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Locating main water line into home for sprinkler installation

Locating main water line into home for sprinkler installation


  #1  
Old 06-20-16, 09:47 PM
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Locating main water line into home for sprinkler installation

After struggling with our lawn for 2 summers, the wife has convinced/demanded we redo the entire landscape and install lawn sprinklers.

We've had a few landscapers out, as well as a plumber (for an unrelated call initally). All were perplexed at how the main water line enters the home.

The main water valve is in an access port in the middle of our concrete driveway ramp, adjacent to the street/sidewalk. There are no visible pipes in the crawl space underneath the front porch or on the sides of the house. I am going to assume it is buried somewhere? Hopefully not going the whole length of our concrete driveway and garage.

For a 2 year home, the builder was unhelpful, telling us they have no record of how the plumbing was done and that landscape companies have the means to find it. I was hopeful that the plumbing subcontractor would know, but it appears they have gone out of business.

What type of company is able to track down the water line route?
 
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Old 06-20-16, 10:01 PM
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You should be able to find it inside the house. There should be a house shutoff valve at that location.

Where is the water meter ?
Since you're in a cold zone.... the meter should be inside the house.

To track a metal line underground you'd use a type of metal detector.
 
  #3  
Old 06-20-16, 10:15 PM
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Thanks for commenting.

Yes, I can find the main water line inside the home which has the water shutoff valve (as well as the pressure reducer adjustment screw). That is in a utility room in the basement (which is also where the gas water heater and furnace are). I've tried tracking that pipe outdoors but just disappears in the ceiling of that closet. I would have to guess it enters somewhere in that corner of the house?

The water meter is actually in the access port outdoors, in the hole in the driveway! I'll provide some photos later.

EDIT:
Here is the indoors valve, for what it's worth
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Last edited by Waylo; 06-20-16 at 10:43 PM.
  #4  
Old 06-20-16, 11:07 PM
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Not a sprinkler expert but I would assume they would be connected after the inside shut off valve and you know that location. They might even be connected to an outside spigot. I don't see a reason to trace the line to the street.
 
  #5  
Old 06-21-16, 06:46 AM
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I'd call your water company and tell them to come out and scope it for you. They have tools for that, you know. Also, you likely can find this in house plans. It cost me $24 to get entire set of plans for everything from my HUD office.
But I also had a guy, before irrigation install, to come with some sort of a wand and mark all and any lines in the property. That's what you want to do.
As unrelated note, I spent all the money to have it installed, but a) result was not as expected lawn wise and b) when I got my first $420 water bill for very moderate watering, 10 minutes twice a day per station, I reconsidered my vanity and decided that it's a lawn, not saving account investment. SO I let it be. Except that now, after not used for several years, I am stuck with yearly inspection and backflow preventer check. I actually called county and asked do I still have to do this when not using irrigation, they told me that after it's built, yes, I do.
 
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Old 06-21-16, 08:52 AM
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The water meter is actually in the access port outdoors, in the hole in the driveway!
I was under the impression that water meters were always inside in a cold/freezing zone.
I'm curious as to what keeps your meter and semi exposed piping from freezing in the winter.
 
  #7  
Old 06-21-16, 10:33 AM
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I think the plumber was a bit perplexed by the arrangement of the outdoor plumbing as well. I'll try tracking down some of the leads suggested here.

@ukrbyk, what kind of "guy" specifically did you use to mark all your lines?
 
  #8  
Old 06-21-16, 12:09 PM
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Pete, just FYI. In my part of Ohio we do get temps below zero in the winter. All current meters are outdoors - underground. They replaced mine a few years ago with one that sends out a signal so the meter reader just drives past and it registers in his/her vehicle.
 
  #9  
Old 06-21-16, 12:24 PM
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I called the water company and they transferred me to the utilities 'call before yo u dig' hotline to get lines marked. That was nice.

But then at the end of getting that arranged, the recorded message politely mentions that the utilities usually won't mark private property, just up to the meters. Haha, so that doesn't get me much further.

They did provide a list of private locate companies in my area, so that's something I didn't have before.
 
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Old 06-21-16, 04:24 PM
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Still don't know why you need to know. First off if a sprinkler company does the work it is their problem. If you do the work just connect to a known point on your water line after the house cut off valve.
 
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Old 06-21-16, 06:55 PM
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My sprinkler installer called utilities and had "a guy" come over and mark ALL lines in the property, so that installer does not cut through them.
It was extra, hundred something bucks.
You should not be much concerned with meter, you should be concerned with underground lines and water pressure.
 
  #12  
Old 06-21-16, 09:56 PM
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Funny how my earlier response here got deleted. As I wrote earlier, the problem is that of the many landscaper+sprinkler companies we've interviewed, none have stepped up with the knowledge of how they plan to get it done. Something for me to include in the final contract, I'm sure.

Thanks @ukrbyk for your notes. Definitely will be paying attention to those issues in this project.
 
 

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