I'm posting because I;m having a hard time finding any stories with the same
situation.

Our house was built in 1929. It's in town (a little separated from "Main
Street", but still in town; we're on a little dead-end street with just 6
houses, but it's off of a main road with plenty of development close on 2
sides).

We are on city water and swer, but our main sewer pipe leaves the house
through the basement wall only 1 1/2 or 2' below ground level. Everyonre
else seems to have pipes exiting either through their basement floor or much
lower down the basement wall. Our main exiting pipe is a big cast iron or
fired clay number; all the toilets, bathwater, sink drains, etc. connect up
to this at some point, some of them very close to the exit, but the big MAIN
exit (about 8" in diameter, I think) exits through the cinderblock
foundation just 1 1/2 feet below ground level.

Should I be worried? This seems to have confused several of the
handymen-types I know, and I can't find stores of similar situations
anywhere. Is it that the house used to have its own septic tank, but then
got tied to city water/sewer later? if so, where's the tie? Is there some
resurce I have for finding out exactly where my sewer pipe drains into the
city's? Should I worry about freezing, or if I ever drive a truck over the
lawn at that point? I've been told we need to replace all this big ancient
pipe anyway, but if I do that, should I address what happens outside the
foundation as well? I don't want to update all the internal plumbing just
to have everything go to the dogs right outside the foundation.

We're in Michigan. Granted, nothing bad's happened yet, I'm just concerned
because of the apparent abnormalcy of the situation.

Anyone seen this before, or have guesses as to what led up to this, or
opinions on whether it's a concern?

Thanks for reading, I would appreciate any feedback/advice.

On Jan 30, 6:28 pm, "CompleteNewb" wrote:
I'm posting because I;m having a hard time finding any stories with the same
situation.

Our house was built in 1929. It's in town (a little separated from "Main
Street", but still in town; we're on a little dead-end street with just 6
houses, but it's off of a main road with plenty of development close on 2
sides).

We are on city water and swer, but our main sewer pipe leaves the house
through the basement wall only 1 1/2 or 2' below ground level. Everyonre
else seems to have pipes exiting either through their basement floor or much
lower down the basement wall. Our main exiting pipe is a big cast iron or
fired clay number; all the toilets, bathwater, sink drains, etc. connect up
to this at some point, some of them very close to the exit, but the big MAIN
exit (about 8" in diameter, I think) exits through the cinderblock
foundation just 1 1/2 feet below ground level.

Should I be worried? This seems to have confused several of the
handymen-types I know, and I can't find stores of similar situations
anywhere. Is it that the house used to have its own septic tank, but then
got tied to city water/sewer later? if so, where's the tie? Is there some
resurce I have for finding out exactly where my sewer pipe drains into the
city's? Should I worry about freezing, or if I ever drive a truck over the
lawn at that point? I've been told we need to replace all this big ancient
pipe anyway, but if I do that, should I address what happens outside the
foundation as well? I don't want to update all the internal plumbing just
to have everything go to the dogs right outside the foundation.

We're in Michigan. Granted, nothing bad's happened yet, I'm just concerned
because of the apparent abnormallicy of the situation.

Anyone seen this before, or have guesses as to what led up to this, or
opinions on whether it's a concern?

Thanks for reading, I would appreciate any feedback/advice.

Well.....its been working for nearly 80 years so I doubt its going to
fail tomorrow.

Freezing? I doubt its much of an issue....water exiting the house is
house temp (more or less) & only in the drain pipes for a few seconds
at most...not enough time to freeze. Fresh water supply freezing is
an issue.

Keep truck off your lawn & away from the pipe.

8" sounds rather large...unless it used to be a hotel.

I've got a house built in 1930 (SoCal) that I've owned for nearly 30
years. I don't know the condition of your home but if its anything
like mine when I bought...you'd better get handy pretty quickly or
have deep pockets.

I'd be more worried about roots in the sewer pipes.
cheers
Bob

"CompleteNewb" wrote in message

We are on city water and swer, but our main sewer pipe leaves the house
through the basement wall only 1 1/2 or 2' below ground level. Everyonre
else seems to have pipes exiting either through their basement floor or
much lower down the basement wall. Our main exiting pipe is a big cast
iron or fired clay number; all the toilets, bathwater, sink drains, etc.
connect up to this at some point, some of them very close to the exit, but
the big MAIN exit (about 8" in diameter, I think) exits through the
cinderblock foundation just 1 1/2 feet below ground level.

If it has been working since 1929, good chance it will continue to work.
Sewer lines should not have standing water in them to freeze. I'm confused
though, you say the drains connect to the main and then there is the big
MAIN. There can only be one main. It is the same pipe that changes size?
8" is very large.


Should I be worried?

Probably not.

This seems to have confused several of the handymen-types I know, and I
can't find stores of similar situations anywhere. Is it that the house
used to have its own septic tank, but then got tied to city water/sewer
later? if so, where's the tie? Is there some resurce I have for finding
out exactly where my sewer pipe drains into the city's?

Contact the sewer department. Our building at work was tied into the sewer
in the early 1900's and they have a diagram of all the lines connecting. We
recently had to replace one and the drawing was handy as there are four
lines going to one main.


Should I worry about freezing, or if I ever drive a truck over the
lawn at that point? I've been told we need to replace all this big
ancient pipe anyway, but if I do that, should I address what happens
outside the foundation as well? I don't want to update all the internal
plumbing just to have everything go to the dogs right outside the
foundation.


I'd avoid concrete trucks unless you know how deep it is where the truck
would cross. Why does it have to be replaced? Rotted out?


We're in Michigan. Granted, nothing bad's happened yet, I'm just
concerned because of the apparent abnormalcy of the situation.

I don't think it is all that abnormal. I've seen sewer go out fairly high
in basements.

Very likely your house was originally on a septic tank. Probably the first
house on the street. The pipe would exit through the wall and enter the
septic tank a few feet away. Since the septic tank would be just a foot or
possibly slightly deeper below the soil level, the pipe exiting the house
could not go any deeper. This is the way it is with septic tanks.

A common practice when converting over to city sewers, is to collapse or
remove the septic tank and connect the sewer line to the drain pipe where it
previously entered the septic tank. This is why your drain line exits the
house so high. Possibly the city sewer lateral will be a different material
to the pipe exiting your house, and most likely it will angle down deeper to
connect with the sewer main. Depending on when the sewer connection was
installed will determine what type of piping material they used.

Your handymen are not very knowledgeable, and probably have never seen a
septic tank plumbing arrangement.


"CompleteNewb" wrote in message
. ..
I'm posting because I;m having a hard time finding any stories with the
same situation.

Our house was built in 1929. It's in town (a little separated from "Main
Street", but still in town; we're on a little dead-end street with just 6
houses, but it's off of a main road with plenty of development close on 2
sides).

We are on city water and swer, but our main sewer pipe leaves the house
through the basement wall only 1 1/2 or 2' below ground level. Everyonre
else seems to have pipes exiting either through their basement floor or
much lower down the basement wall. Our main exiting pipe is a big cast
iron or fired clay number; all the toilets, bathwater, sink drains, etc.
connect up to this at some point, some of them very close to the exit, but
the big MAIN exit (about 8" in diameter, I think) exits through the
cinderblock foundation just 1 1/2 feet below ground level.

Should I be worried? This seems to have confused several of the
handymen-types I know, and I can't find stores of similar situations
anywhere. Is it that the house used to have its own septic tank, but then
got tied to city water/sewer later? if so, where's the tie? Is there
some resurce I have for finding out exactly where my sewer pipe drains
into the city's? Should I worry about freezing, or if I ever drive a
truck over the lawn at that point? I've been told we need to replace all
this big ancient pipe anyway, but if I do that, should I address what
happens outside the foundation as well? I don't want to update all the
internal plumbing just to have everything go to the dogs right outside the
foundation.

We're in Michigan. Granted, nothing bad's happened yet, I'm just
concerned because of the apparent abnormalcy of the situation.

Anyone seen this before, or have guesses as to what led up to this, or
opinions on whether it's a concern?

Thanks for reading, I would appreciate any feedback/advice.

CompleteNewb wrote:
I'm posting because I;m having a hard time finding any stories with the same
situation.

I'm on septic and the pipe exits about 2' down. The tank in the back
yard is about the same depth. No problems with freezing, as the piddle
and poo add enough contamination to the water to prevent it from
freezing in Upstate NY winters.

That said, where the sewer line exits your house will depend on how
much fall there is between your house and the sewer main at the
street. Sewage can't flow uphill. Is your house in a dip or hole?

I'd imagine the 8" line is probably really only a 5" or 6" line, since
you're estimating based on the outside diameter, and these pipes are
VERY thick-walled.

Should I be worried? This seems to have confused several of the
handymen-types I know, and I can't find stores of similar situations
anywhere. Is it that the house used to have its own septic tank, but then
got tied to city water/sewer later? if so, where's the tie? Is there some
resurce I have for finding out exactly where my sewer pipe drains into the
city's? Should I worry about freezing, or if I ever drive a truck over the
lawn at that point? I've been told we need to replace all this big ancient
pipe anyway, but if I do that, should I address what happens outside the
foundation as well? I don't want to update all the internal plumbing just
to have everything go to the dogs right outside the foundation.

Are these "handyman types" more "handicapped types?" Are they mentally
retarded? If something like that throws them off feed, do not hire
them for any future work.

I'd imagine if the house were originally on septic, they tied into the
line just outside the basement wall when they ran the line in from the
street. That's typically how they do it. The only way to find out
exactly what's going on is to dig a hole.

i wouldnt worry about it.

its possible that since you at the begining of a sewer run the local
street ine is shallow.

although my in laws are on septic and their line leaves the home like
yours does, very shallow.........

relax theres something else breaking in your home, then you will have
something to really worry about