Walkways Driveways problems you may need to fix & How

Walkways and Driveways

Put Bread in the Pipe To Solder?

Concrete Walks

Well I am certainly glad you are down off that roof!!!...Now you can inspect your concrete walks. Look at the surface of them. Are they cracked, uneven, separating from the homes foundation? Make note on your Home Repair Checklist that you printed out. Take some good pictures of the problem and measure the difference if has one side higher than the other. Measure the width of a crack, and look for water if it has

separated from the homes foundation. Repair cracks with a good concrete crack filler or caulk. Level it off with a flat stick and wipe up to the edges of the crack with damp sponge to clean up any excess material. Small crack can be just a tree root lifting up looking for room to grow or settlement. But also they can be caused by broken water lines, sprinkler pipes, or something heavy driving over that area. They leak and wash out the dirt from under the concrete, brick, or whatever type of walks you may have. So if you have come to a conclusion, write down which approach it will take to correct.

Your Guess Would Be

Leaky pipe, I would look in the area of the lifting or cracking. That might mean breaking out that piece of walk to see under it or renting a concrete cutting saw. It has a diamond impregnated blade that has a water hose coupler ( something that attaches two devices) so you can attach a water source to cool the blade. If you have never used one before, like always make sure you get instruction on how to use this piece of equipment. It is quite a labor saving tool. But it is extremely DANGEROUS if not used correctly. If it is a small area you could use a sledge hammer, but watch your back, and please wear your safety glasses as always.

Compacting Dirt

Compact the dirt and wet it down because it will sink down over time.

Natures way of compacting

When it does keep adding more fill over it and re-compact it again until it is even with the other dirt surrounding it. Then put back whatever you had before it was torn up. If you are pouring concrete you will need to set forms at the edges and brace them with wood or metal stakes before you do.

Metal Pipe

When you know all is clear check the water shut off again and fix the leaky pipe. If your replacing a metal pipe you will want to replace it with the same kind. Copper and plastic are fine together, but galvanized and copper don't mix. Two different kinds of metal need an electrolic joint between them. dissimilar metals cause an electrolyte reaction and will cause corrosion in the pipes that will eventually clog them up or lead to early failure. With Metal pipe you want to unscrew them at a joint if possible. It also can be cut with a sawzall. If you cut it between two joints and you can't screw a new piece in, you will have to use a pipe union and two pieces. If it is steel apply thread sealant and make sure they are tight when threaded back together. Always water test before you put earth back over it.

Click below for flag colors

Locate Underground Stuff

So when you get the concrete out of the way to see what raised it up, see if you can cut the root without damaging the tree ( might want to call in an arborist for that, they will tell you what can and can not be cut). If it was a water pipe, find out where the water shut off is for the pipe. You don't want water shooting out at 120 PSI ( pounds per square inch) hitting someone in the face. You will want to call an underground locator to come by and stick those cute little colored flags all over your lawn so that you don't dig into a pipe. Especially if it is a GAS PIPE... They normally don't charge you because they don't want you to get hurt and they don't want an unnecessary repair after you messed up their work!!!... In the United States, Look in the phone book or on the Net for USA underground LOCATORS before you dig. They will mark anything in the area. Some states have a person for each utility company. There can also be electrical wires buried so please take the time and call them to be sure you are safe.

No Leaks then you are good to go!
Backfill the sunken hole with sand, gravel & soil or what ever out pulled out to begin with.

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Plastic Pipe

If it is plastic see if it says on the pipe anywhere with in the area your working, schedule 40 or ?. ( different schedules just mean it gets thicker and stronger) You should match the type that is there. When putting PVC pipe together, cut it square on the ends and take some sandpaper to the inside end to take off just the rough part that was made from cutting it. Always use purple primer with it and the correct PVC type cement. Hold it together after applying them for a ten count. Then follow the above in Compact Dirt.

Copper Pipe

With copper pipe you will need leadless solder, propane torch, a length minus 1/4 of an inch on copper pipe, emery cloth, Flux & a flux brush, and proper sized fittings to connect the new pipes. Cut the replacement pipe to length. Use the emery cloth to take the pointy sharp burs off the end, and use it to clean the oxidation off the pipe. Brush the flux inside the fitting and on the outside of the pipe where the fitting will be, flux is toxic, so wear eye protection and gloves. Preferably the pipe will have clearance off any dirt or debris around it.

Solder it

Then put the fitting on the pipe, then the pipe piece you cut into that fitting and the same for the other side. Now you know why I said cut it 1/4 inch short. If that is still not enough you may have to dig back a ways and lift it up a little to get it into the fitting, but be careful you don't bend the copper pipe.

Don't Bend it

If you do bend it you will need a new one. Then once it is together you can heat up the fitting on pipe. The idea is to pull the solder with the heat, into the fitting between it and the pipe by heating the pipe and the fitting hot enough that when you touch the solder to the hot pipe it melts. Then pull the heat away and the flux will draw it in. You may re-heat it a little at a time if you need more solder. Hold the torch about 4 inches from the area you want to heat. If any water is steaming out of the pipe,

take a piece of bread without the crust and shove it into the pipe

and push it in a ways ( four inches or so) to push and hold back the water. The bread will dissolve after the pipe is done and the water turned back on. Then heat it up again and solder it. Let it cool and water test it.