumbing, it is the air conditioning...always when it is so hot you can't get a breathe. Sorry that you have had this problem. Lucky for you that DH can handle it. I'm so spoiled that I have a fit if the garage door opener malfunctions. Guess that is one of the reasons I am so fluffy. Too many remote controls.
LouC