Leaking Sewer Line

I recently bought a very large Victorian home and noticed a small leak in the sewer line. I get a very very small stream of water when, for example, someone takes a shower. If someone took a 15 min shower, maybe about 2-4 ounces of water leaks from the pipe.

I'm a little afraid, because the house is old, and there are 8 bathrooms.

I took some pictures, and it looks like the water is coming at a juncture between a very scary looking large cast iron pipe, and one going out to the sewer. Can you guys take a look at it - i have 3 basic questions:

1. What am I looking at in the picture - like is there a specific name for that juncture.

2. In your opinion, would this be a huge job to have a plumber come in and fix?

3. Ideally, I'd like to take care of this in the Spring. I am in the house alone, and can monitor the situation. Would putting something on the area, like JBWeld to stop the pinhole cause any problems? I realize this would be an amatuer, not permanant fix. I just wouldn't want to make it worse, or tougher for when the expert comes to fix it.

Thanks!

I have made temporary repairs with a little plumbers putty and duct tape.
Not sure if JB Weld will stick to wet surface.
What ever you try can't hurt.
Just don't use silicone. I likes clean dry surfaces to stick well.

Filled in a crack, 4 ft long, on a vertical 3" soil pipe with Putty and duct tape.
Took them about a month to call us back to replace the pipe. It held tight. No leaks

I believe you will have to remove any dried sewage from that pipe so whatever you apply will have a better chance of sticking and bonding.

Thanks for the input guys. I plan on taking some light sand paper to get any gunk thats left there, then using some plumbers putty.

Cant see that well but it looks like cast iron ??? , or is it copper, I'm thinking it cast, Hub and Spicket if so ,u must first clean the joint, there a tar sealant for that

put a rubberband on it. for a "TEMP" fix

puddy the crack as David has suggested

then,

cut a 4'' wide strip of inner tube from a discarded bicycle tire

wrap the rubber around the pipe. affix it to the pipe using 2 gear clamps/ radiator hose clamps

It's a larger cast iron pipe, and looks like the other pipe is threaded into it and out to the sewer. Appears leak is coming from threads.

ahhhhh. I have an old fix for leaking threads.

get some lead wool, and a small screwdriver

using the screw driver, pack the lead into the anular space between fitting and tread. pack it with a hammer

wildrage said:

It's a larger cast iron pipe, and looks like the other pipe is threaded into it and out to the sewer. Appears leak is coming from threads.

Click to expand...

GOOD EYE. thought it looked like a cast iron hub but a closer look at it and I'll bet your right. Probably DWV copper soldered into some sort of cast bronze bell.
scrap the paint. a magnet will tell you if it's iron or not.

Hey guys, thanks for all of your help. Upon further inspection, the pipe is rotting from the inside out, starting at the connection to the 'bell', down about 6 inches (see picture below). I'm sure the wall of the pipe in some places must be paper thin. The pipe continues down 6 feet or so, then straight into the basement floor. There is a joint in the pipe about 3 feet down towards the ground (can just barely tel, as its been painted)

So obviously the pipe needs to be replaced. For now, I used some jbweld for most of the crack, and plumbers putty up near the threads to the bell (didnt' want to bond it together for future repair).

I will call in a pro - but the question is, can you give me an idea of the scale of the project, assuming that this pipe is the only thing that needs to be swapped out? $500? $5,000? Somewhere in between?

to many variables. labor rates are different from one end of a state to he other
not to mention i have no idea if you are here or Australia.
copper is high dolar right now,

better budget a grand and be happy if its less.

just a guess, 2 hours/2 men at ? plus materials at ? = ? plus tax=?

What is the cast brass fitting. Is there cast iron pipe coming in from the top or even maybe lead pipe?

maybe that fitting can be peeled off to attach new pipe with a mechanical fittings like mission couplings. if the pipe is okay near the bottom then that might me an easy fix. ( relatively speaking )

Mr_David said:

GOOD EYE. thought it looked like a cast iron hub but a closer look at it and I'll bet your right. Probably DWV copper soldered into some sort of cast bronze bell.

scrap the paint. a magnet will tell you if it's iron or not.

Click to expand...

...hmmph...

How many modern plumbers are familiar with the old way of doing things? Do most do field repairs or replace/update the system(s)?

ADDENDUM...

If copper DWV attached to a brass bell, would copper pipe actually corrode in such a fashion?