I notice in this house I got recently that there's a leak in a drain
pipe in the garage. At the least, I know the washer is connected to it,
and I can see a little water leak out right at the slab after the washer
has drained. I've been able to get the same leakage after pouring about
3 gallons of water down that drain. The leak isn't an emergency, but
the carpet in the room touching the garage is getting moist.

I don't think the water is coming from higher up. There is a T-junction
where the washer drain meets this vertical pipe. I guess the seals
failed after time and they are now duct-taped together. Having wrapped
that in turn with paper towels and taping together, I caught no moisture
whatsover. A paper towl taped around the pipe just an inch above the
ground is also dry.

This leak wasn't caught in the inspection since the inspector didn't
test this drain. The inspector also happened to miss a ground wire
following the plywood on the roof, but lets not start ranting about that
now. This pipe goes through the slab and I presume it meets up with the
rest of the drainage someplace, somewhere. It must be leaking at or
near where this pipe first touches the slab.

What are my options? Is this exclusively the domain of plumbers? I
fear I'll have to get somebody to break down the concreate around this
pipe so they can do anything. The only fix I can think of right now is
sealing that pipe to the concreate using Plumber's Goop, but that too
will likely fail quickly. Any ideas?

Please don't goop anything. It will fail and make proper repair more
difficult. Plumber will do the job. Yes, if the leak is below the slab, you
will need to break out enough slab to get to the leak. Assuming this is PVC
drain. You will need to remove the damaged section or leaking joint, replace
with new. There is no patching of PVC that is reliable and replacement of
the joint or section is usually easier anyway. Once the repair is made you
can just patch the concrete. Not really that difficult as long as your sure
where the leak is you will not need to break up too much.



"Adam Preble" wrote in message
...
I notice in this house I got recently that there's a leak in a drain pipe
in the garage. At the least, I know the washer is connected to it, and I
can see a little water leak out right at the slab after the washer has
drained. I've been able to get the same leakage after pouring about 3
gallons of water down that drain. The leak isn't an emergency, but the
carpet in the room touching the garage is getting moist.

I don't think the water is coming from higher up. There is a T-junction
where the washer drain meets this vertical pipe. I guess the seals failed
after time and they are now duct-taped together. Having wrapped that in
turn with paper towels and taping together, I caught no moisture
whatsover. A paper towl taped around the pipe just an inch above the
ground is also dry.

This leak wasn't caught in the inspection since the inspector didn't test
this drain. The inspector also happened to miss a ground wire following
the plywood on the roof, but lets not start ranting about that now. This
pipe goes through the slab and I presume it meets up with the rest of the
drainage someplace, somewhere. It must be leaking at or near where this
pipe first touches the slab.

What are my options? Is this exclusively the domain of plumbers? I fear
I'll have to get somebody to break down the concreate around this pipe so
they can do anything. The only fix I can think of right now is sealing
that pipe to the concreate using Plumber's Goop, but that too will likely
fail quickly. Any ideas?