3

The 2" PVC elbow shown in these pictures is leaking at the joint where it connects with a PVC pipe coming through the foundation stem wall at the right.

What's the best procedure for replacing this elbow? Is it possible to remove the elbow without damaging the wall pipe that it connects to?

I'm willing to replace all of the pipe and fittings above and to the left of the elbow and that lead to the sump pump. However, I hope to avoid replacing the pipe that comes through the stem wall, since that would involve excavating outside the house.

elbow closeup elbow within full assembly

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    Are you sure the elbow is leaking? Water could be seeping in from outside and running down the wall.
    – JACK
    Nov 14, 2021 at 20:43
  • @JACK — I can observe that the leak happens only when the sump pump is running, and not otherwise. So it seem unlikely that it's outside ground water leaking in.
    – Michael
    Nov 14, 2021 at 20:46
  • Grab a shovel. If it's leaking there, you'll need to deal with that particular piece of pipe. Make the new one longer.
    – Ecnerwal
    Nov 14, 2021 at 22:18
  • 1
    Is it me or is that clean out installed the wrong way 'round? I suppose you might want to clean out from there back into the sump, but usually you go down stream from a clean out, not up stream.
    – FreeMan
    Nov 15, 2021 at 13:49

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

It's almost impossible to remove cemented PVC fittings without damaging the pipe they're attached to. You can try to cut slots in the elbow with a rotary tool and break away the elbow piece by piece but any scoring of the pipe will cause leaking with a new elbow. If you succeed in removing the elbow, you could attach a Fernco coupling (see picture below)to the pipe out of the wall and to additional piping to complete your run.

enter image description here

In all honesty, I think replacing the wall pipe would be your best bet. That pipe might have been too short to begin with so the elbow wasn't properly installed in the first place.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    Getting that Fernco onto the pipe in the wall is the easy part. Getting it tightened down properly will be challenging
    – FreeMan
    Nov 14, 2021 at 22:01
  • Could an inside connector (eg, pvcfittingsonline.com/…) be used? For example, the elbow could be cut flush with the stem wall, say, with an oscillating multi-tool, and a new length of pipe attached using the inside connector.
    – Michael
    Nov 15, 2021 at 0:25
  • If you can get one that matches your wall pipe and your wall pipe is schedule 40, it could/should work. Are you sure what the wall pipe is material wise?
    – JACK
    Nov 15, 2021 at 2:13
0

Stud pak had a great video on the various options on removing a solvent welded pvc or abs pipe. I think the heat gun worked best. The short of it is you'd use a osc or recip saw to cut the pvc 90 at the far side of the hub and then use the heat gun to remove the hub from the pipe then you could put a new 90 onto the pipe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQGHej71nWE

Improve this answer
1
  • Tell us how it worked after you try it. IMPE, removing pipe (destructively) from fittings (conceivably reusable) is fairly easy with a heat gun, and removing fittings from pipe (without destroying the pipe) might be a whole lot more difficult (I have not actually tried that direction, personally, but it seemed like the pipe softened a lot more easily than the fittings did.)
    – Ecnerwal
    Nov 15, 2021 at 3:34

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.