Proper way to fix cracked sewer fitting?


  #1  
Old 03-09-16, 06:54 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Proper way to fix cracked sewer fitting?

I'm looking at buying a house with a broken sewer pipe in the basement. The owner was told that it would be an easy fix.

Name:  Sewer+1.jpg
Views: 994
Size:  27.3 KB

Name:  Sewer+2.jpg
Views: 1636
Size:  45.6 KB

The capped section of the "Y" pipe has a large piece broke out of it. You can see this in the pictures. It's a hole the size of a softball.

Can the pipe be repaired / patched, and be a sound, reliable, safe repair ?? Or does the "Y" pipe need to be removed, and have a new "Y" pipe installed in it's place ??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated !!
 
  #2  
Old 03-09-16, 07:32 PM
J
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 4,463
Received 128 Upvotes on 113 Posts
At a minimum the whole floor needs to be busted out to even get at the part below the floor to remove the old clean out.
There is no quick easy fix for that one.
If it's that easy let them get it fixed.
 
  #3  
Old 03-09-16, 08:05 PM
Handyone's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: U.S.
Posts: 4,807
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I see nothing even remotely easy about this. If this were my house, I would be a little concerned this could turn into a nightmare.

This problem maybe wouldn't deter me from buying the house, but I would want a full video inspection of the pipes (saved to DVD) and see what it would cost to repair or replace.
 
  #4  
Old 03-09-16, 08:13 PM
XSleeper's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 27,061
Received 1,910 Upvotes on 1,716 Posts
I agree! But, if you like the house, this can be a huge bargaining chip since plumbers aren't cheap. Around here its $100/hr.

I would show the pictures to a plumber and see if he could give you a ballpark estimate that includes the demo of the concrete repkacement of the wye and maybe more...and patching of the floor. Then double it because it will certainly be more than what he says.
 
  #5  
Old 03-09-16, 08:57 PM
Handyone's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: U.S.
Posts: 4,807
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I agree with X.

I was vague about the Video, this means a Snake Video. I would want to see the inside of the pipe in the floor all the way out to where it drops into city or other.
 
  #6  
Old 03-09-16, 09:21 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
The seller of the house has the attitude that he isn't going to do any more than he absolutely has to with this. His plumbing source has told him that the wye can be fixed by patching it. That's what brings me here. I need to know if this can be patched some how, or if the wye needs to be dug up and replaced.

I dunnoooo ?????

Thanks for your replies !!!
 
  #7  
Old 03-09-16, 09:38 PM
Handyone's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: U.S.
Posts: 4,807
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I don't think anyone can answer that without being there.

His plumbing source said a patch would work, does that mean a full inspection of the buried pipe was performed and this is the only problem?

The entire buried pipe could be bad in a worse case scenario, and I would want to know.
Around here a video inspection is probably around $350.00.
 
  #8  
Old 03-09-16, 09:51 PM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
No there hasn't been an inspection done that I'm aware of. Supposedly the home owner broke the wye many years ago, and has just left it this way. I would have been worried about sewer gas, but what do I know......He states that everything works fine the way that it is, so he doesn't understand my concern.

Since the plumbing has been working fine this way for years, I'm sure this makes him think there's no need to bother with it. He must not understand that he's most likely going to have a hard time finding a buyer that's willing to purchase the house with this problem. I know I couldn't afford to pay to have it fixed properly if I just bought the house.

It looks like I need to start looking for another house......
 

Last edited by skooterbum11; 03-09-16 at 09:52 PM. Reason: improper english
  #9  
Old 03-09-16, 10:02 PM
Handyone's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: U.S.
Posts: 4,807
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
I was focusing on the whole pipe might be bad, I didn't address the wye.

IF the buried pipe is in good shape, all that needs done is bust out the floor as Joe said in post #2 and replace the wye. You don't patch pipe, you replace sections of pipe and fittings.

I don't want to guess what tearing up the floor and replacement would be in your area, I would pay $500.00 kind of happy and hope it's not double.
 
  #10  
Old 03-11-16, 07:40 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Here's there fix for the broken sewer line.

I demanded that the city inspector looks at this, and sign's off on it, and supplies me with a copy of his paperwork.

What do you think ??

Is this safe and acceptable ?? If I was to sell the house down the road, do you think this would cause me problems ??

Thanks !!
 
Attached Images   
  #11  
Old 03-11-16, 08:55 AM
S
Group Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: WI/MN
Posts: 19,125
Received 1,263 Upvotes on 1,204 Posts
Was the area around it just built up with concrete or something?
 
  #12  
Old 03-11-16, 10:22 AM
Tolyn Ironhand's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 14,332
Received 877 Upvotes on 740 Posts
It appears to me that the bell was cut off and the plug installed into the pipe. While not ideal it looks OK to me for just clean out, but I'm not a plumber.
 
  #13  
Old 03-11-16, 11:23 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
I haven't seen the repair myself. I have the same questions.....

My realtor told me that a rubber plug was used to fill the hole. Yes the bell was partially cut off. If you look close, you can see that part of the broken bell is still there, next to the side of the other opening.

My realtor also told me that the city inspector came to check the work, and that the inspector was satisfied with the repair, and that the inspector signed off on the mortgage papers stating that everything passed his inspection.

So I guess if no one tells me that this is still a big issue / problem, and that I shouldn't buy the house, I think I'm going to move ahead with the purchase.

The damaged side is for line clean out. I don't know that it serves any other purpose ??

What do you think ??
 
  #14  
Old 03-11-16, 03:13 PM
XSleeper's Avatar
Group Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 27,061
Received 1,910 Upvotes on 1,716 Posts
Absolutely get a second opinion from YOUR plumber. For all we know his "plumber" is a buddy from the bar.
 
  #15  
Old 03-14-16, 11:03 AM
Z
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 6,095
Received 422 Upvotes on 375 Posts
I don't see a huge issue with the cleanout plug. It looks like the repair is fine. I wouldn't base your buy decision on this one plug.

With all house purchases, I would recommend getting a qualified inspector to do a full inspection. I would find someone who is a licensed PE (Professional Engineer). I wouldn't necessarily go with an inspector recommended by your realtor as their goal is to get the deal closed. Granted, some realtors are really looking out for you... so your mileage may vary.

The inspector will be able to give you more details on not just the plumbing system, but the rest of the systems in your house. As others have said here, the broken cleanout wye might just be a broken cleanout (not a big deal), or could possibly be an indication of bigger issues with the older cast iron piping. I don't think anyone here actually saw anything that indicates bigger problems, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Good luck with your new place!
 
  #16  
Old 03-15-16, 06:23 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Thanks for your replies folks !!

The city inspector checked out the repair, and signed off on it. Plus I got a copy of the form from the city inspector for my records. This inspection, and your replies, helped me to make the decision to move on with the purchase of the home.

I appreciate your input everyone !!
 
  #17  
Old 07-06-16, 07:12 AM
S
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 88
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
Hey guys. I have more concerns about this sewer pipe in my basement. As you can see from the earlier post, The sewer pipe has been a concern of mine from the beginning, when I first looked at this house.

We had a good rain last night with some heavy downpour. I went to the basement to check things out, and I found the sewer pipe was damp, and had some minute water seepage around the base of the pipe where it meets the floor, and at the joint / seal where the elbow meets the down pipe. The red lines in the pictures show where the sewer pipe was wet / had visible water on, around it.

Name:  Sewer+265465465.jpg
Views: 719
Size:  43.9 KB Name:  imagejpeg_0.jpg
Views: 598
Size:  26.4 KB

These pics were taken a while back, so they do not show the water that I'm referring to.

Made me think that water was backing up into the sewer pipe, to cause this water to be showing. Also the concrete right around the sewer pipe, where it goes down through the floor, looked like it was damp.

I came upstairs and flushed the toilet, and it worked fine. Then I ran a steady flow of water in the kitchen sink, and went downstairs to take a look, and things appeared to be working as they should. Nothing backed up into my house.

What do you think ?? do I need to be concerned ?? Is there something I need to do / have checked out, to verify things are in proper working order ?? If there is a potential problem, I would like to discover it now, so I could possibly go back on the seller of the house, for not revealing a problem when he sold me the house.
 

Last edited by skooterbum11; 07-06-16 at 07:19 AM. Reason: forgot to upload pics
  #18  
Old 07-06-16, 06:09 PM
Z
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 6,095
Received 422 Upvotes on 375 Posts
The only way you'll know what's going on is getting a camera inspection of the sewer line.

It could be what you suggested, water backing up, or may just be water getting under the slab and finding that spot to come up. Since it's on the top of the wye, it doesn't sound like that's the case though.

I would get a camera inspection done so then you know what you're dealing with and can go from there.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: