I believe I have a break in the water line coming in from the street over at my rental property. The line comes in under the sidewalk which cracked not long after the village put new ones in and it has been heaving ever since. The line in the house comes in under a crawl space maybe 10 feet from the foundation. I’ve had the water shut off inside as we have no renters and we’ve been renovating. I went in to check on the house the other day and noticed water trickling down the block by the main. I called the village to make sure they had the water off at the street. (It was supposed to be off as I had no heat to the house). They came and turned it off and the worker said he could hear water flowing. He said it sounded close to the foundation and that the box did not have water in it.
How do I figure out where the leak is? Do I dig up the concrete? I really don’t want to have to dig out the crawl space as some house supports are placed there and I fear it will weaken those supports.
I am not a contractor, strictly a DIY. I do have a GC advising and helping with the renovation. I haven’t talked with him yet. Figured I’d get some help from the collective wisdom and the experience of the Pros here first.
Thanks.
Edited 3/24/2007 9:14 am ET by sano888
Replies
I've found mine by soft wet spots in the yard. Kind of obvious but this doesn't seem the case for yours.
My first thought in reading your post was that you might as well just start digging. If the water line is relatively old, you'll likely want to replace it rather than just patching it.
Otherwise you'll be doing this again all too soon. And probably with unhappy renters in the house.
If the worker turned the water off and said that it sounds like a leak in the line, the water is not off!, but if you have water trickling down a "block" near the main you have a leak somewhere in that area, lots of luck.
"If all else fails, read the directions"
Water can travel great distances underground. A Habitat house here had a "wet basement" problem that turned out to be a break in the line at the tap on the main. Water was traveling 30-40 feet to the house, rapidly enough to keep the sump pump running every five minutes.
But you say the water was "trickling down the block by the main." Do you mean by this that the water was in the street or in the "boulevard" where the main is? It seems odd that water would be there and not in the box, yet have a leak near your house.
Where is the meter? Was the meter registering water use?
The leak was trickling out from the block where the main enters the house. The main splits into two lines with a meter on each line. I had all the old galvanized plumbing torn out so I had both lines turned off at the meters. I called the village to make sure they had turned it off at the street as I could not use it in the house and didn't want any lines to freeze. They had not turned it off and when they came to do it, he heard the water. I could not hear it or at least didn't notice it from inside the house. With it being under concrete there are no soft spots but that concrete has a crack that runs the length of the front of the house, maybe 27 feet. It's gap is half inch to an inch in places and it has heaved about the same distance in places.
My guess is that I'm just going to have to start digging. Being an amatuer, I didn't know if there might be a trick or a device that could help to pinpoint the possible leak.
I didn't know if there might be a trick or a device that could help to pinpoint the possible leak.a sharp shovel
A sharp shovel huh? I'll get my wife right on that. She has Sunday's off.
If it's an older type galv. main, just abandon it and run a new main. After you've determined that you actually do have a leak of course. If your lucky enough to have a main shut off in the house, then shut it down. Also all of your fixtures should be down. Then check your meter, it should not be moving. Register the reading and come back the next day and take a new reading. If it is different, then you have a leak.
there are a number of companies, at least here in S. California that do 'leak detection' for a resonable fee. much easier than invasive surgery. look in local directory under 'leak detection'.
orbs