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Pictured is where a drain from my washing machine enters into the main stack. There is a crack in the collar of the plumbing underneath where I have circled in the picture. It broke when the extending pipe was torqued. I tried to reglue and seal but continues to leak. Between the pieces all being so close together and up against the wall, I am not sure what else to do. Any suggestions would help.

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  • Sometimes, "Hire a plumber" is the right response. They have specialized tools and experience that might make this considerably less difficult than the typical DIY approach. Specifically, they may have a tool that would allow them to remove the fitting with the cracked collar from the next fitting in a way that would allow gluing in a replacement. Or you cut the pipe and kludge on a rubber coupling...PVC cement glues PVC together, it does not do well at sealing cracks.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 15, 2017 at 14:50

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PVC is pretty simple to work with as long as it fits well. I'd cut off the broken elbow cleanly and leaving just enough protruding from the stack tee to connect a new elbow, say 3/4". I'd clean it up and prime it and install a new standard elbow (is that a 45?) onto the stub. Give a twist to distribute the cement well. You many need to cut back, and then extend with a coupler, the straight section.

Another option is to cut the elbow off, then carefully grind away the portion that remains inside the stack tee. If you work slowly with a rotary grinder, checking fit often, you should be able to make a new street elbow fit well. Prime it and cement it in, rotating at least 1/4 to distribute the cement.

Because this is an unfinished area, risk is low if the new connections fail. At that point you may want to get a plumber in to replace the stack tee and start fresh.

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    Sometimes, you can cut it flush with the hub, then using a hacksaw blade cut a line though the remaining pipe inside the hub (cutting perpendicular to the face of the hub), then use a flat head screw driver and a hammer and chisel out the pipe. When you're lucky they start to separate and all you need it to do is sand the inside of the hub smooth.
    – pdd
    Commented May 15, 2017 at 16:15
  • I've done just that, but I'd leave some of the fitting remaining to grab with a Vice Grip. You can often twist the sections right out.
    – isherwood
    Commented May 15, 2017 at 16:29

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