I live in a 1960 house with slab foundation. I noticed that when the bathtub drained it sounded like water was leaking . Since my kitchen is on one side of the wall and the bathroom is on the other side I decided to look under the cabinets and see if there was an opening to be able to see through the wall and surprise, there was. I can see that the pipe connected to the drain is leaking. There is not enough room to reach it from under the cabinets, I was barely able to see it so is this something I can fix myself? I guess I would have to dig under the foundation to the leak. Im not sure what kind of pipes these are but there not copper or pvc so how would they connect? Also, after I fix the leak(if I'm able too) Do I have to fill the whole back in where the tar is that has to come out or can I just fill the dirt back in as much as possible? It seems like it would be impossible to fill the whole all the way in since I can't reach it from anywhere besides under the foundation. This is all new to me so Im trying to be as clear as possible. Thanks... Tim

Tokicky:: IF it is not copper or pvc, that leaves 2 others. #1 If it is black ,it is cast iron, joints and fittings are (. LEADED IN ). #2 There was a lot of lead , plumbing used for drains also, I have removed several and put pvc, the color of the lead is gray. I have some of the different drain set ups used at that time and before out back I have saved as a (antique) . Question/ Have you looked real good for another opening, they should have a access hole near, since it's on a slab. Look on bathroom wall on drain end and see if there is some kind of access, it may be covered somehow , also outside of cabinet on wall. Which ever way you go ,IT IS GOING TO BE HARD. I have seen wher someone dug under and did'ed back fill. Water is going to get in and may cause mold to develop in wall behind tub, if it were I Iwould remove the base cabinet and try to do repairs that way first. IT would probley be a good idea to call a plumber, and get an est mate of cost ,most don't charge for that. But every where you it's different GOOD LUCK F.B.E.

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Originally Posted by tokicku

I live in a 1960 house with slab foundation. I noticed that when the bathtub drained it sounded like water was leaking . Since my kitchen is on one side of the wall and the bathroom is on the other side I decided to look under the cabinets and see if there was an opening to be able to see through the wall and suprise, there was. I can see that the pipe connected to the drain is leaking. There is not enough room to reach it from under the cabinets, I was barely able to see it so is this something I can fix myself? I guess I would have to dig under the foundation to the leak. Im not sure what kind of pipes these are but there not copper or pvc so how would they connect? Also, after I fix the leak(if im able too) Do I have to fill the whole back in where the tar is that has to come out or can I just fill the dirt back in as much as possible? It seems like it would be impossible to fill the whole all the way in since I can't reach it from anywhere besides under the foundation. This is all new to me so Im trying to be as clear as possible. thanks...........Tim

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I believe its cast iron. I dug it out some today and can see the pipe from the hole I dug under the slab but its going to take a lot more digging to be able to sit under the slab and reach it to fix it. I looked everywhere for an easier way but can't find one. The cabinets are very long and appear to be custome made into the house. I had to crawl about five feet inside the cabinet to see the leak through the hole in the wall. The bathroom is all tile with no access holes anywhere. Im hoping that once I can reach it I can seal it again without having to replace everything. How are the cast iron pipes connected?

TOKICKY- They are lraded in the joints with hot lead ,they put like arope down inside joint or couppling then pour in melted lead . In order to repair this I THINK NIT WOULD BE BEST TO GET A PLUMBER> , but here goes . Dig out enough to get under and have some room , the best way would be to cut the cast iron below end where larger coupling end cut below it , once it's cut out go to plumbing parts house, lumber yard ,Lowe's, home depot, tell them you want a rubber boot to go from the size of the cast iron on one end (probley is 2 ") AND CHANGE OVER TO PVC , 1 1/2 " OR 2" AND FITTINGS TO TO GO WITH IT . to cut the cast iron you can rent a chain cutter made top cut cast iron with use a metal cutting on a skill saw or saw saz with metal blade. once you have it cut off just enough to put new pieces in put the rubber boot on cast I USE VASEALENE TO COTE THE PIPE WITH <EVEN THE PVC< it will slide on a whole easier. slip all way on put pvc pipe in ,slide boot up half on each pipe , Tighten clamps with a 5/8 nut driver or ratchet & socket , dont over tighten, bust clamp and have to get new one . now you will have to take the rest of the parts and glue togeather just like what come out, trap drain adapter. if you have to get new tub drain kit . BEFOR closeing up ,run some water in tub ,I usealy put about 2" in then unplug drain ,let all water out ,go back under and check for leaks, if any repair, after no more leaks back fill what you can ,get a piece of flat metal that will cover hole all way around push down in ground at least 2" put fill back in front of panel stomp down good put some silicone caulking on top and sides you need to try to attach top of sides and the top of metal piece to house and caulk across top edge. THIS WILL NOT BE AN EASY JOB. GOOD LUCK. LET me know how you come out. F.b.E.

Thanks for the help. After I dug under the house enough to work on it I was able to get the rubber boot and drain kit from home depot. It only took about 20 minutes to fix ( the diging was the hard part). I did however also find a small leak directly under the drain pipe where it connects to the main sewage line. That's the big pipe that runs all the way under the house so I may have to call a plumber to fix this one. Its just above the why section of the pipe where the only water that will run through it is the bathtub water but I cleaned it and used some jb weld to fill the crack and seal it. Do you think this will hold since its just a drain pipe and there's no pressure on it? If not , any idea what I can do to fix it without having a plumber come out and possibly have to replace a long section of pipe?

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I cleaned it and used some jb weld to fill the crack and seal it. Do you think this will hold since its just a drain pipe and there's no pressure on it? If not , any idea what I can do to fix it without having a plumber come out and possibly have to replace a long section of pipe?

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If the cast iron's not rotten around the crack the JB Weld should seal the crack OK. Ifyou don't wish the expense of a plumber replacing the pipe I would let it go. Good luck, Tom

Do you think it will hurt anything other than draining some water under the house? The bath is in the center of the back wall of the house so its not on the corners and since its not constant running water do you think it will effect the foundation? By the way, thanks for all the help. Fixing the original leak myself probably saved me 500

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Do you think it will hurt anything other than draining some water under the house?

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Whoa! What water draining under the house? I was under the impression that when you put JB Weld on the pipe that repaired the crack and the pipe was water tight. Is this not the case? Regards, Tom

Im not sure if it is going to fix it or not. It rained last night here and filled the hole under the house with rain water so now that the jb weld has cured I can't test the leak yet. Im worried because I couldn't clean it very well because it was rotted and the more I cleand the bigger the hole tried to get. I was able to fill the hole with the jb weld and then after it sat for about two hours I went back over it and made sure the whole area was covered with jb weld. I was not able to get all the rust and corrosion off before I applied the weld to it though.

Be prepared to call in a plumber and replace the rotted pipe with PVC. If the pipe is so rotten that the crack opens up the pipe has to go. Good luck, Tom

If last nights rain is affecting the hole under the house you already have some other issues to deal with.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

If last nights rain is affecting the hole under the house you already have some other issues to deal with.

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Im not sure I understand. The rain filled the hole because I only dug a bowl shaped hole were I could lay and see under the tub. The hole is about 5 feet from the edge of the house , 3 feet under the foundation and 4 feet deep which just makes a bowl in the ground for the rain water to fill. Now that its dry I can see that the drain I put in is leaking a little but I was sure I put it in right. It only had one drain washer which I used on the underside on the tub and then used plumbers putty on the top side of the tub. Should the washer have gone on the top side of the tub?

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Originally Posted by speedball1

Be prepared to call in a plumber and replace the rotted pipe with PVC. If the pipe is so rotten that the crack opens up the pipe has to go. Good luck, Tom

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The JB weld held fine and does not leak but the drain was draining slow so I put in some liquid fire to open up the drain(I have used it before with great results) and it seem to open up a leak farther up the drain pipe. I could see where there was water coming out of the dirt next to the pipe while the tub was running which tells me that its leaking farther up now and fallowing the pipe to exit into the hole I dug. Here is the strange thing, I contacted a plumber that I have used before and he said it would be a week or so before he could get out to the house and since it was a drain leak(not a pressure line) and the leak was not very bad I decided to wait on him. Well, since then I have checked every day after we use the tub and now there is no leak showing up and the hole is dry as a bone. Any idea why it would leak one day and then stop? The only time it leaked was after I put the liquid fire in it and was flushing out the drain. Since then , nothing.