Hey guys, I am Roger Wakefield, LEED AP, The Expert Plumber.
Today I'm going to talk to you about what is a hydrostatic test?
Ok, a hydrostatic test is a nomenclature that is completely misused.
So a hydrostatic test is where you use a hydrostatic pump and you actually apply pressure to a
tank, a vessel, a pipe, anything like that.
Here in Texas, TREC has put it in the words "hydrostatic test" into a new home inspection
procedure that has to be done by a plumber.
A home inspector can't do it because you have to be a licensed plumber in order to get into
the plumbing system.
So what a hydrostatic test is, is where you pump that system up.
Now I have experience in commercial work, so I know for a fact that literally, I've
been on commercial jobs here in Dallas where we've hooked up a hydrostatic pump to a water
pressure system that has been seal flossed and pumped it up to a couple of hundred pounds.
I've done the same thing with a hydrostatic test for carbon steel pipe work out at DFW
airport, where I believe we pumped it up to about 250 pounds.
Now, those systems are designed to withstand that kind of pressure, at least long enough
for testing but not for a long long time.
Those systems were actually operating - the carbon steel pipe at the airport was actually
operating at I believe about 30 PSI.
Now, a residential water system, so let's start there.
A residential water system could probably be pumped up to, you know, 150 pounds somewhere
around in there.
It could probably be pumped up a little higher, solder joints actually hold very well.
The problem is the angle stops, the appliances, you know, anything that you're not going to
be able to shut the water off to.
Or the angle stop itself, they aren't necessarily designed to withstand that kind of pressure.
Now, TREC and one of the Realtors here in town actually put it in their contract about
a hydrostatic test saying: look, if you perform a hydrostatic test and damage anything, you
will pay to make those repairs, at least the Realtor here did.
The real estate agency, I guess.
So what the deal is, that's not what a good plumber does.
A good plumber literally, pressure checks the system, shuts the system down, and sees
if the pressure drops.
That's all we're trying to do, we do not need to over-pressurize the system to cause a leak,
we don't need to over-pressurize the system to see if there's a leak.
There is actually enough pressure in the system to let us know if there's a leak or not.
Here in, you know, North Central Texas we're probably looking at 80 PSI as the average.
There maybe areas that are a little lower, there maybe areas that are a little higher,
and I know that home inspectors are pushing that saying; hey look, if it's over PSI you
need a pressure reducing valve.
You know what guys, we've been operating over PSI for years.
So, back to the hydrostatic test, that's not required, that's not necessary.
What you do is pressurize the system with city water pressure which every one of y'all's
houses is pressurized to that right now.
Test that pressure, put a gauge on it, see what the pressure is, shut down that system,
and isolate it, and then watch it for twenty minutes to see if it goes down.
If it does, there is a leak.
Then that leads to leak detection, leak location, slab leak, slab leak repairs.
So many different things after that.
But people we need to get off the word "hydrostatic test".
Look it up on wikipedia, you apply pressure, you increase the pressure with a hydrostatic
pump, that's not what we're doing.
This is a sewer/water leak test, that's all it is.
Now, on the sewer side of it, what we need to do there is literally go into your two-way
cleanouts, put a test ball, fill that system up, and it's just like clogging it up.
Just like you've got a stopped up sewer.
But we're doing it in a controlled environment, we are pumping up that ball, just to block
the sewer line.
Then we fill it up to the top of the cleanouts, we may plug those up and pull a toilet inside
to fill it to the top of the slab, we may put an extender piece in one of the cleanouts
in the threads and extend it up to the top of the slab, because literally we want to
know if there is a leak there.
All we're doing is filling that system with water.
Your plumbing system is made to hold water anyway.
Whenever we build that system new, that's how we have to test it for the city, for the
authority having jurisdiction to make sure there are no leaks.
Guys, all we're doing is representing a buyer who wants to make sure that there are no leaks
under this house.
Why is that important?
Because leaks lead to foundation problems.
Guys, all the plumber is doing is coming in, not doing a hydrostatic test, we are doing
a sewer/water leak test.
We're trying to make sure that there's not a leak under the slab.
Some people also want to run a camera through, just to see if there's been any previous repairs,
this does not cause any issues.
People that will tell you that a camera will tell you if there's a leak under a house,
does not know what they're talking about.
A camera may show a break, a camera may show a separation, a camera may show a major belly,
a camera will show a lot of things.
I really think the best way to do it if you're a buyer, do a sewer/water leak test and run
a camera.
Also ask that plumber to run the camera all the way to the city tap, that's going to let
you know if there's any roots out in the yard, it's going to let you know if there's any
bellies out there, and what a belly is it's where the pipe does like this and what happens
is soft items, toilet paper, poop, anything like that can build up in this area and guys
over time your sewer that was put in like this can drop down and create an area where
it can hold solids.
That will lead to stoppages.
It'll also show you if there's any roots or like I said earlier, any major breaks.
A camera is not a leak test and I hate that because there's so many plumbers out there
that have cameras and they're saying "Oh we'll look at your system and tell you if there's
a leak or not."
Guys they can't do it.
They are pulling your leg, they're not being honest with you, and they truthfully don't
know what they're doing.
A plumbing test, a leak test on the water side is different.
That's gauging the system, shutting it down, and making sure there's not a leak.
I highly recommend a sewer/water test, even a camera test, and if you really want to go
far into it to cover yourself, maybe even a gas test.
Because there are gas leaks in houses that are small enough that people don't realize
it or they've been there so long they get used to it, and it's a small enough amount
that it's not going to hurt them but it's a possibility that it could lead to problems
later, or just the fact that you're having to pay for gas that's leaking out and you're
not using.
Guys, a sewer/water test, a leak test, you can call it a hydrostatic test if you want
to, that is not the actual name because there is no applied to it.
These are very important, and things I recommend for anybody buying a house.
We've gone into houses that are not very expensive houses that needed a $100,000 worth of repairs,
we've gone into very expensive houses that have needed a few thousand dollars worth of
repairs.
But whatever the case is, that minimal investment up front can save you tens of thousands of
dollars later, and that is worth it.
A leak test, a sewer/water leak test, a gas test, even a camera before a purchase, guys
it's insurance.
It covers you.
We do that to represent buyers and trust me guys, it's really helped them out a lot.
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My name is Roger Wakefield with Texas Green Plumbing, saving you money one drop at a time.