Leak in Yard. Possibly our pipe, not certain. Could be our roots cause, or either's pipes? Since its our yard... (insurance)

[papitosabe]

...since its our yard...I'm guessing we'd need to open up the yard, and if turns out to be his pipes, he'd need to pay, and if our roots are causing his leak, he'd need to pay, correct? But pretty much since we're not certain, and its in our yard, we need to pay for the initial dig up to see who's line, and if its our roots. Then if its theirs, hope that the owner will pay for the digging up of our yard.

BTW, the leak is between both our houses, but the leak "looks" to be our yard only. Just not sure if his pipes run thru our part of the yard or not. Is there any way to tell? The leak is about 10 to 15 yards from the meter. Wasn't sure if at the meter, both our pipes go straight up and turn at the our own houses. SOrry for the newb questions.

Also, if we turn off our main water, and then our meter doesn't move for say an hour. Would that prove its not ours? Or does it take pressure from our line being on to make the leak dispurse?

[froglipz]

Call your local water provider first.

[papitosabe]

so here's what I've gathered. Our meter has a little red triangle, and its designed to detect leaks. If it moves, either leak is inside house (after making sure all water is closed) or outside of the house. Then I close of the house water at the side of the house. If it still moves, then the leak is anywhere from the meter to the house shut off valve. Which is pretty obvious that the leak is outside the house, but just stating the steps.

I check mine and my neighbors (triangles) meters, and while my homes water was off, the little triangle still moved, and his didn't. Then I turned off the house valve, and the little triangle still moved. So while I know what area the leak was due to the slosh in the yard, I know now its our pipe. So now I need a plumber, and someone to dig up that hole, and hope that its just the pipes and not roots.

Now, if its just a leak, can that alone be fixed, meaning just that area, or does the entire pipe need to be replaced? Was hoping I cold use pex and cover cover it with pvc. maybe a foot or 2. Or is it necessary for a pro to do it?

edit. I'll probably do the digging to save cost, and hoping I can use a compression coupler or something, or just use some pex tubing.

[papitosabe]

in OP post, I meant to say, if its our roots causing his leak, we'd have to pay,...sorry.

[KatieKennedy]

It is best to hire a professional plumber and have the plumber put a camera through the pipe to determine the source/cause of the leak(s). Your homeowner's insurance may cover it after applying your deductible. We had to dig up a large part of our yard and even dig out part of our driveway when some oak tree roots ruptured the pipes leading into the house. Eventually the toilets started to back up. If it is between the meter and the sewer the city will make the repair. If it is on the house side of the meter it is on your tab. Our insurance company also paid us some additional living expenses for our hotel bill. We stayed in a hotel while the water was shut off to make the repairs.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I had a problem with ponding water between our homes; I had to hire a plumber to check it out and they ended up trenching along the sewer until they found the problem... the city long ago connected PVC to an old clay pipe, and roots eventually got in. This created a gap which not only allowed water to seep out, it also hindered the flow to a point where water would backup. With showers, and all the things a family of six do, the water would backup long enough that it would percolate to the surface. The pipes were under a good 2-3 feet, so no solids, just crystal clear water.

Since the plumber tore up so much of the ground, I told him just to go ahead and replace the entire pipe from the main sewer to the house, and also upgrade it from 3" to 4". Never a problem again. Good luck.

[papitosabe]

I ended up digging where the 3 foot area little puddle of slosh/wet/mud was. Seemed obvious it had to be there And it was. I ended up cutting about a 8 inch 3/4 pvc pipe in the area. There was a gash, not a pinhole, so inside it was most likely a longer crack. So then I obviously needed to replace it with another 8 inch piece of pvc, and to do that, I used (2) couplers. One of the couplers I dremeled out the stop thingy inside the coupler.

One one end I coupled normally, used the purple stuff and glue. Then on the other side, I had to work super quick. After preparing the adhesives, I put the coupler on all the way thru, and then slid it super quik to the other side to make it couple. I cut the hole big enough in the yard to give me enough give/movement in the pvc pipes.

Saw a video on youtube with a guy doing it, so I followed. I didn't like or want to do the 4 corner method and have the flow not be straight.

Only cost was a 5 foot pvc pipe I bought, 4 couplers, a pvc cutter, a deburring tool, and the purple and glue stuff. Hardest part was the digging. I'd say about $30 was spent on material.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Great DIY, you saved yourself hundred of dollars by doing it yourself.