art & architecture: December 2007

One of my neighbors in our quiet little community noticed water seeping out through the cracks of her driveway slab. Actually, it wasn't so much seeping as bursting out through any crevice it could find. I checked her meter and found it spinning like a top on steroids. (A claim which the meter later denied.) I shut the valve and the bursting ceased.

The owner opted to remove the entire slab section, which was in disrepair anyway, find and fix the leak in the water line, then pour a new slab. Makes sense.

What I found interesting was the nature of the leak. I am always fascinated at the discoveries made during the demolition phase of any project. The thought processes of the framers, plumbers, rockers, etc. at the time of construction become evident. In this case, I believe I can accurately deduce the events as they unfolded some thirty years prior and ultimately lead to the leaking pipe I am a witness to now.

Two meters are installed in-line off the main water line to service two homes.
A 'T' coupling is installed between the meters for a line to service home #1.
Three 90 degree elbow couplings are used to redirect this line around the corner of the garage and to the house. Thus, in the path of the yet-to-be-installed water line for home #2.
The water line for home #2 is installed coming straight out from it's meter and right over the line for home #1, then is redirected using a 90 degree elbow coupling making it parallel with the line for home #1 as they travel to their ultimate destination.

So far, from a let's-do-a-barely-adequate-job-and-save-a-few-pennies perspective, everything is progressing nicely. Aside from the fact that PVC pipe - which is destined to fail at some point in the future - is being installed under a concrete slab. A slab which will have no rebar.

A supervisor comes upon the scene, assesses the plumbers work, realizes the water line for home #2 is not deep enough because it is resting on top of the line for home #1, and orders the plumber to fix it.
Here's where it all goes wrong. The water line for home #2 is rerun from the meter under the water line for home #1. The issue now becomes how to connect two lines at different levels where once a single 90 degree coupling sufficed to redirect the line to the house.
For some reason, at the time, some thirty years ago, the solution was to use two 90 degree couplings and two straight line couplings, at the same time making sure there was undo stress on the entire configuration.
Also, it became apparent later, this fix did not include the use of PVC glue on all the connections.

Thirty years later I find myself standing at the scene talking with the plumber who was brought in to do the repair. The slab is gone. The poorly installed pipe lay before us, having fulfilled its destiny of failure. The plumber is lamenting, in response to my inquiry, how ubiquitous this type of poor workmanship is even today.

"Builders put up houses so fast and with more concern about the bottom than with quality of construction. I see it everyday." he says. "The best option is to run copper line from the meter to the house. But that option is dismissed before consideration because of cost. The very least these guys could do is to avoid joints under the slab. But they don't even do that."

He tells me he only works on custom homes. He couldn't force himself to do the shoddy work required by builders of large home developments.

Personally, I am astonished by the way we as a society build for failure. We want everything as cheap as possible without concern for quality. You get what you pay for, and the cheapest price is rarely the best value.

So, we have PVC pipe under our slabs, slabs without rebar, cracking stucco, sinking foundations, and untold hidden pre-determined failures waiting to burst.

I think we can do better. Build it right the first time.