Plywood on Pex to Wheelbarrow Concrete

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 5:55 pm

For those that have been following The Big Dig I have learned that the concrete guy want's to lay plywood over the Pex tubing and bring the concrete in by way of wheel barrel. This sounds like a bad idea, has anyone seen this done?

samhill · Post by **samhill** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 6:07 pm

All I have seen for the last 20 years ( maybe) has been pumps, wouldn't even take much of one below grade. It seems like the increased labor & time saved would more than offset the rental of a pump if he is thinking of saving some money. Just the outside chance of one little nick in the tubing & if not pressurized there would be no way of knowing.

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 6:22 pm

samhill wrote:All I have seen for the last 20 years ( maybe) has been pumps, wouldn't even take much of one below grade. It seems like the increased labor & time saved would more than offset the rental of a pump if he is thinking of saving some money. Just the outside chance of one little nick in the tubing & if not pressurized there would be no way of knowing.

Yes I think he's trying to save money as I think they under bid the job.

Dennis · Post by **Dennis** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 6:29 pm

samhill wrote:All I have seen for the last 20 years ( maybe) has been pumps, wouldn't even take much of one below grade. It seems like the increased labor & time saved would more than offset the rental of a pump if he is thinking of saving some money. Just the outside chance of one little nick in the tubing & if not pressurized there would be no way of knowing.

Yes I think he's trying to save money as I think they under bid the job.[/quote

As long as he feels there won't be any holes in the pex
As long as he has liability ins. and make sure he sends you a certificate with your address on it.
He won't save any money by jackhammering the floor and pex up.
Great looking job,you will certinly be warm this winter.

samhill · Post by **samhill** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:06 pm

It's been 8 years or better but my son did an irrigation system for a gold course & all the main line angled joints & some reduction points have to be blocked with concrete because of the pressure. Even back then with the truck time & all figured in it was cheaper to pump, vibrate & move on to the next than to pay his guys to use the mules to haul & dump & they move pretty fast. Makes me wonder if your guy just never used one or not. There was no real finish work involved since it would be under ground but your has to be finished either way.

Rick 386 · Post by **Rick 386** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:11 pm

Maybe make him put 1" or 2" styrofoam between the pex and plywood ????

Rick

009to090 · Post by **009to090** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:24 pm

Its ok to use plywood to wheel-barrow the concrete in, just make sure the plywood is resting on 2x4s positioned between the pex, so the plywood weight does not touch the pex. remove the plywood and 2x4's in sections as work progresses...

Post by **Rob R.** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:31 pm

They should pressurize the pex tubing with air during the pour, that way you will know there are no leaks.

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:50 pm

samhill wrote:It's been 8 years or better but my son did an irrigation system for a gold course & all the main line angled joints & some reduction points have to be blocked with concrete because of the pressure. Even back then with the truck time & all figured in it was cheaper to pump, vibrate & move on to the next than to pay his guys to use the mules to haul & dump & they move pretty fast. Makes me wonder if your guy just never used one or not. There was no real finish work involved since it would be under ground but your has to be finished either way.

He used one to pour the caps, what is bothering me is he told me the contractor I hired to do this job wants me to pay the balance of the job to the concrete guy. Well I don't have a contract with this guy, I hold the last 10% until the job is done, the debris are removed and the opening is ready for the Bilco door.

My contractor is not returning my calls or emails as of yet, I feel like he's running from the job to cut his losses, I could be wrong, but he's got his money, the concrete guy dose not. I will not pay the balance to him unless I get written notice to do so, plus I did not hire him so I need to take up these issues with the guy I did.

Not feeling good about all this.But I still hold 6k of there money.

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:53 pm

009to090 wrote:Its ok to use plywood to wheel-barrow the concrete in, just make sure the plywood is resting on 2x4s positioned between the pex, so the plywood weight does not touch the pex. remove the plywood and 2x4's in sections as work progresses...

I asked just that and he did not like the idea, if he can't do it right he will not do it at all.

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Thu. May. 17, 2012 7:58 pm

Rob R. wrote:They should pressurize the pex tubing with air during the pour, that way you will know there are no leaks.

It is now, a damaged tube is not exceptable ..

steamup · Post by **steamup** » Fri. May. 18, 2012 7:37 am

when I spec a job, We require the pex to be pressurized with a continous source of water, IE hose from water supply. Air you may not see the leak. If the pex is damaged durning a concrete pour, the water will wash the concrete away from the leak. The threat of that makes the concrete guy much more cautious.

jim d · Post by **jim d** » Fri. May. 18, 2012 5:32 pm

definitly use h2o under pressure w / air it willl tend to float the tubing if it's not anchored at a lot of points

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Fri. May. 18, 2012 8:03 pm

Good Idea...

grumpy · Post by **grumpy** » Sat. May. 19, 2012 7:09 pm

Will this be safe? I cannot find what the max working pressure is for my Rifeng Manifold, will it take 60 PSI ?