trentonnewjersey
One year later. I wanted to update my low water pressure problem and try to be brief. I had the city check to see if the problem was between the water main and the curb valve before I spent any money replacing pipes. The curb valve had to be dug up because it was buried deep with the top missing. The city thought there might be a leak and replaced all the pipes from the main to the curb valve. After that the problem was still there and those pipes replaced were fine afterall. Now atleast I could shut off the water at the curb valve so I replaced the water main valve in the basement with a ball valve. No difference. I dug up the concrete floor two feet down and replaced the 90degree elbow that went towards the street. No difference. I bought a 35ft. 1/4inch snake and ran it through the pipe from the basement and found no obstructions at all. The old one inch galvanized pipe seemed OK for atleast the first 35ft. I bought a 75ft. 3/8inch snake and ran it out approximately 50ft.(length to the street was 65ft.) I hit an obstruction so I attached a power drill to the snake and tried to drill out the obstruction. I drilled and drilled with this contraption I made and what came out was a black paste? As it turned out the sediment from 80years lied at the lowest point in the pipe which was the first 15ft. from the curb to the house, our house is up on a hill. Drilling turned the sediment into a thick black paste but after hours I could not get it out and eventually I ruptured the pipe where the drill could not go any further. Then we had absolutely no water and a spring in the front lawn. With the water shut off at the curb valve and a good neighbor allowed us to tap into their garden hose bib which allowed us to run our whole house temporarily. I got three estimates from plumbers which ranged from $2900.00 to $5000.00 to replace the whole 65ft. of water main with one inch copper. We went with the contractor who was the most expensive only because they were the most professional with uniformed employees and detailed written estimates. Also we wanted to minimize the destruction to the front lawn, landscaping, concrete sidewalks and they agreed to atleast try to pull the pipe out by digging a single whole at the curb and using a backhoe pull the old pipe out and pull a new one in at the same time. They tried but it was down too deep so they had to cut out ten feet of sidewalk and trench half way through the lawn before they could pull it out. They saved us a lot of money because the landscaping and sidewalk near the front of the house would of been expensive to replace. Also since they cut the sidewalk at the curb with a concrete saw and lifted the slabs out with the backhoe they were able to drop the 5ft 5ft sections back into place only breaking one of them(which I later replaced myself). The job cost $5000.00 plus $600.00 in concrete and sod. I know everyone told me it would have to be replaced but I don’t regret replacing all the old gate valves in the house with new ball valves and buying $150.00 worth of drain snakes to atleast try and fix the problem myself. Now we have 48PSI water pressure and taking a shower is great. We can run the wash, do the dishes and take a shower at the same time! This summer watering the lawn will go a lot quicker.
