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  • Page 10 of 15 FirstFirst ... 78910111213 ... LastLast
    Results 181 to 200 of 296

    Thread: New build 20-25k Gallons in PA

    1. #181
      koiman1950's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by vipertom1970 View Post
      Mike, just the thought of doing 20K-25K gallon pond next to a house without some type of proper design or retaining walls will result in a bigger problem down the road.......no harm intended, the city standard for retaining wall design is free and the APWA standard for masonry retaining wall is free.
      Yes, the items you mention are free. It was the suggestion of using "pre-engineered" retaining walls. I thought you were talking about the "pre-fab" retaining walls, like you see used on the sides of freeways and such!lol So, never mind my attempt at humor there. Just a kinda "senior moment" is all!lol
      Mike

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    2. #182
      sevenspeed is offline Senior Member
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      Progress report. I can go hour by hour if you want...

      Found and repaired first missed glue joints. But that just leads you to the next leak. I have one (and just one) BD holding with a few psi drop per minute. The next most obvious leak is the PVC-> ABS transition at the Koi Toilet. I would bet they did not use the proper transition glue here. Mechanically the toilet is not moving. I can't rotate it, etc.

      After that rant, here is my question: How can I seal these toilets without destroying them? Figure the correct answer is to buy new toilets, cut the pipe, and re-glue (properly). That is not an option for me. Anything that would reliably repair these from either inside our outside of the pipe? Wrap them in hydraulic cement?

      Off to troubleshoot the next BD. Just 20 more pipes to go...

    3. #183
      sevenspeed is offline Senior Member
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      Would all of you like to see pictures of bubbles coming from the bad joints, or are the words enough?

      Keep in mind the same 'plumbers' were also the 'rebar crew' , 'concrete crew' , and 'decorative rock people ' -- At least they are consistent at being the worst at everything they do.

      I really do need some advice on these failed bottom drain connections though!

    4. #184
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      Any chance you can just encase them in hydraulic cement or with the cement pour tomorrow?

    5. #185
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      West Marine sells Rescue Tape for pipe seal leaks.
      http://www.westmarine.com/rescue-tec...pe--P010975209
      Could you wrap the pipe at the leak and then incase in the hydraulic concrete?
      Noma Koi
      My pond build


      Zone 8b

    6. #186
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      Just back inside to vent a bit more. The pipes are already doing that for me, but...

      I am digging down to more and more joints that just are not glued. Nothing. No primer. Nothing. My procedure is to cap the ends, put the air on full, and listen for the leaks. Even underground they travel up the pipe and you can tell which end to begin excavating. The frustration is when you have repaired three joints, only to find the next one needs to be unearthed as well. Each pipe is a surprise. Will it have two unglued joints or six? I am on one now that is missing six so far. Unbelievable.

      For the bottom drains I am planning to cut them out tomorrow when I have a bit more light and patience. Tonight I have to fix the big leaks. The plan is to cut them close to the bell, and take them 'to the bench' where I can work on them. I'll extract the PVC and grind for a few hours until the bells are perfect inside. It will take some time. Then I'll stub in a short piece of ABS with full ABS glue. Then I'll use coupler with transition glue where I can control the quality of the joint. Thoughts from the plastics gurus?

    7. #187
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      Does this forum have a scream-out-loud button? Every pipe labeled incorrectly. Every pipe leaks. I am digging so much that I might abandon these pipes in the ground and run a new trench. Several hundred feet of 4" SCH 40 with huge bell mouths. I don't know how you can get these wrong. Idiots.

    8. #188
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      Sun is up. Still digging. Crew here any time now.

    9. #189
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      keep up the good work it will all come together

    10. #190
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      wow I feel bad for you. Hopefully you will get it done the right way. Good luck.
      Click for Southgate, Michigan Forecast

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    11. #191
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      Wow - i just read your entire thread. What started with so much hope & enthusiasm took a really bad turn. I am sooooo sorry for all the troubles you're experiencing. Who ever you hire to redo everything - keep in mind that you should trust but verify! Ask them if they've leaked tested the pipes before covering them (that's usually a good practice), etc...

      I look forward to a future pic of you sitting on the deck with a cold drink in your hand listening to the soothing sounds of the water and watching your beautiful fish swim by.... Hang in there...

    12. #192
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      I am repairing all of the plumbing myself and leak testing myself. Let me say: it is an amazing feeling when you know you have perfectly repaired every joint in a pipe and the pressure needle does not budge. I have two 4" pipes complete. ( 4 BD's, 2 TPRS, & 3 Skimmers in 4", plus a heap of 2". So I have 2/9 4" complete now) I could have done this from scratch much faster. I just found another batch of bad seams, and fortunately I used 20' pipe and one excavation accesses several pipes at once. I am hopeful that everything under the shell will be done before the concrete arrives. The skimmers are all bad, but those are under my day #2 pour. With Redbull, this is possible.

      Now why are my koi toilets laying upside down in my driveway? Wait until I share the pictures of their attempts at gluing. Tragic. The glue was set and they hammered them on. The glue is shaved and stacked inside the pipe.

    13. #193
      rbarn is offline Senior Member
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      Only women and babies need sleep !
      You can sleep when you're dead ?
      Maybe they can just go ahead and bury you Hoffa style in the pond ?

      Keep at it bud.
      Currency units are a media of exchange and not a store of wealth

    14. #194
      Pond James_Pond's Avatar
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      Good plan on the BD's. Stub in some ABS with copious amounts of slathery black goo. Then use transition for the PVC/ABS.

      RED BULL RED BULL

      steve

    15. #195
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      I'm so sorry this happened to you, but it sounds like you are making good progress and you will have peace of mind knowing it is done correctly. I am super anal about stuff so this would have made me crazy, I've had people ask why my husband doesn't help me more with my build and it is not that he won't or can't, it is that he knows that I have a vision of what I want and I want it done a certain way. I just glued up my Koi toilets a couple of days ago and it took me an hour to stare at them and freak out that I was going to mess them up and about 10 minutes to actually do it. Watch your builders like a hawk and make sure you get what you want! Good luck, I hope everything else goes smoothly for you!

      Cheryl

    16. #196
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      Concrete is flowing right now... I have five of the 4" lines repaired now. I am barely keeping ahead of the concrete crew! I have bottom drains again, full rebar, and a nice healthy bond beam despite being a liner pond. I hope I have a good picture to share at the end of the day. The 'shame on you' pictures I have collected today are unbelievable. I'll be posting those, too.

    17. #197
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      Some good news, some bad news. The good news is that this crew is amazing. The concrete they are pouring looks great. The rebar is all chaired properly, the pours are thick and consistent, they don't walk through their own work to ruin it like the other guys, they clean up when done for the day -- oh, and they even clean up their tools. [ you can't believe how thick and crusted and awful the other co's tools looked. Heavy? No wonder they could not keep up. ]

      The bad: To keep pace, I had to allow them to cover a BD that is not passing the pressure test. It is not the toilet or any of the first fittings in line; all of the new ABS work yesterday went perfect. This one is in a fitting under the main 'trunk' of more than 20 lines heading to the filter pit. So I had to risk all of the lines, or accept this. It means I will have to abandon a BD, or attempt a repair in-situ.

      Next obstacle: All four skimmer lines are bad. I have repaired many joints, but I have not found them all. They are simply not glued. Again and again I find unglued pipes. I plan to completely replace these feeds simply because of the speed. It is an awful task considering the proximity to other pipes, utilities, and concrete. If the others simply had some pride in their work, checked their progress, pressure tested, etc.

      Sorry for the fragmented and run-on sentences everyone. Running on bare minimum sleep and the sun is up again. Back to the hole!!

    18. #198
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      Frustrating, but It's going to be right this time George.

    19. #199
      rbarn is offline Senior Member
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      Well at least you have a good excuse to rip it all out and re do it bigger and better in 5 years like everyone always does ?
      Currency units are a media of exchange and not a store of wealth

    20. #200
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      Wow, what a story -- definitely glued to this thread to see how it all turns out. Like many here, I wish I lived closer and could lend a hand... Hopefully you've truly turned the corner here in the last 48 hours, and it sounds like you have. Thanks for taking the time to keep us updated through all your sleep deprivation!!

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