Waste line from house to septic tank is old (I'm guessing this tank was
put in in the late 20s/early 30s) and runs through concrete basement
wall under(!) an enclosed porch to the tank. Overall length is roughly
8-10 ft.

Problem is there appears to be one area which is at least cracked and
while is still functional at present and open am afraid this isn't going
to last.

Does anybody here know of possible way to successfully line one of these
suckers or other way to repair this that would save a _major_ effort to
otherwise replace this beastie at some time?

OBTW, it's a 3" line and is roughly 3-4' below grade.

Have access via a cleanout at the inside end which is a straight shot
down the line. The tank has baffle so that is only about a 3' clearance
on that end which makes access at a fairly sharp angle.

The problem spot seems to be roughly 3-4' from the exit end.

Duane Bozarth wrote:
Waste line from house to septic tank is old (I'm guessing this tank was
put in in the late 20s/early 30s) and runs through concrete basement
wall under(!) an enclosed porch to the tank. Overall length is roughly
8-10 ft.

Problem is there appears to be one area which is at least cracked and
while is still functional at present and open am afraid this isn't going
to last.

Does anybody here know of possible way to successfully line one of these
suckers or other way to repair this that would save a _major_ effort to
otherwise replace this beastie at some time?

OBTW, it's a 3" line and is roughly 3-4' below grade.

Have access via a cleanout at the inside end which is a straight shot
down the line. The tank has baffle so that is only about a 3' clearance
on that end which makes access at a fairly sharp angle.

The problem spot seems to be roughly 3-4' from the exit end.

Commercial firms who will re-line tile, but I bet it will
be too expensive to consider. Also, I don't think I would
line a pipe only 3" size. And if it's cracking/settling,
won't last.

I would exit the house on a different side (away from porch).
10 feet of trench work isn't much.

Jim

Speedy Jim wrote:

Duane Bozarth wrote:
Waste line from house to septic tank is old (I'm guessing this tank was
put in in the late 20s/early 30s) and runs through concrete basement
wall under(!) an enclosed porch to the tank. Overall length is roughly
8-10 ft.

Problem is there appears to be one area which is at least cracked and
while is still functional at present and open am afraid this isn't going
to last.

Does anybody here know of possible way to successfully line one of these
suckers or other way to repair this that would save a _major_ effort to
otherwise replace this beastie at some time?

OBTW, it's a 3" line and is roughly 3-4' below grade.

Have access via a cleanout at the inside end which is a straight shot
down the line. The tank has baffle so that is only about a 3' clearance
on that end which makes access at a fairly sharp angle.

The problem spot seems to be roughly 3-4' from the exit end.

Commercial firms who will re-line tile, but I bet it will
be too expensive to consider. Also, I don't think I would
line a pipe only 3" size. And if it's cracking/settling,
won't last.

Can't tell that it's settling based on visual line of sight through the
cleanout. Very small, of course, wouldn't be detectable at this point.

Doubt the expense would be much more than the expense of doing whatever
it will take at whatever time to rig up to get access to do anything
else.

I, too, am/was concerned about the 3" size unless there were something
quite thin-walled that could be utilized.

I would exit the house on a different side (away from porch).
10 feet of trench work isn't much.

Not a practical solution in this case...to get this drainline to another
wall would entail a major renovation of the entire plumbing system in
the house plus relocating the drain field/drain lines.

It would be cheaper/simpler to knock the porch down temporarily and
rebuild it after moving the tank farther away from the house and
replacing the drain line to the new tank location (in line w/ present,
but just farther away).

That, of course, brings in another set of problems in that there's only
so deep one can go and to move the tank much farther away will require a
longer line to get there and the present line is essentially horizontal
already and the outlet of the tank is just below the inlet already as
well...

I really don't want a system that relies on a lift pump as this is farm
on rural REA and power losses are a fact of life.

I suspect the long term solution will be to simply "get by" as long as
possible and hope that it's my kids or someone else who will have to
actually deal w/ it.

If not, I suspect we'll simply do it as mentioned above--tear the porch
down, replace the tank and the drain line and put it back. The
alternatives that I've come up with to date are simply far more complex
than even that.

I could note that the drain field and line to the drain field are nearly
new and the rest of the house sewer/drain lines were, while not new,
replaced when the house was renovated w/ plastic so the only original
left is this one cast iron tee and the exit tile line. This, of course,
wasn't replaced at that time owing to the major problem of access and
that it was working.

In article , says...

Waste line from house to septic tank is old (I'm guessing this tank was
put in in the late 20s/early 30s) and runs through concrete basement
wall under(!) an enclosed porch to the tank. Overall length is roughly
8-10 ft.

Problem is there appears to be one area which is at least cracked and
while is still functional at present and open am afraid this isn't going
to last.

Does anybody here know of possible way to successfully line one of these
suckers or other way to repair this that would save a _major_ effort to
otherwise replace this beastie at some time?



There are companies that can pull a plastic line through the old one. A special
head expands and cracks the existing pipe, so they replace a 3" clay pipe with
a 3" plastic pipe. I've seen information on this process, but couldn't locate a
source right away.

Dennis

DT wrote:

....

There are companies that can pull a plastic line through the old one. A special
head expands and cracks the existing pipe, so they replace a 3" clay pipe with
a 3" plastic pipe. I've seen information on this process, but couldn't locate a
source right away.

Hmmm...that would be a neat trick. Something new/novel like that of
which I hadn't heard was why I posted the question. I'll have to do
some looking to see if I can find any info on it.

Unfortunately, being in a pretty sparsely populated area, it's unlikely
there's anybody within 300 miles, but would certainly sounds like a nice
solution if possible.

Look up directional boring contractors in your yellow pages. They
are equipped to shatter the existing pipe and swage in new pipe.
They usually do this outdoors where their machinery fits. I don't
know about your basement situation, but they are still where I
would start.

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...
Waste line from house to septic tank is old (I'm guessing this
tank was
put in in the late 20s/early 30s) and runs through concrete
basement
wall under(!) an enclosed porch to the tank. Overall length is
roughly
8-10 ft.

Problem is there appears to be one area which is at least
cracked and
while is still functional at present and open am afraid this
isn't going
to last.

Does anybody here know of possible way to successfully line one
of these
suckers or other way to repair this that would save a _major_
effort to
otherwise replace this beastie at some time?

OBTW, it's a 3" line and is roughly 3-4' below grade.

Have access via a cleanout at the inside end which is a straight
shot
down the line. The tank has baffle so that is only about a 3'
clearance
on that end which makes access at a fairly sharp angle.

The problem spot seems to be roughly 3-4' from the exit end.

DanG wrote:

Look up directional boring contractors in your yellow pages.
....

All three of them (yellow pages, that is)?

That's a slight exaggeration, but the only contractors here w/ boring
equipment will be the oilfield guys.

....
are equipped to shatter the existing pipe and swage in new pipe.
They usually do this outdoors where their machinery fits. I don't
know about your basement situation, but they are still where I
would start.

On a more serious note, what section are they under in larger areas? I
can look some time I'm in Wichita or Amarillo...