size/type of pipe

[glenn]

I need to renew the stopcock in my 1970's house. However, the rising main is black plastic and is certainly bigger than 15mm. I phoned the council (who I bought the house from) and they didn't really know much about the size of pipe or whereI could buy the right size fittings. They said it is likely to be alkathene??? (unsure of spelling). Does anyone else have any ideas on this material and the likely size of the rising main?

thanks glenn

[Lori & Dean Wigmore]

If you're replacing the main shutoff to your house, and your water is supplied by the municipality, you will need to get them to come and shut the water off. This may be a job worth hiring a professional for, as they will be able to recognize the type of material they are dealing with, and the appropriate fittings to use.

Dean

[Blackbeard]

Replacing your water supply is what most of us consider one of our "gravy" jobs. It seems big and difficult...just scary enough to ensure homeowners are willing to shell out top dollar for us to fix their problem water supply.

First..get underground utilities located so you don't take out a gas line or power main. Most guys will use a trencher. But I'm a lazy bastard. I don't dig. So I hire a backhoe to come out and dig everything up for me...replace the pipe...wham bam...done. At $60/hour for the backhoe guy, I don't mind allowing the homeowner to shell out an extra $180 to make my job easier.

As for the type of pipe already in the ground...who gives a shit. Replace it all. Right off the yoke at the meter (in my municipality) all you have to do is screw in a male pex adapter and run pex the whole damn way. Again...wham bam...done.

And yes, I personally prefer copper. There's a lot of stuff I do out in the field that I don't necessarily do the way I want to do it. I'm not going to spend extra money for more expensive materials. Pex is in the code book. Pex is acceptable in my municipality. So that's what i use unless the customer wants to pay for something better.

[Lori & Dean Wigmore]

So you'd dig up this guy's yard just to change the shutoff in the house?

Dean

[Blackbeard]