Rough in pipes leaking

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J

johnnymite

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Mar 14, 2011
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Location
Frederick, Maryland
Hello everyone. I am new to the forum and have a question about two rough in pipes in my basement. Just a heads up, I have done some DIY PVC and CPVC work but nothing too complicated. I know enough to be dangerous.

I recently bought a house and there are pipes for a bathroom in the basement (at least I think that is what they are for). One is a pipe running up the wall which I assume is a pipe for a sink. The other two are coming straight out of the floor. One is a 4" PVC pipe (I assume toilet drain) and the other a 2" PVC pipe (I assume shower drain). Both are capped.

I have been in for a few months and neither leaked until today. Now there is a small drip coming from both which collects on the floor into a small puddle. Nothing gushing out but I know something is wrong.

I did hit the 4" pipe cap the other day when I dropped a ladder. Is it possible that broke the cap seal? But why would both pipes leak now?? If a broken seal is the case, can I just cut off the caps and reseal?

Any ideas or anything I should know before I get started.
 
If they are drainage lines for a future bathroom, they should not have water sitting inside of them. This sounds rather odd. Can you post up a picture?
 
Here are few images of the problem. Seems to be leaking less thought I left a rag by the 4" pipe all day and when I got home from work it was soaked through and there was still a small puddle that you can see in the photo. The pipes are standard PVC (white) but the prior owner dri-locked everything so they appear grey in the pics. Thanks for the help.

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Those lines should be dry. Maybe you have a blockage somewhere that is backing it up to that level?
 
Is the rest of your home draining fine? I would think somewhere between your house and the main but don't quote me on that. If everything else is working fine then I am a little more stumped until you pop a lid and see if they are full of water.
 
If it is backed up and there is pressure on those lines then they will overflow into the room.
 
That does appear to be drainage lines. I am wondering if they were ran out from underneath the basement, but never tied into the sewer? Just guessing, on that one.

If everything else is draining fine, I would just replace the caps with pressure caps, which will stand a lot more knocking about. If you ever want to finish out the bathroom, I would recommend that you have the line camera'ed to figure out what is going on.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am not exactly sure what a pressure cap is...the caps with the screw in pieces??

Also I am having my city utility come out in the morning to make sure it is not something on their end. They mentioned checking to see if everything was working with the "grinder pump" and to see if there are any clogs. But if that were the case everything would be backing up, correct? Can't hurt to have them check it out.

If you don't mind, I will let you know what I find out. Thanks again.
 
I see what looks like an ejector pump system in the back ground of 1st picture betweem the black boxes.
What goes into that and is it working?
 
Are you sure that the water is comming out of the top?, by looking at the picture it could be comming out of the floor at the bottom of the pipe, if so it could be ground water.

If you don't want to cut the caps off you can drill a small hole near the top and see if water comes out of it, if it does you probably have a partial stoppage in you main line and it''s leaking out of the cap
 
There is a sump pump in the background of the image. It is working and I don't believe these two drains are connected to it. It runs out the back of the house into a drainage gutter so hopefully no sewage drain lines are running into it ;)

Psycho99, the pipes are definitely leaking from the top. I thought the same thing as you at first but if I put my hand on the top of the pipe around the cap I can feel the water coming out and running down the sides of the pipe.
 
If you are sure that the water is comming from the top I would stick with my first post that you have a partial stoppage in your main line that backs up thru the caps when it can't get down the line fast enough, cut one of the caps off and run some fixtures, if the water starts to come up the pipes thats what you have.
 
I removed the caps the pipes were full of water.

The city came out to check my main line and "grinder pump." They ran the pump a few times, reset the system and told me everything seemed ok.

When they ran the pump it must have dislodged whatever was blocking the pipe because almost instantly the water ran out of the rough in drain pipes.

So it seems like the partial blockage was the issue. I re-capped the pipes tonight with the screw on lids, so if something happens again I have access with having to cut the pipes again.

Thanks everyone for the advice and I'm glad this was an easy fix.
 
Well, I spoke too soon.

I posted after I saw the pipes drained and replaced the caps. I left the screw caps off and ran my dishwasher, sinks and the guest bathroom tub for a few minutes. Everything looked fine so I thought I was clear but I still left the caps off just in case. I checked again this morning and nothing.

Unfortunately I took a shower this morning and before leaving from work checked again...water came up the pipes. There is no standing water in the pipes but water on the floor.

Does this make any sense? Should I just get a plumber out at this point??
 
It sounds like you have a partial blockage in the main line somewhere.
 
Don't want to speak too soon again but now I think we got it.

I had a plumber come out and tell me it was the city's issue because he saw no blockage anywhere on my end. So I had the city back out and surprise, surprise...my "grinder pump" (sorry if that is the wrong terminology but that is what they call it) was broken. Supposedly it was fine the day before but now completely shot :confused:

But they replaced it with a new one and I watched as everything was tested. Also all the water in my drain pipes emptied.

Again thanks for all the advice. Have a great one.

John
 
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