Please take a look at this problem

pesphoto

Hi,
We bought a house back in the summer and we did a good amount of plumbing in it already. Included in the work was replacing the main old iron sewage pipe that was deteriorating before our eyes in the basement.
All is good with that work, but I just noticed that where the new PVC pipe conects to the main to go out thru the foundation and into the sewer has a pinhole size leak on the side and minute amounts of water is ever so slowly dripping. Is there anything I can do to slow this down(ie:maybe glue where the pinhole is) or stop it or do I need to call my plumber right away before this thing gives. Im in a bit of a panic on this one. Here are a couple photos for you to see. I've circled where the leak is and where the tiny puddle is on the ground. Sorry for the shaky photos it was a bit dark down there. Is it possible to just replace this old connection without having to go thru the foundation? I don't really have the funds for that. Yikes!!
Thanks so much for helping me out here!

pesphoto

nothing.........?

Pipes

Don't bandaid it , have your plumber remove the fitting and replace it with a wye and 1/8 bend for direction of flow. I can see the bell end of the cast inside the foundation , it's time consuming but, not that difficult to change, IMHO your plumber should have replaced it having gone as far as he did with the rest.

skymaster

totally agree Pipes, plumber did as much work avoiding the fitting as he would have to just change it. Also Cast iron does NOT get a leak overnight, hint.
Been there fo a long time.

Sammy

Pipes and Skymaster are right..

A cast iron wye weeping/leaking like that are a sign of impending failure unfortunately.. I would replace that as a minimum and see what happens..

Just keep in mind working with older pipe may lead to more damage which is unavoidable and even if the wye is replace there is more cast iron behind the wall.

pesphoto

Thank you guys. I think my plumber was concerned about causing more damage by replacing this part and that is why he avoided doing so. Could you give me an idea of possible cost to do this?

Sammy

Thats hard to tell...

If the wye spins out with no damage and the pipe in the wall looks o.k. then it shouldnt be too bad...

Til then nobody can say for sure.

pesphoto

Thanks Sammy,
A plumber in another forum gave me this response as to what should be done. What do you think?

the job needs... melt out the lead joint at the wall, install a new 4" cast iron TY and end cleanout by packing and pouring a lead joint at each, install a cleanout tee in the vertical pipe and lead in the lower end of the PVC into the branch of the new TY.
less than a mornings work.

Sammy

That sounds like it will work as long as it can be taken apart as listed with no further damage and the pipe inside the wall is still in good shape...

pesphoto

ok, thanks again. We'll see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Sammy

Your welcome..

I'll keep em crossed!

pesphoto

Will post an update when I talk to my...or some other plumbers.

That one Guy

Heating up the old lead and okem sounds good so far. I usualy do this then use a skinny drill bit and drill into it all around the fitting and then chisle it out with a flathead screwdriver. This is like surgery and can easly go wrong. As far as repouring lead you can just use an SV gasket that slides inside the hub of the cast iron pipe and your sch. 40 pvc pipe slides into the SV gasket. It is a tight fit but you can get it together with plumbers grease or more commonly known as butt butter.

LawnGuyLandSparky

Not for nothing, but that pipe leads to your septic or a sewer. If the INSIDE is leaking now, imagine what's going on outside, underground?

pesphoto

aw come on, you just ruined my day! Believe me I have thought of that, but if I can avoid having to dig at this point I will. Plumber comes end of this week.