Dallas plumbing repair suggestions

Poolmama!

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Feb 20, 2019
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Celina, Tx
Anyone have suggestions for plumbing repair in the North Dallas area? We have PVC damage, and I know many of you handy people would be able to fix this yourselves. Unfortunately, we aren't handy people. Contacted our builder, and of course his plumbers said it will be 'a while' before they can get to repairs...presumably because they're already behind on new builds.



The only tricky parts are:

1) PVC is split inside our heat pump, so need someone who knows something about heat pumps to determine if there's any other damage to it...all I see at first glance is PVC.

2) One of the cracks goes right up to a Jandy valve. The valve itself looks okay. BUT, I'm not sure we even need this valve. We have an infloor system that required some plumbing modifications, which resulted in some plumbing becoming unnecessary the way it was originally done. I'll attach some pics.



Would y'all suggest an actual plumber that does pools, or is this something the right handyman with pool knowledge could do?



I'm so disappointed, as we thought we had everything drained. Unfortunately it turns out water didn't drain from the plumbing between the heat pump and the next valve which was open (and the PVC in the heat pump). I think the step we missed was disconnecting the water inlet into the heat pump. Because the pipe 'after' the heat pump is elevated, we thought it would drain when the pump was drained (no bypass). Unfortunately we were wrong.0A3B9E9F-E245-465E-B62C-4B9F513844E6.jpeg6A7D02F1-1B39-497A-9311-820F39F85A14.jpeg91C373D0-C386-49CA-A23B-50F98EEE8094.jpegDB80AFE0-3623-4800-A507-803CFF9C8702.jpegF9788239-2FC8-4F82-90E7-D277E06E71F9.jpeg
 
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Sorry about the first 2 pics...can't figure out how to delete them. Next pic is overview of plumbing. Cracked PVC is in the heat pump and the elevated pipe by the house wall and around the turn to the Jandy valve. Below are cracked pipe pics.
 
Check out Craigslist or Facebook as neither of those look like they’re difficult fixes. I suspect there’s some general handyman in the area that could fix that in an hour or so. Unlike so many pool build we’ve seen in the past it appears the builders left you extra plumbing which in your case will make a fix a TON easier.
 
The external PVC pipes look like straightforward repairs.

The heat pump can be more complex and expensive to repair. It is often difficult finding someone who can do internal repairs to pool heat pumps.

You should have a heater bypass installed when the pipes are repaired so you can run the pool without your heat pump. I suspect repairing the heater may take a while.

 
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Oh no. I resisted peeking at mine today, but now you have me nervous since we had the same plumber. I would try a sprinkler repair company and see if they can fix. They will be busy too but maybe not as busy as the pool people.
 
Oh no. I resisted peeking at mine today, but now you have me nervous since we had the same plumber. I would try a sprinkler repair company and see if they can fix. They will be busy too but maybe not as busy as the pool people.

Fortunately he's building several pools in our neighborhood (we're quite the hot spot for him!) so he's in the neighborhood a lot. So at least he can look at it soon and hopefully give me a better idea of how to proceed. Kinda hoping the plumber is in the neighborhood a lot, too, and can maybe pop by and help us out sooner than later...maybe....

I'm so p*ssed at myself honestly...I read about disconnecting the water inlet and outlet from the heat pump, but it was dark and cold when we made the decision to call it quits...and more importantly I really thought the elevated pipe would drain. I also should have left the heat coil and the heat lamps 'on' under the tarp after we turned off the pump and drained. Although I didn't actually have the heat coil on that elevated section (I wrapped in a blanket and then plastic)...again so wrongly confident that water in the highest point of the plumbing would have drained and any heat was no longer necessary. Rookie mistakes...Dang.
 
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Luckily pvc is cheap. Is the rest of the equipment okay? I don’t know heat pumps, but I too would have assumed that pipe would drain into the heat pump and out the drain plug on the heat pump (assuming they have one).

I’m sure PB will take care of you, he is a good dude.
 
Luckily pvc is cheap. Is the rest of the equipment okay? I don’t know heat pumps, but I too would have assumed that pipe would drain into the heat pump and out the drain plug on the heat pump (assuming they have one).

I’m sure PB will take care of you, he is a good dude.

I hope so...he said he's gotten a 'million' texts and emails. But, I have referred several people to him and given 'tours' and tips for more than several people in the neighborhood. Maybe that'll help. ;) And it'll be helpful that he's here very often so not out of his way.

No drain plug on heat pump...just supposed to disconnect the inlet and outlet connections. Rest of equipment looks fine. Only thing left unknown: a part of the infloor system (not sure what it's actually called) that sits in the ground between the pad and the pool which diverts water to each zone. We covered it with a blanket and plastic as well. We uncovered it and there's nothing cracked, but the lid is still frozen shut. And, of course, the plaster itself. Ice was about 4 inches thick. We don't get full sun on the pool this early in the year, so it'll be a little longer for it all to melt.
 

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@Poolmama! Are you in one of the far northeast DFW suburbs? If so, would you mind passing on any plumbing recommendations? We just pulled our tarp off and we’ve found what we think are at least two hairline cracks and evidently missed draining the booster pump. Rookie move! ☹️

We‘re still trying to get our builder to finish one or two pending items so I guess we will ask for a plumbing referral too when we follow up this week, but I’m sure they’ll be inundated.
 
@Poolmama! Are you in one of the far northeast DFW suburbs? If so, would you mind passing on any plumbing recommendations? We just pulled our tarp off and we’ve found what we think are at least two hairline cracks and evidently missed draining the booster pump. Rookie move! ☹

We‘re still trying to get our builder to finish one or two pending items so I guess we will ask for a plumbing referral too when we follow up this week, but I’m sure they’ll be inundated.
I’m actually in Celina. Should update my profile. Happy to share if I find anyone.
 
Oh you’re not far from us, we drove over there to visit our PB’s showroom last year. I’ve reached out to the company that did our startup and pool school last fall, but we’re not even sure what else to look for. Thank you!
 
The Ewing Irrigation supply place (Custer @ 380) seems to be where all of the irrigation companies seem to go, and should be full of crews knowledgeable with PVC. It may be worth a phone call to them to see if you can get any recommendations, or even a trip there since it is ~5 mins away from you.

 
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