I just bought a house (older) and I've been noticing a funny smell -- like raw sewage. So, I went down to my crawl space today to investigate. I noticed that there is a pipe that dumps water into the crawl space everytime a toilet is flushed or a sink is turned on in the house. The pipe is a vertical piece connected to a horizontal one. So, when a toilet is flushed, water pushes up through it and onto the ground of my crawl space. Is that normal? I've never owned a house before but I know that moisture in a crawl space can be a serious issue. It looks like it was designed to do this though. The pipe isn't broken or anything. I'm a bit baffled. Should I call a plumber?

doug238

yes, call the plumber

hkstroud

No, it wasn't designed to do that. You definitely have a problem that has to be addressed.
However, don't panic. Tell us what type of pipe you have PVC (white), ABS (black plastic) or cast iron (rusty brown metal, rings if you tape it with a hammer). It appears that you have a pipe joint that has come apart. Unfortunately it is most likely cast iron. Take another look and tell us if the water is coming up between the two pieces of pipe where one goes inside the other.

river1

I'll try to describe what it looks like. Sorry, I can't post a picture. I have two black plastic (ABS I guess) pipes (long horizontal pieces) connected to a white plastic piece in the middle. The white piece goes up (vertical), curves and is open at the end .. not connected to anything and not capped. It looks like a candy cane sitting on top of my horizontal pipes.. if that makes sense. I guess water is supposed to only flow through the ABS pipes, not the white one, because now water is flowing through it, it just drains onto my crawl space floor.

I'm definitely going to call a plumber on this, but I'm just confused as to why the white pipe would even be there in the first place. It doesn't seem to serve any function (to someone who has zero experience with plumbing). Is it there for ventilation reasons, perhaps? I hope I'm making sense in my description. This stuff is new to me.

Thanks for taking the time to answer. Trying hard not to panic... the sight of water in my crawl space, along with other stuff this afternoon made me feel

massplumber2008

Hey River1


Call the plumber out for sure....somethings wrong. There should not be a candycane shaped pipe, capped or uncapped, on your sewer drain line. Seems to me your home inspector should have caught this...yes?

Also sounds like you have a drain clogged....sounds like the main drain line....sounds like this has happened before...why the inspector should have wondered why open pipe in crawl space...that is his job...then he could ask why..then maybe previous owner would have fessed up and mentioned drain issues....maybe...maybe not.

Anyway, get plumber, cap pipe properly, have him snake the drain. And then river1...DISINFECT THAT CRAWL SPACE WITH 20%BLEACH SOLUTION..OK??

If plumber pulls roots...get in touch with real estate agent and home inspector and see what each has to say...you may be entitled to some money from previous owner for repairs that could be needed in the future.

Keep us posted! Mark


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river1

Thanks everyone for replying. I called a plumber out. He looked it over and said I had a blockage in the line leading to my septic tank (main line, I presume?). He gave me a variety of quick fix options, but said none of them would really work for the long term (except adding a line to pump waste and water out into my garden, which uh, no thanks.) He even said having the septic tank pumped would only fix my problem for three weeks or so because a septic tank is supposed to be full .. so probably a problem with the leech field. Yikes, none of this sounds good. Anyways, he said I should call out someone who knows septic tanks, leech fields, etc., and didn't charge me anything for the diagnosis. So that's where I'm at. I have a septic guy on the way. I'm anxious to hear the dollar amount on all of this, but the fact that the plumber offers financing can't be a good sign. I guess this is a big welcome to the joys of home ownership. And massplumber, you're right.. my inspector should have caught this. When I went down to the crawl space to check this out, I looked at that pipe and thought, that just can't be right ... and I have absolutely zero experience with plumbing.

massplumber2008

*ouch*...well, something did not sound kosher!! Thanks for the update River..let us know end result.

river1

Ok, here's where I'm at now. I had the septic tank pumped, which obviously needed it. There were used tampons, condoms, etc. down there. (None of this is mine .. not happy with the previous home owner!) The guy's tank filled up before he could get all of the water and gunk out of my septic. And yay, no more water draining into my crawl space.

However, he told me the same thing the first plumber did.. the fix is very temporary. Right after the septic tank was pumped, I could hear water flushing back into it at a rapid rate... I guess this is water that is supposed to be going through the drain fields (leach fields?) but those are shot. As he was poking around for my septic tank, he told me he could already tell my drain fields were bad because the water around the tank was very wet and spongy. Water filled up in the hole he dug very quickly. The first plumber said drain fields are built to last for about 15 years, the second guy said about 25 to 30 (the house is 30 years old.) So here's my new question. Do I absolutely have to replace the drain fields? Is there anything I can do which can buy me some time ... like two years or more? I still don't know exactly what it would cost to replace them, but the figure he threw out there was $5,500 at a minimum, and that's without permits. It's probably closer to $10,000. Does that sound right? He also said I could kiss my lawn good bye. Oh man, I just have to laugh at this point. So does anyone know of something that could save me from spending a small fortune to turn my front lawn into a huge ant hill?

Again thank you all for responding! As bad as all this is, I'm glad I at least know about the problem so I can work toward a solution.

massplumber2008

River..how long have you owned this property? Wasn't a Title V inspection performed prior to purchase of home?? What state are you in? I will see what I can come up with on new homeownership in your area (any home warranty on this house..or is it a foreclosure...hmmmm..??).

You said $5500.00 without permits...you are pulling permits..yes?? I hope so...this is not the place to save bucks on permit costs.

Lawn issues...yes...messy. I have seen a couple companies that used sheets of plywood to protect lawn....but depends on how big job is).

Let me know what you think...Mark.

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hkstroud

Sorry to hear about your problems. Sounds like the previous owner had the same problems and had a clean out put in to snake the line to the septic tank. Just wasn't smart enough to cap it off. First get it caped. Get a PVC coupling that is glued on one end and has internal threads on the other and a plug for it. Sounds like the previous owner wasn't very smart about what to put in a septic system and what not to. About all you can do now is limit the use of water and hope that it doesn't rain too much. You can hope that the existing lines will function well enough to get by until you are ready to put down new ones. If I am correct that the pipe was put in to snake the lines, the previous owner was probably able to get by with periodic blockages.
As far as you lawn, I assume that the guy meant that you lawn would be temporarily damaged by the digging of the new lines. It will come back, just remember grass grows greenest over the septic tank.

As far as cost, you estimates sound a little high but I don't know the cost of labor in your area. I just has a 100' line put in at a cost of $1700. While you have time, call a couple companies and ask. You would want to go the permit way to have someone check the job. Heard of one guy that put the lines in going up hill. Had his level turn the wrong way.

Whether or not the inspector should have caught this depends on whether or not there was any signs of water under the house when he looked. He can always say there wasn't, even if he didn't look.