9 Costly Mistakes to Avoid in Landscape Piping

9 Costly Mistakes to Avoid in Landscape Piping

. 5 min read

When you look at a beautiful and neat landscape, you will applaud the company that did the landscaping. But there's more than what you can see. Below that levelled ground, there is piping that carries clean water and wastewater. All this work is possible when you contract reliable companies.

Several mistakes can happen during landscape piping. Some of the errors may turn out to be too costly to bear.  When hiring a landscape plumber, ensure that they won’t make the mistakes below.

Failing to plan

Planning is a vital part of all landscaping projects. However, as people gain experience, they tend to ignore this crucial part. They trust in their knowledge and expertise. What they fail to know is the fact that each project is unique. They may end up missing essential steps that are necessary for that particular project.

When in the planning process, ensure that you are keen on every detail and plan the direction where the water will flow. It will help you to lay out the pipes well without confusion. Also, examine the soil and purchase the best quality pipe to withstand the soil type and density, as there is a risk of purchasing substandard materials that will spoil after a while.

Planning ensures that you budget well for the whole project. You can have a reasonable estimate of the money you will need for materials and labour.

Inconsistent pipe levels

When digging out the ground to lay the pipes, you should be keen on the levels where you lay the pipes. If you plan to incline them in a certain direction, ensure you do not change the inclination angle.

It is a great mistake in landscape piping to have inconsistent pipe levels. Even if you are using the pipes for clean water, it will affect water pressure at the taps. The effects may be worse if you intend to use the pipes for carrying wastewater. You may suffer several cases of blocked sewerage lines due to inconsistent pipe levels.

To correct this mistake, you would need to dig out the pipes and fix the pipe levels. So, you can end up using more money. You can avoid this by making sure the pipe installation is correct from the start.

Using fill height tables blindly

Fill height tables give you an easy way to estimate the project requirements. Many people rely on them, and they do a great job. However, conditions are unique for every site. It would be best if you considered the conditions before you fill in the fill height tables.

People make many assumptions when formulating fill height tables. If possible, ignore the table altogether and do your calculations from scratch, as it will save you from errors.

Trusting installation process more than pipe quality

The installation process in any project is a vital step. Thus, you need to hire an expert to install all the pipes and accessories. What you expect from your contractor is an exemplary job. However, the contractor's work is futile if you provide them with substandard materials.

The pipe making is a controlled process. Also, their labelling depends on the conditions they can withstand. But the sensitive part is you never know when Mother Nature will drastically change the conditions.

If you want to be safe, buy pipes that are of higher quality than the recommended type for your environment. It will save you from accidental breakage due to increased stress from temperature and pressure. If you feel like your area experiences extreme weather conditions, you can ask a manufacturer to make you pipes that suit harsh conditions.

Do not worry if you have no manufacturers' contacts. A good plumbing service provider like Gold Coast Plumbing Company can link you up with the best manufacturers. Also, they can negotiate the prices for you.

Ignoring pipe joint requirements

You will never find a pipe that you can twist and bend along the earth to get to the tap or drainage area. Thus, you will need to connect parts at the joints.

Pipe joints are crucial parts of landscape piping and any other kind of plumbing. Unfortunately, the pipe manufacturers do not set the standards for the pipe joints to accompany the pipes. Thus, you need to follow your contractor's recommendations.

The greatest mistake you can make is to imagine that a joint is just a joint and overlook its quality. In many projects, the joints develop problems long before the pipes burst or crack. Thus, the quality of the joint is a crucial factor, and you cannot ignore it.

Using old specifications on a new project

When you are walking to the shopping mall, you tend to take the shortest route. It is typical of humans to use shortcuts in all aspects of life. However, it is a deadly mistake if you take shortcuts in the construction projects.

Planning for a landscape piping project is a tedious task. Thus, lazy contractors tend to duplicate specifications on projects they assume are similar. However, this is a crazy and risky step. Site specification varies even when they exist in the same region.

If you want to avoid such troubles, you should refrain from trusting a contractor who promises to finish the project in a fraction of the time other contractors are quoting. It is likely they want to skip the planning process and cut and paste old specifications. They may finish the project at lightning speed but leave you with frequent repair problems.

Using Different Metals in Piping

There is a common mistake people make when piping. It sounds funny and stupid at the same time. It is hard to imagine how one thought of joining different metals when piping.

There are a few reasons that may lead one to mix the metals. First, one may think it is cool. Sometimes, you may mix the metals because you ran out of budget before buying enough pipes. Thus, you opt to mix different kinds of metals.

Whether you are buying pipes or joints, stick to one type of metal. Physics explains that different metals react differently to varied conditions. Thus, you may experience a system breakdown should one metal expand or contract more than its adjacent counterpart. You may need to redo the entire piping to correct the mistake.

Digging out utilities

Landscape piping includes digging up the compound. Thus, at the planning stage, the contractor should map out where other utilities lie. The ground hides so much that you may end up ruining essential utilities if you are not careful.

The contractor should contact the local utility department to get the maps of buried pipes. The plan will help them avoid the utilities.

Safety and maintenance

Every system needs maintenance. However, some contractors overlook safety and maintenance measures. They should install the pipes well to ensure that they are accessible for maintenance. Also, they should ensure that the pipes are safe. If they are consuming water, then there should not be any chance of contamination. Thus, the material of the piping matters too.

Conclusion

It would help if you did not worry about your landscape piping when you hire a reliable plumber. However, some mistakes can be accidental. They have all the tips to fix the situation before it gets out of hand. The only way to avoid these simple but costly mistakes is to hire reputable professionals.



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Mark Thompson

Mark is an Australian Agronomist and a father of two beautiful girls. He enjoys writing about garden design, landscape architecture, DIY, tools, and related topics.

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