Questions tagged [sewer]
For questions regarding the underground pipes that carry foul or "black" water to a treatment works.
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Can I remove this second side-by-side house trap and replace it with a check valve?
I'm trying to make room for a check valve to my house sanitary behind my main check valve and a Y connection to my storm line. Currently I have two lines side by side that join together near the ...
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can I install an inline check valve on a condensate drain line down pipe?
I actually need to add a check valve to my condensate drip line/sewer drain connection since it had sewer backup recently (the 3/4" PVC condensate pipe was piped down directly into a 2" ...
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Is it reasonable to expect a home sewer system to handle 2-ply toilet paper?
I own a fixer-upper that has... more problems than I originally anticipated. The current problem that I'm working on tackling is that the sewer line under the basement blocks if 2-ply toilet paper is ...
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How do I remove a bottle cap stuck 3 feet down a drain line
A bottle cap (I think) fell down my sink drain and down the pipe before I could retrieve it.
It seems to be the perfect size to block the drain because despite no water down the drain for a month, ...
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Does this septic tank have built in baffles?
I had a septic tank delivered and want to understand what needs to be done for the hookup (I'm not doing it myself, just want to be sure I understand the requirements).
I'd seen / read that you ...
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Can I permanently cap an unused drain line stub out?
I'm building a bathroom in my basement and the builder left a roughed in 1.5" ABS line for the sink. It's a vertical pipe that goes from the roof (presumably) down into the concrete and has a T ...
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Cast iron sewer pipe replacement
My sewer line runs through our basement wall to the septic tank. Due to shifting over the years the pipe has broken at the outside of the house. How do you go about removing the cast iron pipe out ...
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Plumber got his sewer jetter hose stuck. Whose fault is it? [closed]
On Wednesday, a service plumber came to my house to jet the drain for my kitchen sink. He came around 9 a.m. and by 9:30 had pushed his hose beyond the clog. Then he spent 3 hours trying to get his ...
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Why isn't new sewer vent cap resolving poor toilet flushing?
Next to my lakehouse is a renovated garage with a toilet and a sink. Entire structure was built in the 90s. We have septic. Toilet flushes poorly, gurgles with flushing and just randomly. Removed the ...
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How to proactively detect a clogged sewer drain pipe?
Is there a way to detect that a sewer drain pipe has clogged and is in the process of backing up? I'm not looking for a) advice like "don't put grease or tampons down the drain" or b) here ...
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Sewer connection with lift pump, or septic tank?
My wife and I are considering a building lot.
The city ran a sewer line down the street in front of the lot early this spring, so connecting to the sewer is a possibility, but would require a lift ...
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How High For A Condensate Standpipe?
I have a new Navien NPE-240A2 condensing tankless water heater that I'm installing in an existing small water heater cabinet accessible from the exterior of my house. The current tankless is an older ...
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129
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Sewer backflow pipe in middle of paver patio
I'm installing a paver patio in my backyard and have a sewer backflow pipe in the middle of the area where the patio is going. What options do I have for lowering or covering the pipe so that it is ...
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Cap Or Plug For Sewage Line
Doing a remodel, and moving a sink about 6 feet from it's original location, and due to the way that the sewer main runs it logically makes more sense to tie into a different sewage line than the ...
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Horizontal turns in drain line
There is a problematic horizontal change of direction in this drainage pipe. It is connected to a sanitary tee, but the flow of water is directed right into the cleanout cap instead of the 45 degree ...
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Sewer gas odor in 1st floor mudroom after replacing washing machine in basement
We've had a washing machine in the basement for more than a decade (we use it for oversize stuff, horse blankets). Suddenly, upon replacing our old failing machine with a newer one, I'm smelling a ...
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Prioritizing foundation/slab repair and sewage pipes?
My house is old, built around 1955. It has two outstanding issues,
Slab repair (very likely needs to be done, doors don't line up and I see cracks above some sills, it has slab repair before)
Sewage ...
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Proposed Plumbing Layout Question for Utility Building - shower/sink/toilet
I have two questions regarding the plumbing layout for my utility building:
I would like to run the plumbing from the inside of the utility building to a currently existing main four-inch line ...
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What material to make a custom sewer trap access pit lid from?
Just had my sewer line redone in my basement and when they poured in the concrete it created a trapezoidal shape and the dimensions are not standard. This is similar to covering a sump pit in the ...
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Sump pit not draining (or maybe it's a retention tank)
I recently had a flood caused by a blocked storm water pipe. I got the blocked line running again. I then dug 2 feet of soil off the top of my sump pit to try to clean the pipe more thoroughly from ...
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Connecting water system drain line to sewer
I’m replacing my water filtering and softener system. The only drain we have in the basement is connected to the sewer pipe. The drain line for the old system are T’ed together and connected to the ...
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2
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Can I connect a 90 degree tee to my plumbing that goes straight down?
I currently have a kitchen sink on the first floor which leads to a vertical pipe (illustrated in black). I would like to connect a bathroom sink to the same vertical pipe (illustrated in orange). Can ...
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Sulphur Smell in house when dishwasher is unloaded
I'm going crazy. I have had a sulphur/sewer smell going through A/C vents for 6 weeks. As soon as I smell it, I turn air off for a while ... then it's OK. IT ONLY HAPPENS 1 TIME A DAY. I've had A/...
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Best backflow prevention for sewer surges from storms
I have a townhouse in New York City that is on relatively high ground but has had stormwater and sewage backup during intense short-burst periods of rain. What is the most effective way to prevent ...
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What considerations should I make when demolishing a driveway?
I have a really long concrete driveway, and we'd like to turn the back half of it into part of the backyard. From this:
To this:
I'm hiring a demolition contractor for this task, but I'd like to ask ...
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Can a sewer vent pipe be rerouted?
We are adding a new shower and want to extend it by a few inches. But behind it is a sewer vent that has a bump out framed around it. It is on exterior wall and the roof is directly above it.
Can it ...
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New Kitchen sink poor drainage
After installing a new sink water backs up too quickly. If I remove the whole construction and pour directly into the sewer line it flows fine, so no line clog.
I think I did mistake in positioning p-...
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Will the InSinkErator Evolution Compact garbage disposal fit under this sink without modifying the plumbing?
I'm trying to help out an elderly friend with a plumbing issue. He doesn't know anything about plumbing, and I don't consider myself very knowledgeable in the field.
His sink currently has an ...
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Is abandoned sewage pit hazardous?
I own a family house that used to until about 20 years ago have a sewage collector pit in use. It has been abandoned for about 20 years now. It has concrete walls and roofing and gravel on the bottom. ...
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Strange suction in toilet and sink, like a vacuum in the sewer pulling the water out
This is hard to explain.. But I was sitting in my bedroom when all of a sudden my toilet started draining, then the sinks in the bathroom started pulling air in, then when the water from the toilet ...
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Can I Run Electrical Wire through sewage pipe/ vent
I'm trying to run new electrical wire from the basement to my 3rd floor apartment. There’s a cast iron vertical sewage pipe that goes in the exact route I’d like the wire to go. But there would be ...
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What is this pipe? It leaks when the sink runs
I have a pipe that is halfway under a door jamb and inside the concrete floor which when I run a the sink water is now coming out of it. This pipe is next to our AC blower unit inside the basement. I ...
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Sewer Line Opening - Makeshift Vent or Rodents?
In the crawl space beneath my house, the sewer line has a branch that runs right to the crawl space entry/vent. The end cap has a jagged hole:
Not sure if it's been that way since I bought it (...
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What do I use for backfilling septic pipe leaving my home?
I have a 4" PVC septic pipe leaving my house on the cinder block wall about 4 feet below my house. There was a crack inside of the part where it leaves the house and I need to replace it (from ...
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What is the material leaking out of my plumbing drain stack?
This has been happening since about a month after we moved and we noticed a fluid leaking out of this pipe. It seems to be a sewage pipe. Whenever we flush, we can hear the water running down this ...
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Laundry drain smells like sewer after washing clothes
I have an in-wall laundry drain - pictured below.
Since we moved in it had a significant clog which I unclogged with a combination of wet-vac sucking on the drain and snaking the vent pipe. Finally we ...
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Sewer Smell in High Rise Apartment
I rent an apartment in a new high-rise and I´m on the 15th floor. Weird smells are in both of my bathrooms, with one being a lot stronger burdened with smell than the other.
In irregular patterns ...
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What things to watch for when installing sewer line in the basement under 15" concrete slab
I am going through a major renovation in my house which involves excavating 7'6" basement and pouring seismically strong 15" slab as a floor.
The house is pretty high on the hill and ...
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How to seal these sewer clean outs?
I have these caps just outside of my house that I’m assuming are sewer clean outs. The problem is the pipe is all corroded and the caps are PVC that are just set on top of it. They don’t seal as there ...
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Is it normal to smell sewer gas from a plumbing vent?
We have a second floor room that is centered on top of the house - but this means that the windows of this second story are ABOVE the plumbing vents from the first floor. These plumbing vents are a ...
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Basement Smell in Utility or Bathroom?
In our house, we have a partially below grade basement. Occasionally, our basement will smell like sewer gas (farts) but I can not determine where the smell is coming from.
The basement does have ...
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Clogged downspout pipe
My downspout, next to a stucco wall, used to go into a cast iron pipe. Recently, the water must have gotten behind the stucco and in the winter, the stucco wall collapsed, pushed the downspout out of ...
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Will separate dishwasher drain cause sewer gases and wet dog smell?
Will this separate pipe for dishwasher cause sewer gases to enter into cabinet and dishwasher to get wet dog smell? The separate dishwasher pipe design - at top of pipe is a 2” Wye fitting - one side ...
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Sewer smell in bathroom ONLY when central a/c is on and kitchen sink is running water
This is a weird one, and have come across multiple handymen and none of them can pinpoint the problem when I describe it. Though they have never been in the room when it happens.
Here is the scenario.....
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How To Neatly Cover an Indoor Sewer Cleanout?
I am currently renovating my room and realized that there is a wall popping out. It was bothering me because it would be an obstruction when placing new furnitures. I removed it and planned to make ...
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In-place sewer cleanout tee replacement?
I had a contractor roll over a sewer cleanout with some heavy machinery. It looks like the contractor may have amnesia about the damage and reporting to his insurance, so I may be out of luck and need ...
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External sewage pipe damaged
I recently had some tree service done to my yard by a contractor, which required them to drive heavy machinery through the lawn. It was pointed out to me that they drove over and damaged an external &...
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Which of these is the sewer cleanout
I’m trying to locate the sewer cleanout. I found a box that looks like it contains it but there are 3 separate plugs. Which one should I use?
I also found this which I’m guessing is something else
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Sewage coming out of concrete in basement floor
My basement has been flooding a little (1-inch or so pooled around a ~20 square foot area) for the past week or so. Whenever I pump out the water, new water starts seeping back in from through the ...
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Should I avoid running conduit above sewer line exit on basement wall?
The prior owner of our house had an epoxy repair made on the basement wall where the sewer line exits (see images). We've lived here for 20 years and this repair is solid; there have never been any ...
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