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I just found out that my kitchen drain has blown through and has been draining under the house for a little while.
The house was built in the 50s on a concrete slab. The kitchen sink is under a window facing on the front of the house. It appears that the current drain is in the slab for some reason going to the back of the house where all the bathrooms are. I will have to re-roure it out the front and tie into the sewer line where it comes out in the front yard.
My problem is getting from the sink to the outside. I will probably need to jackhammer a hole through the slab or should I just run it out front and box it in? The box might look kinda goofy unless someone has a plan.
Is it best to remove the cabinets and work from the inside or cut out the siding and work from the outside to get the drain.
Of course, during my remodeling plans I never considered this to come up…
Thanks,
steve
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Your house is frame construction on a slab? Where are you located? Depth of footing? Cast iron pipe?
It would be highly unlikely that the line actually runs backwards to tie in at the back of the house near the bathrooms. That would be inefficient to say the least (but it was done by a plumber).
While you're at it, you might as well change everything from the sink to the tie-in at the main.
So, remove the sink base to get some working room and open the wall from the inside. As the stub out probably protrudes from the wall directly under the window, the line should turn left or right and connect with a sanitary tee with the vent pipe going straight up through the roof and the waste turning down and then toward the main. There ought to be a cleanout in there too, somewhere on the outside. If you are real lucky and have a shallow footer (like in Florida, for instance) you might be able to excavate directly below the drain line, cut it loose underground and at the inside plate and drive the old pipe down, leaving a neat hole to run your new pipe. If you aren't so lucky or can't drive the pipe then the Bosch SDS would be the tool to rent to enlarge that hole. Then a trench to tie into the main.
You'll have to have the vent and since that is probably OK a no hub connector to tie straight cast iron to PVC would work fine, after you cut loose the old tee.
I still think your line turns forward rather than back (I could be very wrong) and if that's the case you might be able to tie into the run with another no hub connector without having to dig a new trench with new line.
*Ralph,I will dig deeper tomorrow and see if I am lucky. However, if that is the case that means the pipe is running horizontal to the vent pipe which means I may have a bigger problem than I realize.But you do think it's easier working from the inside, especially getting that new pipe down?Thanks for the response,steve
*Steve,How's the weather in your area?Behind the cabinets you have a hidden wall expanse 36" high by whatever the width of your cabinets. Whatever damage or repair you do to that wall will be hidden and no big deal. If you work from the outside, you have siding to remove, sheathing to cut and an exposure to the weather. Then you have to put it all back and make it look like it was never touched.How did you realize the pipe was actually leaking or blown out? Where did the leak symptoms appear and how did you trace the source? This could change the method of repair. This long distance stuff is iffy sometimes.
*We had sun all weekend for a change. I'm near Seattle so it's rare, in fact this week is suppose to be back to rain, maybe even a hint of snow.About a month ago the drain plugged. I tried my best with a 25' snake but that didn't work so I broke down and called the rooter people, I figured I spent enough time on it. They fixed it with a 50' line - at least it wasn't coming back up the pipe. I knew eventually I would need to find what caused the clogging, roots was my guess. So, since it was a nice day today I decided to find out where the pipe started so I could follow it. I took up a couple of boards on the porch and found kitchen sewage. So I dug until I was below the slab. I had my wife turn on the water and it came pouring out. With a mirror, all I could see was a hole in the concrete, no pipe to speak of. So maybe it's just leaking in the wall but the hole in the concrete conerns me. At any rate I need to replace the drain, what else I am not sure yet.What I am not looking forward to is crawling into the cabinet to do the work so, looking for the easier way (at least you can stand up) I was thinking maybe the outside is how people do it...steve
*I was suggesting that you completely remove the cabinets. Get them out of the way. To me that would be a lot easier than opening the side of your house. That's why I asked about the weather and also mentioned that your interior wall repairs did not have to bear scrutiny. Turning the water off, removing the valves or carefully cutting the back of the cabinet to provide clearance while removing the box would leave less to repair in the cabinet also. You could decide that this method was too much work and opt to remove siding and sheathing but that is your call. Cold weather with snow would guarantee I work from the inside as much as possible.Your view of water pouring from a hole in the concrete is a strong indication that the pipe is broken where is passes through the slab. The possibility exists that the heavy duty rooter equipment hastened the demise of an already weak pipe but that's not a call I can make.You're going to have fun no matter which way you go on this job.
*Is this a situation that could have insurance coverage?I would be calling my agent to find out. If so, the method of repair could be different.
*Ralph,Thanks, I see your points. Today was a long day. Peter, Thanks for reminding me, I will submit a claim first thing in the morning.Thanks guys for helping me think this through.steve
*Steve,I just had a problem alot like yours this past summer. I had a toilet in a guest bathroom that kept clogging on me, I had plumbers clean it twice. the 3rd time I removed the toilet and shined a light down the pipe and saw soil and small rocks. I ended up removing 4sf of tile and cut out the concrete floor and removed enough soil so I could get in and see what had happened. It turns out the soil had washed away and snapped the 4" drian pipe and seperated the drain pipe from my shower and and sink drains. I talked to some plumbers I know and they said this is not uncommon in Florida due to the type of soil and amount of rain, they also said that there is a code in Florida for tying them up to eliviate this problem. I live in the Bahamas so there is no code for this. It took me 5 days to cut it out, repair the damage, repour the concrete, retile and replace my toilet. I also used plumbers strapping and tapcons to secure all the pipes to the foundation. Was a job, but I must agree that working inside made it easier for me to work on it late without having to deal with the bugs and weather.Good Luck,Bob
*Here are a few pics of what i found Steve.The first is the t that tied the shower into the main.
*This one is where it seperated from my tub drain.
*this one is under the vanity.
*bobntpa,Just to clarify...are you saying that what is in the pics was buried under the slab and that the "ceiling" in the pics is the bottom of the slab??Rich Beckman
*Wow. And the plumber says this is a common occurance?? Doesn't this sometimes result in the slab collapsing?Rich Beckman
*bobntpa,Must be nice to work on this stuff in the warm south. This morning it was trying to snow here. Fortunately for me this is the kitchen sink on an exterior wall so I shouldn't have to cut out that much concrete. All my digging I can do from outside.steve
*Yeah its nice working int he warm south Steve.Rich I was pretty worried about that myself but was told that with 6" of fiber re-enforced concrete over a small area that it was not a worry. I filled the area with the better part of a yard of new soil before we poured the concrete.