Liner for 2 1/2" PVC Drain Pipe??

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

StrongEagle

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston, Texas
Hello,

I have a 2.5 inch PVC drain pipe which drains my washer. As you can see from the photo, this pipe exits the side of the house and drops through my driveway (which was installed after the drain was put in).

My problem is that as a result of the drought in Houston, my driveway has shifted just enough to have caused a crack under the concrete somewhere between just under the concrete but before the "T" that connects the drain pipe to the horizontal pipe that leads to the main sewer.

As a result, when the washer drains, water seeps up between the slab and the driveway... not a lot... but obviously a leak.

I'd rather not break up my driveway to repair a small section of PVC drain. Is there any kind of sleeve or liner that I could insert into this drain to seal the leak? Something along the lines of the liners used by municipalities to stretch the life of aging sewers?

TIA

drain.jpg
 
Last edited:
There are companies that do pipe lining. Sourcing the material, the cost of the equipment needed, and the experience necessary to accomplish the repair, all combine to make this something that is not a DIY operation.

If the affected section of piping is not that deep, and the area that would need to be broken up is not that large, a direct repair might be a cheaper option.
 
The concrete/driveway appears to have termite treatment holes drilled into it. Is it possible the drain pipe was drilled and finally gave way causing the leak.
 
I thought I'd follow up on this... finally.

After reading the comment about having the termite guy drilling into the drain pipe, i popped the clean out cap to discover that there is a 90 degree elbow about 12 inches under the surface which puts the drain pipe about 8 inches from the house slab... so even if the termite guy drilled that far down he'd still miss the drain pipe. I also did confirm that the pipe indeed has shifted and broken about a quarter inch just under the bottom driveway.

The pipe pic I originally posted shows one of two drain pipes... that attached photo shows that there are actually two... the closer one being for the washer, the farther one for the kitchen sink. What wasn't making any sense was why I got no leakage when using the sink but got leakage using the water.

Then, one Saturday afternoon, I was washing a couple of paint rollers, 2 or 3 paint brushes and other assorted equipment, using a fair quantity of water, when all of a sudden, paint laden water started coming out of the washer drain... the one with the break.

Then the light bulb came on. The drain had to be clogged somewhere. This particular line is dedicated to just the sink and washer. It runs about 70 feet across my yard, where it is coupled to a 4 inch pipe that drops at a 45 degree angle to connect with a sewer pipe that is 16 ft underground. I had this put in years ago because the trees in my yard completely broke up the existing concrete pipe chunks.

In any event, I had a cleanout installed just in front of the connection to the 4 inch pipe. Sure enough, using a snake cleared a blockage. Once the blockage was gone I've had no additional water from the break in the pipe.

Cheers.

drain.jpg
 
Last edited:
Although you took care of one problem (clearing the stoppage). The drain line is still compromise which could be the root of the stoppage issue. You will continue to have problems until the drain line is repaired.
 
I don't think the stoppage and the broken drain line are related. There is a distance of more than 60 feet from the break to the clean out. I did not clean out the 2" section working back to the house, I cleaned out the 4" section. Years ago, they lined this sewer that I connect to. My guess is that the cutout is imperfect, allowing food and lint to gradually collect until it becomes plugged... it took 15 years for this to happen. There is no sign of any root intrusion anywhere.

Since this is washer gray water, under the driveway, and not leaking at all, I'm disinclined to tear up the driveway to make this repair.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top