There is a slow water leak into our house from around the sewer pipe where it connects the interior pipes through the concrete outer wall to the main sewer line. The water appears to be clear, not raw sewage. We have a plumber coming tomorrow (we hope they show!) to diagnose, but we fear there is a crack in the pipe. Is there a way to fix a leaky sewer pipe from inside the pipe, so we don't have to dig up our yard?

Plumbing novice49 - Yes -FOR GET TRYING TO REPAIRING it from the inside, I never found a way to ndo it and it to hold sorry, I wish you good luck Oh one questio You said it was clear and not sure its sewage, Could it be rain water seeping in AROUND THE PIPE?? :: F.B.E.

It may be rain water - that was our first guess. But it happens only when we run water in the house. When no water is running, it isn't leaking. But maybe the pressure of the water is pushing on the drain, and "sqeezing" out the rain water in the ground.

About two weeks ago, the sewer line was clogged. We used a handyman's snake and some drain cleaner to clear it out, and all was fine. It was soon after that, we noticed the leak under the pipe.

Thanks so much for your answer. Please keep your fingers crossed that it isn't a cracked pipe that will require a total dig-out of our cement stoop and front yard!

Well by now the pluimber has probably showed up and told you the bad news. Although that water appeared clear I'd guess it was drain water from your sewer line without soilds in it. 9 out of 10 problems like this are a broken drain line just outside of the home, that accounts for you clog last week. Tell us what happened when the plumber got into this.

Well, you guys are good - unfortunately! The plumbers said it was a broken line - however, their camera couldn't find the break. They said the fix would be to dig it up to find it - unfortunately, they will need to bust up our concrete stoop and landscaped yard to find it. To the tune of $4300 - which includes only the plumbing repair. We would need to restore the yard and entrance on our own.

Does this sound right to your more experienced ears? Can the pipe be repaired by digging under the stoop (which is attached to the house by rebar)?

We are getting a second opinion since this is a major repair.

Again, thanks for your help and counsel.

No this does not sound right so I get another opinion. It is very , very rare that a sewer pipe will exit a building under the front door but everything is possible I guess. If they can't find the break then how does he know there is one? Using a SeeSnake camera it pretty hard to miss a break unless you are right up againist a total clog and at that point they need to use a cutter to get through the clog.

I agree fully with Ballengerb1 ,get another bid and what it will consitof on what they will do. IM WITH HIM ALSO ON COMEING OUT THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE UNDER THRE PORCH AND THE STOOP . I HAVE WENT TO EXTRA TRUOUBLE AT TIMES TO BRING THE SEWER OUT WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS ,good luck & let us know how you come out & god bless F.B.E.

The sewer line does come out the front of the house, almost directly below the front door. It is definitely running under the stoop. (I will know to look for that on my next house purchase, though!)

I later found out from my husband that the first plumber with the camera who couldn't find the crack also got his camera stuck in the pipe after several feet. My husband asked him to snake the line to get rid of the block, but he said it was a waste of time to snake it since the pipe was obviously cracked and broken. That is when he gave us an estimate of almost $5,000 to dig up the line to find the crack and repair. The second plumber came out and snaked the line for 75 feet. The water trickle is gone. He is coming back today to camera the line to find the crack but believes the leak was due to the clogged line, and water settled in a place that it shouldn't have been settling which caused the leak. I am wiating for the call to camera the job and then we will know more.

I don't think we are out of the woods yet, but I am more hopeful. We still need to replace the drywall and carpeting, but as long as we don't have to dig up the yard and front entrance, I am happier!

Thank you for all of your comments. You have been very helpful.

I hope you called your home owners insurance company because much of this is generally covered including carpet and cleaning. The first guy was taking you for a ride by guesstimating your problems and then inflating a bill. $5k is about double what it should be. There are companies who can reline the drain from the basement without digging up the stoop or yard. I have never done one but watched it being done. What the heck we still don't even know if the pipe is broken yet do we. Good luck and call your agent.