Reroute the line above ground through the walls and soffits. A line leaked underground. The rest of that line is in the same condition. Most of the time the copper is pitted throughout because no one used to sleeve the lines to protect from corrosive conditions. Instead of replacing flooring and concrete, you're just doing drywall and painting. Between floors there's a almost always a trestle. If not, you trench across drywall. Insurance is anticipating a large expense and will most likely cover the drywall you remove if you go that route with them filing a claim. They get flooring replaced and drywall repaired and painted through their insurance and aren't left with 60 feet instead of 62 feet of old copper pipe that will leak again. I would reroute the hot and cold while I was at it. I love my customers but I hate seeing them for the same reasons.
@Deathsneeze2 жыл бұрын
While I do agree with you that reroutes can be a viable option for a repair, ultimately it's whatever is most cost effective, especially when going through insurance. We also do need to keep in mind the total cost of the repair, when we are cutting out drywall we don't ever get to see the bill for the drywall repair, etc. Also stuff like removing cabinets and countertops if the repair is a kitchen(or removing brick if it's an outside wall, etc), and also having the added risk of pipes freezing in the cold weather we do get here occasionally. I do very much agree with you about wanting to replace the entire line though, and I'm on the same page as you about not wanting to have to see that customer again, and I'm sure that customer wouldn't want to see me again either lol. Ultimately, with these slab leak repairs the best thing for us to do is give our customers options, educate them on the differences and their advantages and disadvantages, and let them decide what is best for them. We do work for them, after all.
@hothmobile1002 жыл бұрын
Yeah I can't believe an insurance company paid tens of thousands of dollars to fix this house but it still has many feet of old copper lines that can leak. Where I live, we have old beachside homes in Florida and once the copper leaks in the terrazzo slab, we just re-pipe with PEX the entire house and drop the PEX from the small attics through the walls. You can do it for as little as 8,000 do repipe the whole house! I can't believe this case on this video. It's such a waste of money what they did considering the old pipes can still leak.
@John_Lee_8 ай бұрын
@@hothmobile100 you can't pipe in the attic in freezing climates
@hothmobile1008 ай бұрын
I wish all plumbers were smart like you.
@hothmobile1008 ай бұрын
@@Deathsneeze But drywall work is faster and easier than digging up floors, especially concrete floors.
@pyro_angler2 жыл бұрын
That cold line looks pretty worn also. Shouldve just replaced it while it was all exposed
@anthonyguzman56852 жыл бұрын
Ya but at the end of the day, it’s not the plumbers call, it’s the home owners; you can only recommend; unless you like to work for free, but most people don’t
@baki33jj2 жыл бұрын
@@anthonyguzman5685 you right on that but as a plumber is your duty to tell them you recommend them to do both lines because of etc. then they're decide yes or no.
@jacobsimerman52812 жыл бұрын
@@anthonyguzman5685 it's not even the homeowners call its the insurance call and they want to do everything cheap as possible
@anthonyguzman56852 жыл бұрын
@@jacobsimerman5281 damm; you actually are right on that as well. I don’t always work with insurance companies but then I do; they do want the least amount of work as possible to resolve the issues.
@markwilson92102 жыл бұрын
Most of the time if I'm dealing with a slab leak I'm trying to sell a repipe. So the only damages are in the walks, ceilings. It's better that way especially if the house is more the 30 years old.
@rupe532 жыл бұрын
I think what everyone wants to see is how they backfill and make it tight again. Wet the dirt? Expandable foam? How is that done?
@cjaysmithYT2 жыл бұрын
Man I ❤️ your channel. Coming from construction industry and now working at Home Depot in plumbing dept for the meantime you're a breath of fresh air. I'm not a plumber and I tell customers that, bit I still have "plumbers" ask/tell me what they plan on doing and sometimes I cringe. Then I have DIY homeowners that plan on doing their work almost if not to local codes 🤣 oh the irony
@jacksplumbingvideos71472 жыл бұрын
Here in Wisconsin we have basements and crawl spaces, they should do that in Texas so you have more space to store stuff and you can access all of the plumbing.
@1234121442 жыл бұрын
Here in texas, we have a lot of rain and flooding.
@WaltWW2 жыл бұрын
Also highly expansive soils that will crack basement walls.
@GH-wt7ww2 жыл бұрын
Great video Being in pest control in Dallas/Ft.Worth for 30 years. I've had to deal with a few nicks in plumbing from my techs drilling in the slab for termites especially around kitchen area. Bit stopper doesn't work fast enough. And these situations can be smooth and/or a nightmare and costly. But I agree with others. Re-pipe whole house in pex. There will be another issue soon that copper looks rancid.
@dmdx862 жыл бұрын
Well it’s great if the insurance company is going to pick up the tab on reflooring. I guess if I were in the same position as the customer but didn’t have insurance coverage for a slab leak, I’d just replace only the damaged section of flooring, match it as close as possible, and put a rug on top of the replaced section of flooring.
@chuckley544942 жыл бұрын
but the flooring is literally the cheapest part of this whole repair
@dmdx862 жыл бұрын
Anew wood floor is going to cost several grand. Exact price I am not sure, as it depends on quantity and quality of the materials, but Roger said the dig was about $7k (not including his labor) so it would likely cost nearly as much or even more.
@chuckley544942 жыл бұрын
@@dmdx86 im just thinking in our area i could floor our whole home for that with premium materials. but yeah it would depend on what you do and how much. wood, tile or luxury laminate plank for that tiny kitchen wouldnt be more than 2k installed
@alonzomartinez78552 жыл бұрын
I used to work at enie's plumbing in Arlington and I was in his dig crew for 7 yrs we would do tunnels
@GG-tt3sg2 жыл бұрын
7 k with 2 couplings and 2 ft of pipe dam you good 👍 And I'm here charging for a sewer re pipe 9 k dam
@SweeneyDunstonYT2 жыл бұрын
I love how one camera angle has your head within the outline of your logo head outline.
@ChaosCSGO2 жыл бұрын
That’s a lot of water they were losing! Loved how you got some footage and were able to make this upload. More of these!!!
@RogerWakefield2 жыл бұрын
More to come!
@1gkgrandpa2 жыл бұрын
#1 tunneling company in DFW/ East Texas ETEX plumbing excavation. Those crews are very technical and great clean up.
@ctaylor7089 Жыл бұрын
I'm a plumbing contractor in Arizona and I've never even seen anyone tunnel under a house to fix anything, as far as something as simple as a slab leak. This is insane. Drywall is super cheap to repair. Wow!
@heldtheflashlightfordad6728 Жыл бұрын
I'm a plumbing contractor in Colorado and Oklahoma for over 20 years and we never do this. I had a kid working for me from Texas, he told me they'll tunnel under the house and repipe the entire drain systems. Can you image how poorly the waste lines are re-installed. Also, think of the structural damage they're causing. I understand tunneling a few feet, but damn this is crazy.
@mikeantj2 жыл бұрын
Hvac/plumber here in upstate ny, I know it's different in other parts of our country but I would never buy a house without a basement. I understand the gc wanting to build a house on an Alaskan slab because it's cheaper, but I would never recommend one of my customers to buy a house on a slab or with a completely finished basement with sheetrock ceilings. That leak would take at most an hour to complete in a basement and cost the homeowner roughly 150-300$
@johnhaller58512 жыл бұрын
Three big problems in Texas - expansive soils which require significant reinforcing to build a basement or crawl space below grade, possibly hitting bedrock and needing blasting, and termites which will eat the wood structure of the house.
@rupe532 жыл бұрын
@@johnhaller5851 ... termites are a problem for a basement or a slab or pilings.
@PoorPumperSociety2 жыл бұрын
Love seeing high quality trades content
@SuperHeavySam2 жыл бұрын
your past few videos have literally been the same issues i've been dealing with either at work or at home lol my condo just got repaired for a slap leak from our bathroom.
@singinghipos2 жыл бұрын
Was doing a reroute not an option? I’ve done plenty of reroutes so we don’t have to tunnel, or bust through someone’s living room. Of course it all depends on the home owners insurance coverage and what they want to do.
@alejandroc73572 жыл бұрын
Either way for that amount of money? Only for that copper line to probably leak again? Hell yeah I would do a reroute if it was me. Luckily being in the trade will help alot once you have your own house and you can do the work yourself. Now if only I could learn to also be an electrician and HVAC technician 😆
@davidmeadows11998 ай бұрын
How much is a reroute - with all new drops, drywall/texture/paint?
@singinghipos8 ай бұрын
@@davidmeadows1199 here in Texas we charge anywhere from $1,850-2,500. Most of the time it’s on the lower end of that. Tunneling to repair slab leaks is a valid option, but you’re only repairing a section of the copper line. Sometime down the line it WILL leak again. Better to just loop a new piece of pex over head and completely eliminate that copper line that’s under the slab.
@timothywalsh10012 жыл бұрын
I'm soooo glad I live up north... I have never done slab work. Worst basement was one that was stone, dirt floor and a massive cistern.
@raulmorales9967 Жыл бұрын
If that piece of copper pipe was bad ,what about the rest of the copper pipe?
@hill44722 жыл бұрын
That was a pro fix in an extremely tough area.
@ghostraider43122 жыл бұрын
How do houses not even a have a crawl space? That’s a very odd design decision for plumbing. Should be mandatory.
@jdaz54622 жыл бұрын
Because it's expensive.
@TatooedDoc7 ай бұрын
wont another section start leaking as well? I mean all the pipes are the same age.
@heather42307 ай бұрын
Why not use AquaPea? Is replacing the pipe safer / lower risk than AquaPea relative to preventing the leak from happening there again?
@tomgeromanos69482 жыл бұрын
Why do you not sleeve lines? Unless it’s a main water line I sleeve copper and poly lines. Just curious, instead of all of the destruction, customers only have a couple drywall repairs to make.
@jimmy8653 Жыл бұрын
Diging is in the pass
@bigm24802 жыл бұрын
What do you do if there a a collapse in the tunnel ?
@laratheheavy2 жыл бұрын
Not much choice there, sleepy time to try to get out….
@davidshapley34696 ай бұрын
I've got another leak under my slab. Would it just be cheaper to replumb the house?
@RogerWakefield6 ай бұрын
Depends on how bad the leak is
@givethanks_s4418 Жыл бұрын
So what kind of repair is this? Did they just cut out the pipe were it was leaking and join the two sides with a new pipe? Or did they just put some sort of sleeve over where it was leaking? 😳 I’m new, trying to learn lol
@brianpite08932 жыл бұрын
Almost all the houses in Levittown New York had the radiant heating leaking in the concrete. It was a pretty straightforward reroute to baseboard heating.
@rupe532 жыл бұрын
you do realize most of that is 50 years ago already, right? I remember they installed boilers in the kitchen, backed up to the fancy fireplace in the living room. At least they designed a box to cover the boiler. Easy digging for septic (cesspool) in the sandy soil and buried oil tanks everywhere, right next to the Orangeburg waste pipes that rotted away in 10 - 15 years.
@brianpite08932 жыл бұрын
@@rupe53 Yes ! The houses are 72 years old now. Believe it or not but I know 2 that still have the original set up with no problems. As far as the septic, most of the residents changed out the the main line when they went to sewers in the late 70's. The boiler in the kitchen was horrible. A lot of people re located it to the garage area. When gas came into the area it made for a much quieter system.
@John_Lee_8 ай бұрын
The ranch style Levitt houses used to have the hanging boilers in the kitchen and the cape style houses have the boilers under the stairs
@bendent90028 ай бұрын
My concern would be the copper pipe being routed through the concrete as in looked in that situation. Myself ida replumed the entire home in pex.
@olderdude57112 жыл бұрын
Osha. Wet trench violation 5 million fine. Lmao
@gene81722 жыл бұрын
Here in MA hardwood floors in kitchens and baths are absolutely prohibited. All floors must be impervious to water.
@danniedecker745923 күн бұрын
Gonna be more leaks later for same reason(s). Simply reroute through the attic and back down the walls.
@AlexanderRodriguez-vu3wj2 жыл бұрын
How did you know the hole was in that location?
@charlieclouse10092 жыл бұрын
Awesome video.Thank you for all of your insight and recommendations. So was the repair job covered under home owners' insurance?
@efrainrobles36102 жыл бұрын
Good companies pay for the access and tunneling but not the repair itself.
@clumsyrip49772 жыл бұрын
Heyy man great video thanks
@odavis13648 ай бұрын
Why wouldn’t you put the plumbing in the attic?
@cmackscott761 Жыл бұрын
Plumbing under a concrete slab brings to mind the Bugatti Veyron. An oil change on your Veyron cost around $21,000. That's because a mechanic has to take a ridiculous number of things apart to get to the multiple oil plugs. I believe it's over a 24-hour job just to get to the oil plugs. Was it really necessary to design the car that way? Similarly, it should be illegal, IMO to route plumbing under a section of slab over a certain size area. Now with Pex plumbing, I read that the plastic for whatever reason attracts rats. Rats have been known to chew through the pipe. My home in GA is a split level and I can get to most of the copper and PVC plumbing. One length of sewer pipe runs under the garage slab and the copper water inlet pipe runs under the front porch slab for about 5'. The sewer run could be rerouted if necessary into the sewer line for the downstairs in the crawl space. Builders should strive to build homes that are more maintenance-free. One would think that would be a major selling point for homes. The general public commonly just doesn't know very much about anything other than details related to their job and normal life-related stuff. There are unfortunately a lot of people who don't even know much about that.
@truckmetal2341 Жыл бұрын
Our cast iron sewer line is "troughing" i dont want to just replace the bad spot Its under a slab how do i replace the whole line?
@ricklee8272 жыл бұрын
I run across this quite often will abandon the lines underneath the slab and reroute them overhead and protect them from freezing I am in New York after all. Running them overhead has to be a lot less expensive than tunneling under somebody's house and breaking holes through the damn floor
@whydnot2 жыл бұрын
Literally.
@chuckley544942 жыл бұрын
you talking about pricing for this.... or in the north with full basements it cost about 100 bucks to fix or 300 for a plumber to pro press a new pipe in.
@hkk3656 Жыл бұрын
The best thing I ever did was sell my slab foundation home. Over time they ALL will leak.
@alonzomartinez78552 жыл бұрын
Hey are you hiring I'm a plumber apprentice in Dallas Texas I stay in oakcliff are you hiring
@alonzomartinez78552 жыл бұрын
Thanks man happy holidays
@littlecopperstypek73362 жыл бұрын
Rerouting is always possible and you get a hole new pipe vs 3' of pipe!
@sparkplug10182 жыл бұрын
Why'd you go in through the kitchen floor? Because we took the shortest road in and the quickest path to victory!
@manahakume98702 жыл бұрын
I dont even know what youtube hole i fell in to end up here but i cant leave... my craving for info i might never use is to great XD least I will know some info incase anything ever comes up in my house ;-;
@drockjr2 жыл бұрын
Left a comment
@plow61282 жыл бұрын
Why do your tunnel under the slab why not just jacking hammer the floor
@alonzomartinez78552 жыл бұрын
Love all your videos man keep being awesome 😎
@pjplumber21462 жыл бұрын
See. I like this channel for homeowners to come too and learn the extreme side of plumbing. Makes me seem like a genius at saving a grand or 6. Here in Tn you physically can’t tunnel. Footers are the first barrier. Then you got bedrock about $5k into the tunnel. What then? So my company will find where Hvac duct is and follow it. Radiant heat will keep pipes protected. If ya loose power. Your screwed either way. Cold travels down too. At least this way it’s just drywall. 20k will go a long way for drywall repair. Drains just have to drip out the crack on top when drain clogs. It’s literally the same as leach field at that point. You can’t possible use enough water to let a drain leak on top of pipe to wash out your pad. Or better idea. Dig a 2’ footer around perimeter. This has to be the biggest rip off process of all time. One day a moron asked “are you gonna have to tunnel in”? Then the money wheels started turning. “Yes, yes will have to find a crew. Tunnel in. Then we make a 6” repair. The tunnel guys repack the tunnel. Cha Ching. No. No I’ll find the tunnel guys and pay them. Lol
@alejandroc73572 жыл бұрын
Yup it does sound like way too much just to fix a small leak. I really hate how older homes are made. They have cast iron sewer lines that are cracked. Then you end up with a sink hole underneath your house. For the 20k plus he mentioned here. You could tear sheet rock out and just redo all of your water lines. Those copper lines are going to get another leak at some point. More $$$$$$$ for somebody. 😆
@briantheguy12 жыл бұрын
What if it was a post-tensioned slab?
@baki33jj2 жыл бұрын
Nice video. I think it was better to Repipe with new Uponor and even the leak was under slab. Just start from entry of house. Cut sheet rock and run pipes. The chipping concrete could of been saved. To replace the floor if they new was Ok but chipping the concrete and remove dirt to replace a section of a leak???. Because the money they pay for the chipping concrete and digging plus plumbing plus cover back and stamp dirt and patch concrete it would save the homeowners more money and I also understand we all need to get pay. My point of view. I see it right but there are better ways. Unless it really have no choice but to break concrete. Totally understand the floor damage but you mentioned that over 3 times ! Job clean yes very nice cover. Repair leak nice just forgot to mention or you may did but was better to replace both lines the other lines was already built up in green and specially if all that chipping and digging was for the section line of copper replacement. Makes me think???.
@JamesBrown-db9pk2 жыл бұрын
i can repipe all in pex 12k
@Demetrio_00 Жыл бұрын
why not jump a new water pex line thru the attic and wall ? instead making all that nightmare 🤔
@karlkugler13272 жыл бұрын
So I'm guessing you yall don't have e crowl spaces in Texas? Here in Ohio in crowl spaces or basements where all your piping is lol
@johnhaller58512 жыл бұрын
There is no frost line, so no excavation for the foundation necessary. Basements are less expensive to build if the foundation already has to be 4 feet underground, it’s just a matter of removing the dirt and building the rest of the basement above grade, or digging another couple of feet.
@jrbarrera5892 жыл бұрын
No wrap for the copper pipe?🤔
@metaldetectingnmore87632 жыл бұрын
Hi Roger a sincere question for you why not run all the water lines under concrete in bigger od pipe such as ABs or pvc or even thin wall pvc. So if it leaks it can be replaced without breaking concrete. When I build my house knock on wood. I will definitely do this if its slab
@hkk3656 Жыл бұрын
@MetalDetecting Nmore It's cheaper for the builder and down the line Roger would make a lot less money repairing them. Guessing that's not why you didn't get a reply from him.
@warden19952 жыл бұрын
Tunneling can be very dangerous. Unless it’s very small I’m not risking my life or anyone else’s. Something this minor isn’t bad but I’m not going to tunnel for a sewer line, there’s been to many deaths to risk that.
@robertapreston4200 Жыл бұрын
$6000 to dig a hole? No wonder plumbers have boats, big houses, expensive equipment and vehicles!!!😮😮😮goooood lord😢
@revydoer14782 жыл бұрын
20 grand?? You can repipe for less than half 🤦🏻♂️
@dmdx862 жыл бұрын
The 20K was for tunneling from outside if the customer didn’t want to make a hole in the kitchen floor. It was 7K for the hole in the kitchen. At least that’s how I understood Roger’s discussion.
@Bsquaredplus22 жыл бұрын
It would have been $20k if they tunneled from outside but it was only $7k since they went from inside.
@jaysplumbing3072 жыл бұрын
PEX IS CHEAP AND THROUGH THE WALLS FOR SURE. PLUMBERS LIKE ME WHO KNOW DRYWALLERS AND SUCH SAVE PEOPLE THOUSANDS
@ribbs4082 жыл бұрын
Why no repipe. 7k down drain and a floor repair. For it to leak again. Guaranteed income for Rodger to go out again for another 7k.
@Bsquaredplus22 жыл бұрын
@@ribbs408 insurance is paying for it
@shawnenser2610 Жыл бұрын
$20, 000.00, I'm sure a Re-Route could have been figured out for much less. 2 yrs. and you will be back for another hole in another section under the slab making another $20, 000.00.
@user-sm8zz6sf9y Жыл бұрын
Alot of "we" reference used during the digging process. All I saw was "them" doing all the work...
@RogerWakefield Жыл бұрын
“We” the company
@thankmelater2952 жыл бұрын
Code to braze coupling but not sweat?
@patrickdelapp96572 жыл бұрын
If you go underground, code will not allow you to sweat/solder the pipe. It too soft and maybe subject to pulling out if the pipe gets into to much tension. But you can braze it which is much stronger joint.
@MrHeat1up2 жыл бұрын
Ok did he say 20,000k for this job?
@RogerWakefield2 жыл бұрын
I did!
@MrHeat1up2 жыл бұрын
@@RogerWakefield is it the excavation or the actual underslab plumbing connection that cost so much? So if the homeowner dig and get to the leak you can just repair it for..... Let's say 1k 🙏🏾
@skliros92352 жыл бұрын
Insurance paid this??
@mrkrabs2.0282 жыл бұрын
hi roger
@RogerWakefield2 жыл бұрын
Hi MrKrabs2.0
@jaysplumbing3072 жыл бұрын
CALL ME!!! ILL DO IT FOR HALF THE PRICE
@anthonyurban25892 жыл бұрын
tunneling under a house....means under mining the house. just run the pipes overhead.
@davidmeadows11998 ай бұрын
Guess where all the sewer lines lie - belly repairs or leaks = tunneling
@anthonyurban25898 ай бұрын
no it does not...open the floor. dont tunnel....@@davidmeadows1199
@anthonyurban25898 ай бұрын
and run water lines overhead...
@barneydavis6869 Жыл бұрын
REROUTE, MAYBE????? I could show you a way to do this without tunneling or breaking the concrete. All you will need a some sheetrock repair.....
@user-zu3md5qz8y Жыл бұрын
why do builders have to scam homeowners, next time don't bury pipes or the homeowner will be buried by bills
@davidrobertson58813 ай бұрын
Dude, too much talk at the beginning.
@garyrobinson70508 ай бұрын
You re route 😂 Anybody that thinks different. Should not be in the business.