# It’s broken



## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

Customer is in the middle of a whole home remodel, had sewer line back up and flood out the first floor the day after the wood floors went in. Ran the camera through the line for toilet and found a break. Also ran the camera through another clean out from the back of the house and upstream is holding water. Hopefully for them it’s still stopped up from the break.


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## rooterboy (Jul 16, 2009)

What is that a picture of crushed pipe?


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

rooterboy said:


> What is that a picture of crushed pipe?


Yeah looks like the wye where toilet ties into the main drain of the house snapped. Couldn’t really get a good angle with the camera to see the top of the pipe.


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## dhal22 (Jul 30, 2010)

This job is about to get approved for the 'he (us) who digs holes thread.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

Well folks, customer approved the work. We will be breaking through the slab tomorrow morning, digging down and tunneling to the break. The way the house is laid out, the back side of that bathroom is a large formal living room and we will be working in there. More room for the dirt than the bathroom.
Typically, I prefer to tunnel from the outside of the house, less clean up, less repairs on flooring etc. for customer but they have removed the brand new flooring already so it doesn’t make sense to go from the exterior of the home. Will try to post pics of the job as it progresses.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

dhal22 said:


> This job is about to get approved for the 'he (us) who digs holes thread.


There definitely will be a hole.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Blue2 said:


> Well folks, customer approved the work. We will be breaking through the slab tomorrow morning, digging down and tunneling to the break. The way the house is laid out, the back side of that bathroom is a large formal living room and we will be working in there. More room for the dirt than the bathroom.
> Typically, I prefer to tunnel from the outside of the house, less clean up, less repairs on flooring etc. for customer but they have removed the brand new flooring already so it doesn’t make sense to go from the exterior of the home. Will try to post pics of the job as it progresses.


How much was the quote???


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

sparky said:


> How much was the quote???


$5500 and change.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

through the slab now. Going down about three to four feet then tunnel another 4’


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

Don't you need a Bigger hole to crawl though ?


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

Blue2 said:


> Customer is in the middle of a whole hole remodel...



I was really confused about this "hole" remodel, but now that I see the hole it makes perfect sense.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Blue2 said:


> $5500 and change.


Just my opinion but this is more like ten grand job plus change


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## rooterboy (Jul 16, 2009)

I have never crawled under a slab to fix a drain?


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

plbgbiz said:


> I was really confused about this "hole" remodel, but now that I see the hole it makes perfect sense.


Yeah typo. I fixed the original post. But I meant home


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

MACPLUMB777 said:


> Don't you need a Bigger hole to crawl though ?


Typically the opening of holes like this is 4’x4’ with the actual tunnel being close to that unless there is a beam that we go under.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

sparky said:


> Just my opinion but this is more like ten grand job plus change


For just going through the slab and 4’ tunnel? $5k is about average for my area. Some companies are closer to $10k but they are overpriced for this area.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

rooterboy said:


> I have never crawled under a slab to fix a drain?


Where are you located? I’m in north Texas. Most homes are slab on grade. Many older homes are pier and beam but I don’t really see them too often.
The pipe or fitting is crushed so with what we have the only way is to tunnel. We don’t do any pipe lining yet


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## rooterboy (Jul 16, 2009)

San Diego California, i just thought you would bust up or saw cut the slab dig it up and repair than backfill compact and patch?
I guess less work to tunnel under but could it collapse? And will it settle and crack in the future with the tunneling and backfilling? We have lots of slab on grade and Post and beam homes here.


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## rooterboy (Jul 16, 2009)

Are you doing it this way to save the bathroom form any demo?


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

Blue2 said:


> through the slab now. Going down about three to four feet then tunnel another 4’
> View attachment 132406



I have heard of guys tunneling under a slab before to 
make repairs -- my dad had tendencies like this and he just loved to dig holes
with just shovels.....

so what are you anyway.... 
a fuc/ing groundhog?????


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## MACPLUMB777 (Jun 18, 2008)

Down here in So. Texas to my surprise they do that all the time on slab they tunnel in from the outside,
because the ground here has mostly Limestone, so it expands and contracts when we have heavy rains 
or the summer heat, the CI. pipes fail all the time


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

rooterboy said:


> San Diego California, i just thought you would bust up or saw cut the slab dig it up and repair than backfill compact and patch?
> I guess less work to tunnel under but could it collapse? And will it settle and crack in the future with the tunneling and backfilling? We have lots of slab on grade and Post and beam homes here.


The branch for the toilet goes to the back side of the bathroom and connects to the main drain. I located it with the camera and we did slab penetration almost directly on top of the line. Tunneled a bit to have room to make repairs to the wye.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

rooterboy said:


> Are you doing it this way to save the bathroom form any demo?


The bathroom is not very big. There is a toilet and lavatory. There was no room to put all the excavated material. Also, the line came out the back of the bathroom to a large living room where there was room for dirt and better access to the drain.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

Master Mark said:


> I have heard of guys tunneling under a slab before to
> make repairs -- my dad had tendencies like this and he just loved to dig holes
> with just shovels.....
> 
> ...


I always think of the movie holes. Specifically the part where they say the kid eats the dirt.

This is a pretty common practice in this area. I prefer to tunnel from The outside so we can make sure slope is good and nothing is done inside but the customer had the insurance pay for most of it so it had to be inside the house.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

MACPLUMB777 said:


> Down here in So. Texas to my surprise they do that all the time on slab they tunnel in from the outside,
> because the ground here has mostly Limestone, so it expands and contracts when we have heavy rains
> or the summer heat, the CI. pipes fail all the time


In north tx it’s mostly a mix of clay. Expansion and contraction of the soil and movement of the slab causes most of these issues.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

The hub on the street 45 broke clean off cut out the fitting, and put in the combo. Tested everything and there were no other leaks on the sewer lines. Back filled and pour concrete. Job completed


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## rooterboy (Jul 16, 2009)

Nice job thanks for posting pictures, and explaining why you did it that way.


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## sparky (Jan 8, 2014)

Blue2 said:


> For just going through the slab and 4’ tunnel? $5k is about average for my area. Some companies are closer to $10k but they are overpriced for this area.


This is a lot of digging and backfilling,a lot of work I would have charged more just saying


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

sparky said:


> This is a lot of digging and backfilling,a lot of work I would have charged more just saying


That job total was only 35% expenses. I could have charged more but I am doing a slab leak at least twice a week. I’m good.


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## OpenSights (Mar 23, 2015)

Years ago, before I worked for a licensed plumber, the outfit I worked for was ”cleaning only”. We got a call about a sewer smell in a bottom apartment that the maintenance guys couldn’t figure out. A coworker pulled the toilet to video. The camera dropped into a void under the slab.

This apartment complex was known to take a long time to pay. So my boss quoted them something ridiculous like $14k. Once we had a 1 1/2 X 2’ I was the one sent into the cave to replace a 4x2 wye. I’m 6’ and could stand up. Three ferncos three foot of pipe total and one fitting. I told my boss we should fill the cavern with sand at least. Nope. Just repair the floor.

I think the job took about a total of 8 hours not including the video. That was at the end of my time with that guy. I ended up being fired for the first time in my life. Boss caught wind that I was looking for a new job. I went from 50-69 hours a week to 20. Maybe 30 if I was on call. One weekend he showed up and said “here’s all your tools. I wont fight unemployment.” I ran his company at least a third of the year, off and on.
So I walked across the street to my neighbor’s house, who was a licensed plumber and said “Hey if you need help, let me know.” That’s when I started learning real plumbing. I ended up leaving him, starting my business and working for his master.


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## Blue2 (12 mo ago)

OpenSights said:


> Years ago, before I worked for a licensed plumber, the outfit I worked for was ”cleaning only”. We got a call about a sewer smell in a bottom apartment that the maintenance guys couldn’t figure out. A coworker pulled the toilet to video. The camera dropped into a void under the slab.
> 
> This apartment complex was known to take a long time to pay. So my boss quoted them something ridiculous like $14k. Once we had a 1 1/2 X 2’ I was the one sent into the cave to replace a 4x2 wye. I’m 6’ and could stand up. Three ferncos three foot of pipe total and one fitting. I told my boss we should fill the cavern with sand at least. Nope. Just repair the floor.
> 
> ...


That’s wild. There are a lot of bad people out there. Glad to hear you found someone who was able to teach you.


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