Soil pipe to sewer leaking

[markdon]

Hi all.

We moved into our 1960's semi in august, and noticed a nasty smell in the bathroom, which we thought was down to the air bath that was fitted, it all looked dated, so we decided to bin the lot & get a new suite etc.

Smell remained.

Fitted a new aav, smell remained, though a little better.

Started to get whiffs now & then in the kitchen too, so i've finally decided to jump in & have a look.

I have pulled out a few units so i could get in to see the soil pipe.

First glance, not good, the plasterboard wall that was made around the soil pipe had some black mould on it, and a few holes, it also got a lot more stinky the further i went. I pulled the plasterboard back as it was behind the units anyway, i can replace this later.

Looking down at the soil pipe, i could see a small, one inch hole in the ground, i got the mrs to flush the chain, there it was, water splashing about. I stuck some gloves on & had a feel, feels like an open cavity, i though this could have been the sewer pipe (clay) which could have collapsed, out comes the chisel.

Very carefully i started enlarging the hole, and i think i understand a bit better, it appears the clay pipe is a 90 degree bend coming up over, opening out a bit with the pvc soil pipe going into it. After i had opened the hole up a bit more, the chain was flushed, and it looks like there is a gap, of about 1mm, between the two. The water is splashing up through this gap, it only does this when the chain is flushed, not when taps are ran.

I will try and get some pics if it will help, but its right in the corner of the kitchen, so its pretty tricky to get at.

My novice presumption is that there should be some sort of seal around the join, which has decayed over time, and i will have to chip away slowly at all the cement that has been chucked ontop of the pipe in the corner, then somehow seal the joint again?

I would appreciate any help with this, as i am meant to be working away from home on monday for 16 days & can't leave the kitchen in this state for the mrs.

Thanks for your time & appologies about the essay.

Mark.

 

[markdon]

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

It might be possible to effect a repair with some sand/cement, depending on the access available to get it in where its needed.

Another option which may be better is to cut the bottom section of the stack out. Carefully clean up the clayware socket (or whats left of it, hopefully the rest of the bend will be intact), as its fragile. McAlpine part DC-1 (similar to a WC pan connector) will fit into the clayware pipe. Into this fit required length of 110mm plastic to make up the stack, rejoin to existing stack with a slip coupler. Some concrete around the joint to drain to give it rigidity might be beneficial.

 

[markdon]

Hi, thanks for the reply, i would like to try the second option, the only issue i have is that as seen in the pic below, half of the soil pipe is still surrounded by cement, and i'm worried about chipping it away & damaging the clay pipe.

My main worry if i dont do this is that i do a repair using sealant / cement, then find the other half of the stack which is under cement is leaking there aswell. Its very hard to see if there is any leakage from this side because of where it is in the room.

I was thinking of trying to clear it up as best i can, then lashing loads of sealer on the join, then putting cement over the top of that.

The only issue with this is that i have put my hand into the hole & its deeper than i can reach, so any cement etc i use, will just fall into the hole?

Any help would be appreciated!

Mark.