Sillcock Drama / S.O.S.

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metalhead212

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Good day to everyone.

I have run into a small issue and am hoping to pick up some tips from the experts. A few months ago the sillcock at the back of the house finally stripped out and started to leak profusely even when the handle was turned all the way off. When I went to shut it off at the emergency valve that too was stripped out. So long story short we finally got enough money saved up to replace the broken parts. Instead of just replacing the sillcock I wanted to replace the emergency shut off valve as well, as the current one was useless. Problem was, the shut off was crammed flush in the corner so the only way to really get it off was to cut the pipe before it and after it so it would just fall down, so that’s what we did. It went perfectly. At this point my confidence was soaring!

Next we went outside to the sillcock and cut that off as well as we were going to replace it. Well, just as the blade took its final cut and the sillcock hit the ground, the pipe that goes from the shut off in the house to the sillcock outside the house sucked itself into the hole and fell into the crawl space under the house (confidence dropping). We figured, “no problem†I’ll just climb under the house and reset the pipe properly. Well, when we bought the house I was about twenty pounds lighter and could easily climb in and out if I had wanted to. . . now, not so much (exact moment when my confidence dropped to zero).

The entrance to the crawl space is as large as a ground level basement window because that is exactly what it was at one time before they added onto the house. So now I have no clue what to do. We put the new emergency shut off valve on the existing pipe in the house and it is working perfectly, but now I have no pipe to join the emergency valve to the sillcock and I have no way of getting into the crawl space without putting a smaller child in jeopardy by having him climb under the house and thread the pipe through the hole himself, which I would like to avoid if I could. . . also, I don’t know any small children so that is a problem as well.

It’s about 14 feet from point A to point B and I am wondering if there is a trick or tool or procedure that would allow me to get a new pipe from one ½ hole in the house to the ½ hole outside the house without having to get into the crawl space? We figured that it might be a blessing in disguise as the parts of the pipe we could see were all corroded and rusted so we are thinking this is fates way to force us into replacing all 13-14 feet of that pipe with new copper. I’ve got the new pipe and everything I will need. I figured we would start outside and feed it through the hole and hope that the two holes are lined up as straight as possible and just keep poking at it until we hit the hole. That could take, god knows how long, but I don’t know of any other way.

I would appreciate any input on the circumstances. It’s a crummy situation to be stuck in, but when my wife finds out I jacked this up after assuring her we weren’t going to need a plumber for this job, she is going to have my sack on a platter.

Thanks!!
 

Krow

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You don't really need a plumber for what you want to do, just someone small enough to fit through the hole.

If I were you, I would bite the bullet and replace the pipe with copper anyway.

Who is to say that the plumber you may hire is smaller than you.


Good luck with your dilema
 

metalhead212

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I took some measurements last night, and I think between some heavy pushing from a friend and maybe a gallon or so of lube, I can slide my body through the hole without getting stuck. I could push my wife through the hole, but she has two built in stoppers that would get her wedged into the hole so that's a no go.

Its a ten-fifteen foot crawl from the hole to where i need to go so that isn't an issue. Just getting through the initial hole.

thanks!!!
 

FloridaOrange

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I took some measurements last night, and I think between some heavy pushing from a friend and maybe a gallon or so of lube, I can slide my body through the hole without getting stuck.

Hope you make it back out. It's not as bad as the old fella a couple months ago who fell in his septic tank, got stuck and subsequently died...but it could be unpleasant.
 
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