# A small tunnel earlier



## 504Plumber

Don't know how many here repair under slab by tunneling but down here it is typically the only way we do it. 33ft tunnel with base hole to replace section of rotten 2" washing machine line. Sorry for the crappy pics, I was brave enough to bring my iPhone under there to get the pics though.

We had to chip through a beam to get the fall on the new line.


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## Protech

Nice chipping hammer.

Looks dangerous.......


OSHA would have your nuts in a nice little formaldehyde bottle if they got wind of that.


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## Protech

The reason you couldn't go in from topside was??..........


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## rocksteady

Looks like a nightmare just waiting to unfold. I would definately go from the top.




Paul


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## TX MECH PLUMBER

You dug out all that dirt?? I'd hate to have to try that here... In the hard ass red clay Looks good tho I bet the ho was happy .... No destroying the slab


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## Titan Plumbing

Protech said:


> The reason you couldn't go in from topside was??..........


$350 for the starter hole and $250. per linear foot for tunnel...for starters...


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## Titan Plumbing

TX MECH PLUMBER said:


> You dug out all that dirt?? I'd hate to have to try that here... In the hard ass red clay Looks good tho I bet the ho was happy .... No destroying the slab


Tru dat!


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## DesertOkie

How do you back fill, blow in sand?


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## Greenguy

I've done that work when I was a second year to replace PVC drainage, the buildings were built on an old garbage dump, installed new abs and hangers. 

Longest tunnel was 300' used to work using a full face respirator, the smell was horrible from the soil and leaking sh1t pipes.... Glad I don't do that work anymore.


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## Protech

Titan Plumbing said:


> $350 for the starter hole and $250. per linear foot for tunnel...for starters...


Plus $30k to $200k in OSHA fines and cracked foundation lawsuits.

Or even a few million for the death of an employee during a cave in.


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## DesertOkie

Greenguy said:


> I've done that work when I was a second year to replace PVC drainage, the buildings were built on an old garbage dump, installed new abs and hangers.
> 
> Longest tunnel was 300' used to work using a full face respirator, the smell was horrible from the soil and leaking sh1t pipes.... Glad I don't do that work anymore.


Makes the crawl spaces here seem nice.
Any reason you tunneled or was that the selling point?


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## Michaelcookplum

PVC pipe and hangers look good!


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## 504Plumber

The reason we tunnel here is because we can, much easier to have the hole dug by someone else and repair than to bust the entire slab trying to replace the line, the ground here is very soft. Some areas down here can sink a foot or more in just a couple of years, pilings are driven at least 30ft down in most cases, so slab cracks and or collapses are unheard of when tunneling here. It is 300 for the base hole and 125 per foot on the dig. We used to have a group if "legal aliens" hand dig the tunnels about 5 years ago and started subbing them out to a hydro tunnel company that digs for us, they pump sand for the backfill. And screw OSHA, the city inspects every tunnel here and no word from OSHA breathing down their neck yet, hell, we used to just wear shorts a t-shirt and rain boots in the tunnel. Just recently we moved to chest waders due to the amount of slop. The smell you get used to.

I forgot to mention, down here tunneling is the norm for underslab repairs, the longest one we had was 175' under a bar room and the worst we had was 95' under a section 8 housing project, the amount of roaches and grease was horrible. I had about a hundred roaches fall in my lap after removing a drum trap. The company I work for has at least 1 tunnel a month, sometimes more.


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## 504Plumber

Michaelcookplum said:


> PVC pipe and hangers look good!


Thanks, hangers under slab are a female dog, drill each anchor and each hanger has all thread rod and two nuts, everything loves getting filled with sand or mud making it lovely to screw together.


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## U666A

Do me a favor, 504... Never... Never put that ball cap back on your child's head!

:laughing:

:thumbup:


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## 504Plumber

U666A said:


> Do me a favor, 504... Never... Never put that ball cap back on your child's head!
> 
> :laughing:
> 
> :thumbup:


Lol, I have cleaner work hats they steal, caught them with my saints superbowl hat the other night!!! Lucky my wife got to them first lol.


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## hroark2112

That looks like SO much fun!

I'm glad I don't have to do that. The red clay here would make it nearly impossible.


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## Airgap

Could you use a submersible to get rid of some of that liquid?


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## 504Plumber

Airgap said:


> Could you use a submersible to get rid of some of that liquid?


We pumped it out a few times actually, most of the water in there was just ground water, a good portion was poo however.


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## Airgap

504Plumber said:


> We pumped it out a few times actually, most of the water in there was just ground water, a good portion was poo however.


Yeah, i forgot how high the water table is there....Could you dig a hole and let the pump run? 

I guess you just get used to it and do your thing, and get out...:thumbsup:


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## DesertOkie

I don't think that would work here. When the dirt is wet you can dig I'm not sure of the cave in issue, when the clay is dry pain in the ass to dig. In AZ I spent 3 hours jack hammering 2 feet to get under a footer for one of the few foundation houses we had. We thought it was some old footer. We went through the dirt pile and it was only caliche. We did a lot of the pipe bursting pot holing where the connections were.


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## 504Plumber

Airgap said:


> Yeah, i forgot how high the water table is there....Could you dig a hole and let the pump run?
> 
> I guess you just get used to it and do your thing, and get out...:thumbsup:


Yeah, that's what we did, in the back of the tunnel though the ground was a lot lower, after a while the water isn't so bad.


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## Will

That's insane. I do some pretty crazy stuff, but I aint tunneling that far up under a slab.


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## Plumberman

It's pretty cool different things fly in the same state depending on what area you are in.

Here in the north part we do very little tunneling, the soil wouldn't handle it. I have tunneled a few feet before to fix a washing machine line that a hack installed on a remodel.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever have to travel for work in the state bro! 

Good job...


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## 504Plumber

Just found these on that tunnel that was extremely nasty. The piling in the picture was big around as a baseball bat.

The front where the bosses son was standing was bad, in certain spots you would sink down to your belly if you didn't watch it.


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## plbgbiz

Cleaner Magazine article from March 2010: http://www.cleaner.com/editorial/2010/03/angels-of-mercy

The photos in the magazine were impressive. Too bad they don't show up on the internet article. A company that replaced the entire main building drain under a single story nursing home. All tunnels with air inlet tunnels. The tunnels were lined with a spray coating prior to starting work and back fill was done with pumps. All OSHA and structural engineer approved

Given the ground conditions in New Orleans, how do you manage the back fill?


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## 504Plumber

plbgbiz said:


> Cleaner Magazine article from March 2010: http://www.cleaner.com/editorial/2010/03/angels-of-mercy
> 
> The photos in the magazine were impressive. Too bad they don't show up on the internet article. A company that replaced the entire main building drain under a single story nursing home. All tunnels with air inlet tunnels. The tunnels were lined with a spray coating prior to starting work and back fill was done with pumps. All OSHA and structural engineer approved
> 
> Given the ground conditions in New Orleans, how do you manage the back fill?


Honestly, we call the digging company and tell them to backfill. They pump sand back under to backfill, when we had them hand dug the tunnels were backfilled with the dirt that came out.


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## plbgbiz

The "pilings" are wood posts that support the whole structure? Or was that just temporary during construction?


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## 504Plumber

plbgbiz said:


> The "pilings" are wood posts that support the whole structure? Or was that just temporary during construction?


Permanent, they are embedded in the concrete beams and support the structure from sinkage. They usually drive them 20-30ft down, sometimes more.


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## Airgap

I think you need some of those floating houses Futz has got up there instead.....


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## plbgbiz

504Plumber said:


> Permanent, they are embedded in the concrete beams and support the structure from sinkage. They usually drive them 20-30ft down, sometimes more.


The one in the photo seemed pretty deteriorated.


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## 504Plumber

plbgbiz said:


> The one in the photo seemed pretty deteriorated.


It was, they are basically a telephone pole driven into the ground, the ones under that house were bad off from termites possibly. Some were the same diameter as the 4" cast we took out.


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## PaulW

WOW! We have tunneled under slabs but never more than 10 feet from the exterior and only on a rare occasion.


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## 504Plumber

It's odd hearing people's response to something so common down here, same response y'all get from me on trenchless sewer replacement.


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## Airgap

I guess i need to quit complaining about having to bend at the neck in a short basement.....:whistling2:


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## sikxsevn

We tunnel like that here in north texas all the time. The ground is stable enough here and the majority of the homes are post-tension beam-and-slab, so it's not going to move so long as the tunnel isn't too wide


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## Plumber patt

Oh man up north if we did that, tssa would be all over you, you may as well move to Alaska cuz they'd shut the company down for sure


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## Bayside500

no freakin way would i personally do that kinda work under those conditions, at least for what they pay me.


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## Protech

plbgbiz said:


> Cleaner Magazine article from March 2010: http://www.cleaner.com/editorial/2010/03/angels-of-mercy
> 
> The photos in the magazine were impressive. Too bad they don't show up on the internet article. A company that replaced the entire main building drain under a single story nursing home. All tunnels with air inlet tunnels. The tunnels were lined with a spray coating prior to starting work and back fill was done with pumps. All OSHA and structural engineer approved
> 
> Given the ground conditions in New Orleans, how do you manage the back fill?


Those tunnels where shored, his tunnel was not. That is the difference.


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## U666A

Protech said:


> Those tunnels where shored, his tunnel was not. That is the difference.


I read and re-read the article, PT, and read nothing about shoring...

No doubt that in my NOTW, shoring would not be considered an option, but a necessity!

Where do you gather though, that the trenches were shored? And how, more importantly, did they achieve this?

Maybe I need to read it again...


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## U666A

plbgbiz said:


> Cleaner Magazine article from March 2010: http://www.cleaner.com/editorial/2010/03/angels-of-mercy
> 
> The photos in the magazine were impressive. Too bad they don't show up on the internet article. A company that replaced the entire main building drain under a single story nursing home. All tunnels with air inlet tunnels. The tunnels were lined with a spray coating prior to starting work and back fill was done with pumps. All OSHA and structural engineer approved
> 
> Given the ground conditions in New Orleans, how do you manage the back fill?





Protech said:


> Those tunnels where shored, his tunnel was not. That is the difference.





U666A said:


> I read and re-read the article, PT, and read nothing about shoring...
> 
> No doubt that in my NOTW, shoring would not be considered an option, but a necessity!
> 
> Where do you gather though, that the trenches were shored? And how, more importantly, did they achieve this?
> 
> Maybe I need to read it again...


Nevermind PT, I'm an idiot!


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## 504Plumber

Protech said:


> Those tunnels where shored, his tunnel was not. That is the difference.


Believe you me, houses are not going to collapse from a tunnel 3ft wide under a house, my inlaws parents house is missing ~4ft of dirt under the slab and doesn't have any foundation problems. Slab houses down here have pilings. That is 4ft of dirt from the entire slab, you can look under the back of the house and see the dirt from the front yard.


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## Tommy plumber

We tunnel here, sometimes. But nothing like you do in N'aw lins, (that's New Orleans). Just the roach factor alone would probably make me look for a new profession...:laughing:

But you're earing an honest living, just be safe. By the way, do y'all test the air under those houses for combustible gases? For example if propane, which is heavier than air settled in a pocket underneath a house, that would be a dangerous situation.


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## Redwood

plbgbiz said:


> Cleaner Magazine article from March 2010: http://www.cleaner.com/editorial/2010/03/angels-of-mercy
> 
> The photos in the magazine were impressive. Too bad they don't show up on the internet article.


You can read the original article in the E-Zine version complete with pictures starting at page 78 in this link....

http://www.cleaner.com/ezine/2010/03


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## plbgbiz

Redwood said:


> You can read the original article in the E-Zine version complete with pictures starting at page 78 in this link....
> 
> http://www.cleaner.com/ezine/2010/03


Thanks Red. The pics help a lot.


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## Greenguy

the pics attached are of the tunnel work i did in the past, found them on the wifes computer.


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## 504Plumber

Greenguy said:


> the pics attached are of the tunnel work i did in the past, found them on the wifes computer.


I'm on my phone so I can't see where you're from, wish ours were as dry as that!


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## Bayside500

504Plumber said:


> I'm on my phone so I can't see where you're from, wish ours were as dry as that!


 Coquitlam, Canada


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## plbgbiz

I'm still not clear on the back fill methods.


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## ironandfire

That sh!ts amazing. You guys are plumbing heros in my book. :thumbsup:


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## 504Plumber

plbgbiz said:


> I'm still not clear on the back fill methods.


They mix sand with water and spray it under the tunnel, work their way out. When they are done it is filled with packed sand from the water packing it.


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## Greenguy

That was vancouver the town homes were built on an old garbage dump.

Most were not back filled, but they used a heavy concrete rings and a metal lid like for a man hole to seal it.


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## 504Plumber

Greenguy said:


> That was vancouver the town homes were built on an old garbage dump.
> 
> Most were not back filled, but they used a heavy concrete rings and a metal lid like for a man hole to seal it.


Might I ask what the tyvek and respirator were for? I would be in heaven with a tunnel that clean. I take it that tunnels aren't the norm up there judging by the type of hangers used?


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## Greenguy

The one pic shows the duct tape on the PVC, most of the existing pipe was leaking, the ground stank, used plywood or something similar for a floor to push buckets of material out. We could not get the employer to pay for fans or air movers so the smell down there just lingered. Before I started they weren't using respirators the guys would work 30 minutes and come out coughing with blood shot guys it wasn't pretty. 

And nothing ever got inspected on them jobs.


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## 504Plumber

Greenguy said:


> The one pic shows the duct tape on the PVC, most of the existing pipe was leaking, the ground stank, used plywood or something similar for a floor to push buckets of material out. We could not get the employer to pay for fans or air movers so the smell down there just lingered. Before I started they weren't using respirators the guys would work 30 minutes and come out coughing with blood shot guys it wasn't pretty.
> 
> And nothing ever got inspected on them jobs.


Not inspected because employer didn't get them or not required? I couldn't imagine wearing respirators down there, way too friggen hot. The smell was horrible under the first set I had, we had to run a jet in the sewer we broke loose due to stoppage, lots of crap floating around.


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## Greenguy

That company considered it a waste of time and energy, the owner built the business on drain cleaning, (he was not a plumber) because you didn't need to be ticketed to do the work. The piping that went in most of it wasn't to code, fittings in the wrong direction, too few hangers, some times the pipe was back graded, was a real mess in there.


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## 504Plumber

Greenguy said:


> That company considered it a waste of time and energy, the owner built the business on drain cleaning, (he was not a plumber) because you didn't need to be ticketed to do the work. The piping that went in most of it wasn't to code, fittings in the wrong direction, too few hangers, some times the pipe was back graded, was a real mess in there.


Almost defeats the purpose of doing that kind of work then, sounds like you have moved on for the better than?


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## Greenguy

Ya I left them about 6 months after those Picts we're taken, I wanted to get into heating, they were installing a new viesmenn boiler in their office my boss the project foreman was doing the wiring he had three zone valves and three pairs of T-stat wire coming in, the zone valves were marked but not the wires, so pulls a new set of wires for each t-stat instead of testing the wires with his multi meter. A lot of stupid stuff went on around there I was happy when I left. 

I still talk to most of the guys I worked with, and referred some drain cleaning work to them in the years since.


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## Protech

U666A said:


> Nevermind PT, I'm an idiot!


My mistake, I saw an article where they used closed cell spray foam to shore the walls of the tunnels.

I would also point out that the earth in that article was dry and compact coral/sharp sand.

The earth depicted in the OP's job looked like saturated mud that was very unstable.

I was unaware that the bond beams sit on pilings there. Even with the pilings, I wouldn't go under a house with that kind of mud on either side of me at gun point.

To each his own. I say the OP's job was a suicide mission. Glad no one died.


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## 504Plumber

Protech said:


> My mistake, I saw an article where they used closed cell spray foam to shore the walls of the tunnels.
> 
> I would also point out that the earth in that article was dry and compact coral/sharp sand.
> 
> The earth depicted in the OP's job looked like saturated mud that was very unstable.
> 
> I was unaware that the bond beams sit on pilings there. Even with the pilings, I wouldn't go under a house with that kind of mud on either side of me at gun point.
> 
> To each his own. I say the OP's job was a suicide mission. Glad no one died.


You're funny. The walls aren't going to fall down or anything, hell the only house I've heard of down here collapsing was a house they were raising.


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## c-note

under the house sounds good after seeing that


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## Redwood

c-note said:


> under the house sounds good after seeing that


Try this out...
http://www.plumbingzone.com/f3/why-post-intro-11368/


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## 504Plumber

More from one we had yesterday, 86ft with base holes, second pic is the guy I work with that shows a close-up of the hangers we use. Wasn't too bad, not too sloppy, I'll try to take more next time, we were trying to finish before 10 at night on this one. Before I get berated for those cords, everything is plugged into a gfi box before going into the tunnel with us.


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## DesertOkie

F that U B CRAZY


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## Mississippiplum

:yes:


DesertOkie said:


> F that U B CRAZY


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## 504Plumber

DesertOkie said:


> F that U B CRAZY


I know, so scared taking my iphone under there. 

p.s. The homeowner must have had a healthy corn eating diet on this one.


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## Hack

I have tunneled up under a few never more than 10 feet or so. normally i just bust a hole over the bad spot and fix it there. We try not to do any tunneling just takes too long here we have lot of clay. Last tunnel job I did we busted a 3x3 hole and tunneled about 6 feet only to run across a beam. The home owner tells me its the beam for his indoor storm shelter and its 3ft wide and goes down 8 feet... so i abandoned it and busted a hole right over the lead in his master bath. He was mad when i gave him $6500 bill but it was his call to tunnel in the first place. Told him it would be cheaper to bust a 1x1 hole in his master bath but he wasnt having it.


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## bizzybeeplumbin

I have done a couple tunnels, the last one was because a guy didnt want to cut up his new garage floor. I went under 10' to replace a comby and run new pipe back to pick up a washing machine. It was all belly work. not fun but the customer was very happy


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## 504Plumber

Just got home from another. The second picture is an up close of the hangers we use, only a small 30ft tunnel this time.


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## OldSchool

Truly unbelievable....

Really got to give it to you because I would never do it...

Nice pictures by the way


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## 504Plumber

OldSchool said:


> Truly unbelievable....
> 
> Really got to give it to you because I would never do it...
> 
> Nice pictures by the way


It's not too bad really, we wear chest waders with attached boots so the only thing that gets dirty is your arms and hands. Was getting shocked though, hammer drill must have a hole in the cord... Didn't like it one bit, thank god we had another truck there with a good one on it.


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## OldSchool

You are tougher than most guys out there...


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## MSilver




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## ChrisConnor

I bought a truck from a guy in Hollywood FLA several years ago that said they used their VacCon to tunnel under slabs for repairs. He said that some of those houses had imported marble floors that were so expensive that they'd pay anything to keep from messing them up.


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## 504Plumber

ChrisConnor said:


> I bought a truck from a guy in Hollywood FLA several years ago that said they used their VacCon to tunnel under slabs for repairs. He said that some of those houses had imported marble floors that were so expensive that they'd pay anything to keep from messing them up.


It isn't so much to keep from destroying expensive floor at all. A good bit of houses down here you would have to break up the entire slab, through beam, to replace everything. I have been in tunnels where you could crush the cast iron with your hands. Between the cost of breaking all day, somehow repairing the foundations of a slab house and keep it from not splitting at the new joint along with pipe replacement, it is simply cheaper and easier.

You are right about the vaccon truck though, that's what the company we (and a whole lot of people) sub to do the digging now. It is so much cleaner of a job to get the dirt sucked out and have sand pumped back in.


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## Turd Chaser

No confined space equipment???


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## ToUtahNow

Many years ago I represented a concrete pumper on a project where a plumber had tunneled the width of the home to replace a cast iron line. The plumber replaced the pipe and built a bulkhead at the entrance to the tunnel. My guy showed up with the pumper and the plumber ordered and paid for the slurry. The job went horribly wrong and a large section of the kitchen floor and counters were lifted 12". When I ran my camera through the new drain it looked like a roller coaster.

The plumbing company, which was once the largest franchise plumbing company in the country, filled BK at about the same time. In addition, their Insurance had paid to the limit so they had zero insurance to pay for the damage. The concrete pumper's insurance ended up paying 100% of the cost to repair the home.

Mark


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## plbgbiz

ToUtahNow said:


> ...The job went horribly wrong and a large section of the kitchen floor and counters were lifted 12". ...


WOW! That's a business owner's nightmare for sure.


Even with the best of new ideas, there is no silver bullet. I guess they operated under O'Toole's Rule: _"Murphy was an optimist"_.


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## drain surgeon

And people complain about how much plumbers charge!
Well Mrs Jones if you would like to join me in that feces filled tunnel of fun and hold my flashlight while I work I may see my way clear to a 10% discount!


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## 504Plumber

drain surgeon said:


> And people complain about how much plumbers charge!
> Well Mrs Jones if you would like to join me in that feces filled tunnel of fun and hold my flashlight while I work I may see my way clear to a 10% discount!


For some reason the customer always shuts their mouth about price when they see us go in, usually offer us anything when we come out lol.


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## user7551

504Plumber said:


> It's odd hearing people's response to something so common down here, same response y'all get from me on trenchless sewer replacement.


there is a lot of tunneling here in Texas also . I used to work for a well known company here in the dfw that would tunnel all the way through and then we would get in and hang the plumbing off drop in anchors . The back fill crew would get as much dirt back into the hole as they could then, core holes through the floor and have grout pumped into the holes to fill all the voids under the floor. It was something I wouldn't go back to doing , it was nasty ,smelly and I remember having to get into a tunnel that went 75' and tee'd off and went 50' either direction. Definately a learning experience.


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## Plumber

504Plumber said:


> For some reason the customer always shuts their mouth about price when they see us go in, usually offer us anything when we come out lol.


How much do you get paid? How much was yesterday's job?

At first blush, I said no ___ing way, but I wouldn't be able to resist doing it. Looks like fun.

Good work.


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## 504Plumber

Plumber said:


> How much do you get paid? How much was yesterday's job?
> 
> At first blush, I said no ___ing way, but I wouldn't be able to resist doing it. Looks like fun.
> 
> Good work.


I can tell you in a pm but you can figure it out easily. $125ft dig, $10ft backfill, $30-40ft pipe replacement and $25 per hanger. All hangers are required stainless steel, stainless anchors, all thread rod and nuts. I only work for the company, have been with them for 10 years, I started as a helper and eventually got my license. I get payed well and aside from the occasional blow up from my boss I like where I am at. I may ***** and moan about a tunnel but when it comes down to it, I do enjoy the work.


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## plbgbiz

504,

I can't remember if this was asked before and I'm too lazy to read the thread, so...

I am assuming you have footings on the perimeter of the slabs. Do you tunnel under them or cut out a section as an access point? If you cut it out, do you have to do anything specific putting it back (structurally speaking)?


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## 504Plumber

plbgbiz said:


> 504,
> 
> I can't remember if this was asked before and I'm too lazy to read the thread, so...
> 
> I am assuming you have footings on the perimeter of the slabs. Do you tunnel under them or cut out a section as an access point? If you cut it out, do you have to do anything specific putting it back (structurally speaking)?


They do have footings that sit on top of pilings, they dig under them and we just have to crawl under to get around them. Sometimes we have to chip a little off the bottom to get the fall right, we don't do anything to them if we have to chip them because the pilings are so close to each other, roughly 4-5 feet apart.


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## DesertOkie

Nope, I'm still getting used to the foundation crawl spaces here. I chased a 3" CI pipe 10' with a tunnel, not a fan especially for what we charge in my neck O' the woods.


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## 89plumbum

Wow 504Plumber, that's some pretty cool stuff. I'm impressed. My very first day of plumbing in 89', the boss handed me a shovel and said good luck.(he always tried to weed out slackers right away) The plumber and I tunneled for 2 weeks under a mansion in Ilseworth that one of our other plumbers totally screwed up on the underground. Thanks for the pics!:thumbsup:


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## WHTEVO

I definitely wouldn't have been doing that. Is that money worth your or your worker's life? How do you backfill that properly? We would have been saw cutting that concrete.

Aaron


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## sikxsevn

WHTEVO said:


> I definitely wouldn't have been doing that. Is that money worth your or your worker's life? How do you backfill that properly? We would have been saw cutting that concrete.
> 
> Aaron


And what about all the dust, mud, and foul smells that you create inside said occupied dwelling? And what about post tension cables, and maintaining the integrity of the slab after cutting out such a large section? 

In a number of different situations, particularly when doing service work, tunneling really is the best way to go about things. 

We tunnel a lot here in Texas, and I would much rather work under the slab in a nice roomy tunnel than have to play contortionist and work through a smaller hole through the concrete. Not to mention the mess is usually much, much, less to clean up


I can certainly understand not wanting to do the tunnel in areas with bad soil or poorly designed foundation/slabs. Around here the soil conditions and typical slab construction lends itself well to tunneling, so we do

Sent from my iPhon


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## 504Plumber

WHTEVO said:


> I definitely wouldn't have been doing that. Is that money worth your or your worker's life? How do you backfill that properly? We would have been saw cutting that concrete.
> 
> Aaron


Find me someone who died down here in the south doing a tunnel and you, sir, will get a large cookie. The soil down here does not cave in, it is very soft on the surface, hard sticky clay underneath and the houses are well supported, no danger in the house falling. I don't mind doing them, the overtime is nice, not being able to pee until you get out is not so nice...


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## AKdaplumba

You guys will be able to turn a 20 year prison sentence into 2 weeks with all that practice.


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## Paulplumb

Stuff that. Doing that round would be unthinkable. Thanks for the photos, they will make a few of the lads chuckle.


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## 504Plumber

Paulplumb said:


> Stuff that. Doing that round would be unthinkable. Thanks for the photos, they will make a few of the lads chuckle.


Is it okay with you if I read all of your posts in a british accent? I'm only guessing that is where you're from.


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## Paulplumb

Spot on 504Plumber, go ahead with the accent thing. I love the way family guy mocks the english  brilliant


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## 504Plumber

Paulplumb said:


> Spot on 504Plumber, go ahead with the accent thing. I love the way family guy mocks the english  brilliant


Hah, no offense meant. Anytime I have a feeling someone is from a different country I read their text in an accent in my head... Weird as it may be. Family guy is great.


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## 504Plumber

Another one tonight. This portion had to be done today since it was the only broken line with toilets attached. The combo broke of right in the chain wall, had to chip it and tie back in to all the old stuff.


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## Mississippiplum

Looks good to me

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


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## ibeplumber

Nutz....Never knew how much I take full basements for granted:whistling2:


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## 504Plumber

And yet another small one, boss opted not to let us chip through a 20" chain wall and cutting the rebar out for a cleanout on this kitchen..


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## 504Plumber

Yet another one we did last Friday. Did not take any after pictures, was in a rush to get off at a decent time to fry some seafood for the family!


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## Qball415

I have to hand it to y'all. Takes some fortitude to crawl under those dwellings!


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## Epox

I admire you for so much underfloor work. I've done enough to know I'd hate to do it day in day out. Everything is wet and slippery, tools get lost in the mud, cords zapping, tgi's shutting the power and lights down. Cordless tool batteries fall over and get water damage.
You the man.


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## union brother 1

Crazy.... .. . Crazy... plumbers..


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## 504Plumber

Had a 50 footer today. Cast was rotten and had 2" of rust in the pipe the whole way.


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## TallCoolOne

504Plumber said:


> Had a 50 footer today. Cast was rotten and had 2" of rust in the pipe the whole way.


What bands you using, Dallas Specialty Sheer bands?

Nice job.....


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## PLUMB TIME

F that.

Wow, kudos to you brother. Great craftsmanship but I couldn't go in there. Maybe if I was younger but not now.

Nice job.:thumbsup:


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## 504Plumber

TallCoolOne said:


> What bands you using, Dallas Specialty Sheer bands?
> 
> Nice job.....


The fernco? No idea, ask the supply house for a 3" fernco and sheer ring and we get what they stock.


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## Airgap

Yeah, that cast is good stuff.....:whistling2: *ducks head*


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## Tommy plumber

All I can say is 'Wow!' How far below sea level are you there in Naw 'lins? That's alot of digging and backfilling by hand....:blink:


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## 504Plumber

Tommy plumber said:


> All I can say is 'Wow!' How far below sea level are you there in Naw 'lins? That's alot of digging and backfilling by hand....:blink:


Depends, where I live is about 17ft above. Some areas are only a few feet below. 

We don't dig those, sub the digging out to a hydro tunneling company and they come back to blow sand in.


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## Tommy plumber

Work looks great. Performing a small job above ground with plenty of elbow room, becomes so much more work when you're crouching under a house, under a mobile home, or up in an attic, etc.


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## The bear

I give you guys credit for one hell of a job. When I was younger I thought I was invincible so the only thing I can say is do not sacrifice health for wealth. Most people when they get old would give all their wealth for health. My biggest concern for you and your crew would be the long term affect of the dust and crap on your body.


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## Tommy plumber

I was thinking the same thing. Around here before they pour a slab, the pest control man sprays all these nasty chemicals on the dirt, then they cover it with visqueen, then they pour. 

When I chip a slab to do a repair, I wonder what amount of pesticide residue I'm exposed to.


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## justme

I look at his pictures and I DO NOT miss getting in tunnels to do plumbing , not one bit.


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## hellenicsnowman

I have never seen that style of hanger before


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## plumber p

No safety considered? What was on top of concrete that you could not go from on top? Hopefully it was not heavy equipment/machinery.


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## justme

plumber p said:


> No safety considered? What was on top of concrete that you could not go from on top? Hopefully it was not heavy equipment/machinery.


Anytime a residential slab is jackhammered open ,especially for a whole house repipe its not a matter of if you will have foundation problems it a matter of how soon . Thats why a lot of insurance company's will pay for tunneling rather than cracking the slab in half.


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## 504Plumber

plumber p said:


> No safety considered? What was on top of concrete that you could not go from on top? Hopefully it was not heavy equipment/machinery.


It would cost more to bust from the top and replace underneath. Don't know if they pour beams or not up north but there are spots in the slab that are 3ft or more thick, have fun breaking through that. The cost of re-flooring the place and getting someone to clean up when the dust settles, I'll take the tunnel.


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## 504Plumber

Got an 85ft tunnel we started today. All I have to say is those old timey plumbers that were so awesome, most of them sucked (down here at least). Look how high they roughed this plumbing in. We have to chip through 6 of these beams. Got through 3 today after game planning how we were going to make this happen. Hopefully tomorrow we can have the sewer line replaced.


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## MTDUNN

504plumber said:


> got an 85ft tunnel we started today. All i have to say is those old timey plumbers that were so awesome, most of them sucked (down here at least). Look how high they roughed this plumbing in. We have to chip through 6 of these beams. Got through 3 today after game planning how we were going to make this happen. Hopefully tomorrow we can have the sewer line replaced.


tnt?


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## justme

504Plumber said:


> Got an 85ft tunnel we started today. All I have to say is those old timey plumbers that were so awesome, most of them sucked (down here at least). Look how high they roughed this plumbing in. We have to chip through 6 of these beams. Got through 3 today after game planning how we were going to make this happen. Hopefully tomorrow we can have the sewer line replaced.



You the PLUMBER, I definitely don't miss that kind of work. :no:


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## Rando

I love threads like these.
I need an occasional reminder as to why i quit doing service and moved to new commercial. :thumbsup:


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## 504Plumber

Finally finished. This tunnel was hell, I'm going to see if I can get a few better pictures in the morning. The rods you see are 10", the entire sewer line ran to the back of the house around 6-10" off the slab.


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## MTDUNN

And that is how to install waste pipe in the bat cave


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## Plumberman

MTDUNN said:


> And that is how to install waste pipe in the bat cave


Lol


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## Cajunhiker

Nice work 504. Worst part has to be getting all of that cast iron out, especially the portions embedded in cement.
Weird thing is over here in Lafayette, a mere 140 miles from NOLA, no tunneling that I'm aware of. Guess not a lot of cast iron or clay pipe under slabs over here
Btw, my understanding is those jobs end up costing the customer $15k-$25k, sometimes more. Guessing HO insurance kicks in, that's one reason it's done so frequently in the Big Easy.
Who Dat


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## 504Plumber

Cajunhiker said:


> Nice work 504. Worst part has to be getting all of that cast iron out, especially the portions embedded in cement. Weird thing is over here in Lafayette, a mere 140 miles from NOLA, no tunneling that I'm aware of. Guess not a lot of cast iron or clay pipe under slabs over here Btw, my understanding is those jobs end up costing the customer $15k-$25k, sometimes more. Guessing HO insurance kicks in, that's one reason it's done so frequently in the Big Easy. Who Dat


Yeah about that. Most insurance companies are wanting to not cover tunnels at all anymore unless it does damage in the house from stopping up. Even if they do cover something they may only cover the digging, which in this case may not have been the most expensive part.


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## 504Plumber

I took some pictures of the picture I took for the inspector of the complete conglomeration of crap in the back. We had to re-route the plumbing because they had it hooked up wrong and falling backwards.


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## Plumberman

WHO DAT

Good job as always sir!

From your north Louisiana ******* brotha..


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## MTDUNN

Looking good, want to move to Oregon? The weather is great


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## 504Plumber

Plumberman said:


> WHO DAT Good job as always sir! From your north Louisiana ******* brotha..


We dat! Made me so happy to smoke da bears. Went up there for the NFC championship game a few years back, the fans were beligerant. They wanted to fight us at a gas station when we were leaving...

Would love to come up to Oregon, bet it feels a lot better than %400 humidity year round.


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## Leach713

Nice work

Out here we also do Tunnels jobs 
I use Clevis hangers and quick bolts anchors 
Drop in anchors and tear drop hangers are no no in my company we also use 135lb of torque clamp all bands ss jackets


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## 504Plumber

It's not tear drop we use, do use drop in anchors but everything is stainless, 1/4" stainless rod all nuts and hangers are stainless. The hangers we use under slab are far superior to tear drop and clrevis, once it's locked in and tight you cannot move it at all.

What part of the country are you from?


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## TX MECH PLUMBER

We call those riser clamps


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## 504Plumber

TX MECH PLUMBER said:


> We call those riser clamps


Some of them resemble riser clamps but the single rod hangers I don't think you could call a riser clamp.


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## TX MECH PLUMBER

I mean the ones in ur last pics this are riser clamps rite ?


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## 504Plumber

They look like it but no, they're more of a stainless 2 hole strap. I'll see if I can get a pic Monday of the different hangers we use.


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## TX MECH PLUMBER

Cool


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## Leach713

I'm in Texas and wow ss rod that pretty neat but I bet heavy on the pockets too and we only use 3/8 all thread our Clevis hanger are heavy duty too


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## wyrickmech

504Plumber said:


> Some of them resemble riser clamps but the single rod hangers I don't think you could call a riser clamp.


w use split ring riser clamps a lot but you have to have your elevation right on the money.


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