Streetside Incoming 1" copper pipe crushed by contractors

branimal · 1:04AM

I'm having my basement slab redone and the contracter crushed my incoming water pipe with his demo hammer. It's not leaking…. yet. At first he tried to deny it was his doing. But the shiny copper is a dead give away. See pics. The repair sleeve was already there. This is in the areaway (the outside entrance to the basement). My main cutoff is inside the house.

I'm in an old brooklyn rowhouse and we could not find a street cutoff on the sidewalk or the street. According to AI, older homes don't have cutoffs at the curb (buried under the sidewalk with access thru a hole in the ground). I only see cutoffs on new houses and some renovated houses.

I started calling around to plumbers and I've got one coming tomorrow. The contractor also has a contractor coming by.

Kitchen sink pressure seems ok. But based on the crush I can only imagine how bad it will be with multiple fixtures running. This is a 3-family building.

Sweating bullets here. Any advice is appreciated.

FWIW - I've paid 40% of the slab quote. And they are pouring the basement tomorrow knowing they are not getting paid until my pipe is repaired. So good on them.

I've read a tool like WHEELER-REX Pipe Shut Off Tool could crimp the pipe and then re-round it. Also should I ask for flare fittings or will propress be adequate. I heard sweating couplings is not recommended for buried city mains.

hot_rod · 1:12AM

a plumber with a freeze cuff can easily handle that. You need to expose the tube to find the undamaged section to splice. Flare couplings are the correct fitting.

It must be fixed, flow velocity through that deformation will wear the tube wall through

mattmia2 · 1:40AM

since it is copper it is about 1930's or newer and probably post wwii. did you contact the utility to locate the curb stop? there likely is one but it may have been buried when someone regraded or did flatwork. as @hot_rod said, freezing is certainly an option.

branimal · 1:55AM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1895978#Comment_1895978

AI—→

Not every Brooklyn townhouse currently has a functioning or accessible curb stop (sidewalk valve) for water. While required for new, replaced, or upgraded water lines under NYC DEP rules, many older properties do not have them. In such cases, the only, or main, water shut-off is often the "wet tap" connection to the city water main itself.

Each property has its own dedicated connection point, known as a wet tap or tap connection, located directly on the city water main.

Individual Isolation: This tap acts as your personal "off switch" at the street main. It allows the city or a plumber to shut off only your home's water without impacting the rest of the block.
Location: If you don't have a curb stop, this connection is typically located about four feet underground beneath the roadway.
Professional Required: Because this valve is deep under the street and often requires excavation, you cannot operate it yourself. You must hire a licensed master plumber to handle the digging and shut-off.

mattmia2 · 2:02AM

the utility is the one that will know what their policy is and was. since it is copper it isn't super old, if the building is older than the 30's the original would have been steel or lead.

hot_rod · 3:06AM

Corrosion to copper, really any metal tube is greatly accelerated when you have aggressive soil, and moisture, the electrolyte.

Based on the roots, they must be a source of moisture? Maybe that repair band?

Any way to reroute it above the slab,

mattmia2 · 3:30AM

looks more likely that it was damaged and someone used a repair clamp that is leaking and has corroded it.

btw steel was sometimes used for services in to the 50's or so and lead in to the 80's so that is likely after 1950 but copper tubing like that became available around 1930.

Streetside Incoming 1" copper pipe crushed by contractors

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