DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Best way to fix leaking abs joint.

48K views 15 replies 4 participants last post by  Caper79  
#1 ·
Hey guys. I'm doing some renovations to my house, purchased it 2 years ago. Looking for some advise.

I ripped up the laminate floor in the basement and found what looked to be a leak, so I ripped the drywall off the wall and found the clean out for my kitchen sink drain pipe leaking.

It's leaking from the top joint. Looks like someone tried to fix it by adding more glue around the joint.





Normally I would cut the whole section out and replace it, but there's not much to work with. I was thinking of cutting the fitting right below the clean out and try removing the rest, the female section, without damaging the small piece that's coming from the fitting coming out of the floor.

I never tried removing a joint. what are the chances of doing it without destroying The pipe? Is there a better way to fix this leak? I'd hate to have to break through the cement to fix this.

Any advise is greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
#4 · (Edited)
To have that much debris that joint must have never been glued. I would cut the pipe above the 45 and see if I could just pull the pipe out of the clean out hub. You may have to chisel or sand away the external glue that was applied.

If you can't just pull the pipe out of the hub, cut the pipe just above the clean out hub. Then make a couple of vertical cuts of the pipe inside the hub. With a torch begin heating the pipe inside the hub. Heat slowly. Heat and soften the entire pipe. Work a flat bladed screwdriver between the pipe and the hub and separate the two. Shouldn't be that difficult because there can't be much if any glue in the joint.
 
#7 ·
My first thought was they didn't glue it, but you can see were the joint was glued, they probably just did a poor job, which seems to be the case with everything I've come across here so far.

I'll try the heat gun first, maybe the joint is bad enough it will come out with ease.
 
#9 · (Edited)
You want to heat the inside pipe as much as possible and the clean out as little as possible. The techniques does work. I have done it. You will probably need to clean up the inside fitting with sandpaper after it comes apart.
The trick with the glue is good. I have not tried that. I used a torch, screwdriver and pliers like the video.