That time I cut a seam right through a sprinkler line in a new build

I was working a track home in North Phoenix last spring, big job with rooms of carpet. Got to the master bedroom and started cutting the seam, felt the knife hit something soft instead of concrete. Turns out the builder had run a sprinkler line right under the slab and I cut clean through it. Water started pooling under the pad, had to rip up half the room, call the GC, and wait 3 hours for a plumber to patch it while I sat on my tools. Anyone else ever hit something weird hidden under concrete on a install?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_lewis2113d ago

Honestly that's rough. Sprinkler lines under slab are a nightmare waiting to happen.

martin.paige12d ago

Might as well ask what the builder was thinking running them under the slab in the first place... was it a cost thing or just not caring about the future? I've heard stories about guys having to jackhammer up their whole driveway to fix a pinhole leak, and that's just insane to me. Did they at least put in some kind of access point or is it all buried with no way to get to it without destroying concrete? Seems like they should have trenched it out instead, even if it cost a little more upfront... now you're stuck with a ticking time bomb.