Plumbing – Replace buried polybutelyne/Qest with Pex

diy-vs-proplumbing

Would it be possible to somehow replace buried polybutelyne/Qest with Pex without having to dig?

It would be amazing if I could connect the old Qest to the Pex and pull it through into the house. I would have to loosen the slab around the Qest where it came through the cement but would it be possible?

Is something like this possible for residential use?
https://www.pollardwater.com/pages_product/WW50050.asp

I really don't want to dig up a section of our interior slab just to lay this new pipe.

This is related to this question: Can I avoid the slab and run the new PEX through walls and interstitial space?

Best Answer

That tool you're looking at works in soil. I doubt it would be able to break up a concrete slab as you pull it.


I didn't realize that you were talking about just the main water line. It is very likely that the main runs under the slab. The piping to your fixtures is probably in the slab.

For your main line, the simplest solution is to trench in a new line, but find a more convenient way to get it in to the house, and run the rest of the way from there through walls and ceiling. That way you only have to drill a hole in your slab near an exterior wall.

Or, depending on your climate and local code, you can come up the side of your house and enter through a wall. Here in central Florida, this is a perfectly acceptable solution.