Leak in Bellingham Driveway

 It's that time of year when yards and driveways get dug up to replace the leaking water pipe.

Bellingham Water

Bellingham Water pipe

Fall in Bellingham

Not much of a summer, all told. I sincerely hope we have a mild winter...

Some people took advantage of the slightly warmer weather to get those not-so-little plumbing jobs done, though.

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Bellingham Wa Barkley Plumbing

Sudden Valley, Wa Water Pipe

This was a bad leak that made the water meter spin like crazy. After digging a new 150 foot ditch from the meter to the house, we never saw a drop of water from the leak. Sudden Valley---Whatcom County---has its peculiarities, to be sure.

Sudden Valley Water Service

This gas shut-off was being used as a water shut-off on a very nice home next to the Sudden Valley golf course. We found it while replacing the water service--the pipe from the water meter to the house.

Notice the narrow opening in the valve. All these years this 3 bathroom house was suffering with an undersized water service and a gas shut-off.

We installed a proper water service and a full port ball valve.

House is happy, homeowners are happy, plumbers are happy, but a little sad some numby installed it in the first place.

Forgot the pipe wrench

Look closely at the rust colored thing in the picture. That's a pipe wrench that was left when they installed the water meter 10 years ago. All that water in the hole is normal ground water.

If water can rust out a pipe wrench that badly, imagine what water does to pipes in the ground.

More pics of water service in Alger, WA

When I first looked at this job, it was raining, so the issue of ground water wasn't. But it was, big time.  We had to build a dam and use a pump in order to reconnect to the water meter. Sounds easy, but it ate up the man hours. The ground itself was more rock than dirt, too. It took a crew of three over 20 hours (60 hours total) to get it done, but it got done.

The old water service (the pipe from the water meter to the house) was a patch work of pvc, poly, copper, galvanized steel, and brass ranging in size from 1/2" to 1-1/2"  in diameter. Now it's all one kind and size from the meter to under the house.

There are some very happy tenants in Alger, Washington.

Water Main in Alger

This is the current project. More on it later.

Bellingham Water Line

The pipe between that brings your water from the meter (or shut-off near the street) to your house is called the water service. Frequently, this pipe leaks and if you pay by the drip, the leak can be very costly.

This job was for a small office in Bellingham. Their water bill was $250.00 a month, easily triple the normal amount. The customer got a few quotes that were....creative. I quoted then a fair price for a hard job and solved the problem quickly.

Sorry for the poor quality photos. I'm saving up (yea, right) for a new camera or phone. The new service was 80' long.