Putting in cement slab

[Scoot]

Question about putting in a large (50' x 25') cement slab in my back yard- do I need to move all water lines for my sprinkler system so none of them run underneath the slab? I would assume I want to do this so I don't have any underneath the slab break???

[Shack]

I would say for piece of mind, it is a good idea not to have active lines under slab.

During the grading of the slab area, form setting and height level staking, a line could get punctured. You could easily repair before pour, but if you pour this time of year, you will not notice puncture/wash out until next spring. The chances of an undisturbed line bursting in future is very slim (unless blowing out for winter is not done correct). But Murphy’s Law says the chances are high for some bizarre thing occurring.

Are you pouring it yet this year? Ripping lines out could be a hard thing to do this time of year, unless you plan to tee off and just leave old unused line under slab and pull new lines around structure next spring.

[DRH1175]

yes I would remove them. You will have to remove all top soil but in around 8 inches of sand and atleast 4 inches of a good class 5 type material.

[Scoot]

Thanks for the info, fellas. Nope, it won't be this year. Given the info I just got from an audit, it won't be this coming summer now either. First two years of my life I didn't do my own taxes (jumped state lines several times and didn't want to botch them), the tax preparer messed up our taxes- I got slapped with an audit and now I have a 5K tab I didn't exprect! Grrrrr... There's goes out home improvement fund (and more) for a while.

OK, done ranting. Thanks for the feedback. In 2017, when I can again afford to slab, I'll keep your info in mind.