Along the lines of sharing my life with both of you readers, I wish to report that the irrigation pipe leak saga has successfully concluded, thanks to Big Aaron, who once again saved my butt at the expense of his.
Recall that I had a gusher on Tuesday evening; I had great fun times trying to isolate it and shut off the supply. It was an intense leak, causing my water meter’s dials to spin like a whirling dervish. I finally got the irrigation system water shut off, which made the repair far less time critical. I could have waited a week without feeling any adverse effects.
Big Aaron wasn’t available yesterday, but he came out first thing this morning and started digging. Aaron needed all of his muscle to uproot a large viburnum bush that was impeding his shoveling effort. Said Aaron, “Nothin’ like a little bush rasslin’ to get your heart started in the morning!” The next obstacle was a collection of roots from the turkey oak that had died and was removed last year. Some of them were as thick as my wrist. With loppers, a saw, and eventually, an ax, Aaron finally got to where the pipes were, about a foot deep.
Of course, as luck would have it, there were three other irrigation pipes lying on top of the main, where the leak was. Thus, Aaron had to cut out a section of one of the pipes to give him access to the leak, which turned out to be in a 90° elbow in the 1½” main line (see photo above). I had never seen a thick PVC fitting eroded in such a way. Aaron said that it probably started out as a pinhole and the water pressure took care of the rest. He cut out the bad section and replaced it, using normal PVC dope plus what he called “blue glue”, which forms a tight, hard seal even if water is running in the pipe. The blue glue reminded me of that plastic bubble stuff you had as a kid. It came with a little straw to blow through to make the bubbles. I never had enough lung power to make the bubbles in the blue plastic stuff, so I was content to sniff the fumes. But I digress. After replacing the bad pipe plus the 1″ pipe he had to cut, Aaron had to wait 30 minutes for the blue glue to cure.
So, he and I went to the shade and started telling dog stories for a half hour or so. Aaron’s wife works for an animal rescue organization. My neighbor, who is the guy who discovered the gusher in the first place, came over to join in the bullshit session. He had his son-in-law’s yorkiedoodle or yorkapoo or poodledork — whatever one calls a Yorkshire Terrier and French Poodle mix. So we had more dog stories. We talked about poodle mixes of all kinds, we talked about pit bulls that play gently with Maltese Terriers, and we talked about the same pit bull taking apart a raccoon. And thus, the thirty minutes passed pleasantly and it was time for the pressure test.
All was well. I went into the house to make a phone call, leaving Aaron with a huge mound of sandy soil, a downed seven-foot bush, and a couple of big holes to fill. I came out ten minutes later to find everything in place and Aaron in his truck writing up my bill. I gave him a check for $185.62, which I consider a bargain for this back-breaking work, and sent him on his way.
Another calamity resolved for the big Turkey. What is next?
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The Redhead says
Congratulations, Turkey! Big Aaron sounds like he really knows his stuff.
By the way, the following amused me mucho:
“yorkiedoodle or yorkapoo or poodledork ”
Too funny!
Hope life is a bit quieter for you, at least for a while 🙂
The Redhead.
The Nittany Turkey says
Thanks!
You know how these things go. It’s either feast or famine. Right now, famine.
Aaron is a hard working guy. I’ve used his services for the past eight or nine years. One time he was here until close to midnight chasing an elusive problem. No bitching and moaning, just get the job done.
Those doodle things drive me nuts. As far as I’m concerned, any dog that is not a pedigreed purebred standard breed is a mutt. What happens when we get to three-fourths poodle and one-fourth cocker spaniel? Is that a cock-a-doodle-doo?
—TNT
Lizard says
Thanks for the story Ben. You have the knack of making a rather mudane pipe explosion into an interesting little tale. You missed your calling and should have been a writer and perhaps a Nobel prize for you in literature. Can’t think of all the Nobel literature winners of note but I am sure you can oh Master of Trivia.
I could have added a few stories about my two Bichon Frises during your half hour gab fest while waiting for the water test but only if you had a white wine Spritzer on hand made with low sodium soda water, lots of ice, lemon and lime garnish and a straw. Keep cool in the deep South although I am being sauteed North of the 49th as I input this note of great importance.
PS Perhaps the name of that mixed breed dog is called Yorkie’sPoo.
The Nittany Turkey says
Porkie Who?
—TNT
salim says
there is a baloon used to shutt off the water in underground pipes while repairing leakage. do you know of any supplier for such repairing kits?
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m afraid I don’t. That’s why I call a plumber.
Good luck.
—TNT