In my backyard I'm extending the patio by removing part of the lawn. Around the current patio there are sprinklers. I want to just remove them but they feed the other end of the lawn. I have the area leveled out but now im not sure what to do with the PVC. Is it bad to just pour cement over them? or do I have to totally reroute them going around the future patio area?

 

It would be best to reroute them in case you ever have a problem with pvc that is under the the concrete (not "cement").

If you have a problem with piping, this will save a lot of time and money since you can get at the piping and repair it.

Dick

 

Ok, just another question to that. I'm not at the point of pouring the concrete but if I was doing a 10'x12' area, would you reinforce the concrete or should it be fine by itself? Its just a patio with only light foot traffic, no cars or heavy objects over it. If it is recommended to reinforce, what is the best thing to use? rebar would be kind of over kill from what I read.

 

As Dick said, rerouting them would be best, but second best would be to wrap the pipe in rubber insulation and tape it up before the pour. It will keep the grittiness of the concrete from damaging the pipe and would allow for removal from one end or the other if it needed maintenance. You could sleeve it in a larger pipe as well.

 

I hate it when outdoor underground plumbing has to go beneath something like a patio because at some point something needs replacing. I just had to replace a 10' section of schedule 40 waste pipe that developed a low spot or trap in the line causing backups. The plastic pipe developed a belly in the line when fill next to septic tank settled and actually forced the plastic pipe down. It had settled and pushed the 4" pvc down so much that the the first foot from the tank actually sloped 1" in 12" of run away from the tank while everything else pitched to the tank as it should. I could not believe it but it's so. We just replaced the whole 10' length pitching 1/4 " to 1/8" per foot and installed a cleanout since we obviously could not reroute.

As suggested, better if you have to place patio over plumbing supply for sprinkler if perhaps you could place it in a sleeve pipe or conduit.

bs5

 

I've been plumbing for ten years and acording to 2002 ohio plumbing code 305.1. Pipes passing through concrete or cinder walls and floors or other corrosive material shall be protected aginst external corrosion by a protective sheathing or wrapping or other means that will withstand any reaction from the lime and acid of concrete, cinder or other corrosive material. Sheathing or wrapping shall allow for expansion and contraction of piping to prevent rubbing action. Minimum wall thickniss of material shall be 0.25 inch. Ive never let pipe have direct contact with concrere by either using a pipe sleeve or underneth the concrete seppriated by a thick layer of clear plastic. Granted you don't live in Ohio and your talking about sprinkler pipe but a roll of plastic is cheeper than fixing a leeking pipe 6 yrs. from now.