sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Jerry, please do not misgender the pipe and fittings. Also, beware that the pipe fittings may not want to use the same pronouns as you and me.

We can no longer refer to pipe and fittings as "male" and "female" as there could be some that self-identify as "non-binary". There are fitting adapters that trans from male-to-female connections and female-to-male connections so it is best not to assume the fitting gender for they may be transfittings.`😁

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I have lived in houses running on both a well and a septic system for more than 40 years now. I never considered it a problem. The well was an artesian well about 80 ft deep and the groundwater level was about 12 ft down. The well had a pump in the basement where it was accessible. I changed it twice (about $200 each time). Another house had a well with a submersible pump about 90 ft down. That cost about $1200 when it needed to be replaced. $1600 for 40 years is about $40/year. Adding the electricity to power the pump still makes it cheaper than town water. The septic system needs to be pumped every few years depending on how many people are using it. Over 40 years it probably cost around $3000 ($75/year). Town sewer is usually included in the town water cost. As long as you take care of the septic system it's not expensive. If you dump stuff into it indiscriminately it will bite you back.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

After installing well pumps and pressure tanks for years before joining and retiring from public utilities I learned long ago to lay out your parts as they will be assembled and you are less likely to forget one... 1 1/4, 1 and 3/4 will be your most used on your setup with prob a few red. bushings and maybe a tee .... Be VERY careful when adjusting pressure switch... I was thrown across a wet garage floor once on a 220 pump.

Harry02 Loc: Gardena, CA

Depends on location and water quality.
I've seen 10 year old 2" Galvanized with maybe a 1/4" hole.

allan catt Loc: gillingham,kent,uk

Here in the UK all sizes are metric,ie.10mm,15mm,20mm 22mm.plus larger sizes.you can get olives that will covert to metric in some compression fittings but they are limited.good luck.

Red6

I have learned several lessons over the years about jobs like this. You can treat them like repair jobs and replace the old or defective parts or do a complete renovation job and replace nearly everything.

This sounds like the second case, and in many situations, is the easiest and quickest solution. Also, it is likely the way a professional plumber would do it. In this situation you really only need to look at the two main connections - input and the output. In other words what do I need to connect to bring the water into the tank, and what do I need to connect to leaving the tank going into the home. The connections for the electrical and pressure switch can be considered as a separate system with its own parts. Sometimes this is even included with the tank.

The real difficulty usually lies in trying to duplicate all the piping that is in place now. Do not try to replace exactly what is there just replace it with new stuff. In the last decade there have been a lot of changes in plumbing, and for the most part it has become simpler. PEX is one of the latest innovations and most DIYers can easily do it. I replumbed my downstairs bathroom and laundry several years ago and had few problems. I was replacing some 40 year old galvanized pipe. It fairly inexpensive and if you mess up a cut length, just cut another one. Research it first. There are two different types of PEX and the tools for the two methods vary greatly in price. The DIY tools are fine and do a great job. They are just slower than the Pro method.

One of the GREAT features of using PEX is the availability of various transitions from one type or size of pipe to another. You can transition to/from galvanized, copper, pvc, and cpvc. These transition pieces are not cheap but they can save a lot of time and effort if you need to.

Another tip. I usually draw out my project and try to come up with a list of parts needed. Then I go to the store, usually Lowes or Home Depot, and try to find the parts. Then I may actually find a place there in the store and lay them out in the order they will be used to verify I have what I need.

One other tip, sometimes it is better to just pay a little more and let a pro do it. Several years ago, I had an older house with a mix of galvanized and pcv. I wanted to put in all copper. This was before PEX became available. When I started pricing all the copper pipe and how long it was going to take I decided to get a quote from a professional plumber. The quote was reasonable and would be completed in a day. I actually did not beleive he would be done in a day so I made plans to spend the the night at relatives. He and his crew did the job in 6 hours and had water back on that afternoon.

Good luck.

Red6

I have lived in several houses with septic systems and have had few problems. But when you do have a problem it can be a big problem.. Septic tanks are usually not a big problem, get them pumped every few years and be diligent in what you do and do not put into them and usually you will be OK.

The big problems usually come with the leach or drain field. Problems can come from various sources - soil conditions, too much rain causing soil saturation, deterioration or clogging of the drain pipe, and even collapse of the pipe over time. I have had to install two leach fields in my time and they can be expensive. The last I had to install was over $5000. You are correct that averaging that cost over 20-40 years the cost is low. But that is $5000 that I had to come up with at the time of installation, not spread over 20 years.

The other big leach or drain field issue is space. In our state, you cannot put a leach or drain field in the same place as the older one. It must be on new ground. Unfortunately, some older lots do not have enough space for a new or second drain field. This makes them unlivable unless they decide to put in a tank and pump it on a monthly or even weekly basis. I actually sold a home and moved from it due to this issue. My drain field was still functioning but was over 40 years old. I had space to put another field in but would have had to cut down some very old trees that really would have ruined the look of the property. I kept hoping the public sewer would come down our street but when it looked like this was not going to happen, we sold the property and moved. Now a decade later sewer has still not been put in.

Our state also has a law that homes must connect to a public sewer if it is available. As poor drain fields can contaminate groundwater, the state tries to eliminate them whenever possible.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

We had to move a washer connection. When we got into the wall we found PEX. So we (the plumber and I) got the necessary fittings and went to work. After cutting the old line the PEX fittings didn’t fit. It turned out that they were an old style of PEX and needed a special cutter to remove the outer plastic. The plumber knew an old retired guy and he happened to have the antique tool. We managed to borrow it and got the job done that day.

Were I doing the job myself it would probably have needed an emergency plumber call ($$$$$$) and maybe we would be without water for a few days.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Home Depot and Lowes often cannot replace a good well-stocked hardware store. Some Ace stores we have around here are much better equipped than the big box stores.

Red6

You are very lucky. Several years ago in one of my older houses with 3/4" galvanized, I had to replace some pipes due to low-pressure issues. When we took out the galvanized pipe, the hole through it was pencil-sized or smaller.

It was partially blocked with a combination of rust and limestone scale. We replaced it with PEX and had great water pressure.

Red6

You are correct. We have a lot of problems with hard water in our area. As a result, water heater elements go out often due to scale accumulation. The heating element gets heavy scales causing them to burn out.

Lowes and Home Depot may carry 4 or 5 different elements. I was helping a friend of mine in a smaller town fix his water heater and we went to the local hardware store to get the heating elements. They must have had two dozen or more different elements fitting many different water heaters. They also had elements that were specially designed to resist the scale accumulation, which Lowes or Home Depot do not carry.

And I enjoy walking around Ace Hardware stores much more. It is a great place for the DIY handyman.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm retired, so my time is my own. If I didn't like doing this, I would hire someone. I like a challenge. I'm taking my time with this. I might remove the old tank today.

riderxlx Loc: DFW area Texas

I don’t blame you I probably would too. Good luck with it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, many parts were mis-boxed, but I matched the parts to each other right there in the store. If a particular store had the parts, I had them all connected.

What's kind of strange is that only one store within fifty miles had the large tee I needed for the tank, and that store had only one of those tees.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks. The one big drawback of this job is that it has to be done all at once. I can't do it piecemeal. Once I remove the old tank, I have to complete the new installation. I find it odd that I had to go to three different big box stores to get the parts I needed.