The sewer in a two bedroom rent house is clay tile and regularly stops up. I suspect it is due to minimal slope and connections that catch the solids. It is not possible to dig more than 15' leaving 40 feet that can't be dug up. I want to sleeve the 4" clay with 3" schedule 20 which would leave about 1/2" -5/8 clearance in the clay pipe. The 3" meets the demands of the water load of the house which has one bath and a washing machine. I think 3" schedule 40 won't fit because of the additional size of the connectors between each piece. Schedule 20 with the belled fittings would have plenty of clearance. There is room for a trench to drop the pipe into and then push it into the clay tile. Is this a workable solution?

The title was supposed to say "sleeving 4 inch clay sewer pipe with 3 inch PVC"

Hey there BB

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Is this a workable solution?

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Plumber's answer... No, absolutely NOT a workable solution and strictly forbidden in all plumbing codes (cannot decrease pipe size)!

Tradesman/experienced DIY answer... possible, I guess.

Weekend warrior... Don't even think about it!



Unfortunately, I'd go as far as to tell you that I doubt any 3" size pipe will fit INSIDE that 4" clay pipe for any real distance (5 feet or more)... gonna be too much settling and sediment/build-up developed in the drain pipe over years and years is my guess.

YOU could attempt to dig the pipe up and see if I am right (labor is cheap) or wrong.

You could get the drain videoed... see how much sediment has built-up and what shape things are in (expensive).

You could hire someone to do the dirty work (get 2 estimates minimum).

You sound like you got a mess, for sure! UGH!

Glad to discuss amongst the group here as they chime in! Post back with your thoughts BB!

Mark

I would not attempt thios until I ran a camera down the entire length of this drain. Should we assume it terminates to the city sewer at the street? Youn would need a pernit for this if your are working in most of the USA, have you check out their requirements?

The problem is that the house is very old and built right on the property line. A zero lot line. The sewer is on the neighbor's property and there is a huge tree right over the line. Digging it up is not an option. The neighbor is OK with me doing a little digging, but not taking out his tree and digging up his entire back yard. The 3" schedule 20 pvc fits into the clay with 1/2" to spare. The 3" pipe would be connected with an el right where it comes through the rock foundation so I wouldn't consider that reducing the pipe size. I think the camera would be a must and I would only expect the pipe to come close to the main sewer line and not actually hook up to it. I haven't been able to come up with any other options. The epoxy liner I see advertised would be way too expensive and I don't think it would hold up against cracked clay tile. The pipe busting replacement I see on youtube would also be extremely expensive and I've never heard of anyone doing it around here. If it works to use 3" pipe I'd save thousands of dollars over using the other options.

How about the city permit, 3" is shy for most towns

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The sewer is on the neighbor's property and there is a huge tree right over the line.

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Do you have an easement on your neighbors property?

Without really know anything about doing something like this, I think you would do better trying clear the clay tile line as best as possible. Then trying to get a 2" PVC line through it and use a sewage ejection pump.

You can have it re-lined . You can re-line entire pipe, all the way to the street. Plumber has to dig up only one 5' x 5'hole at the house and from that point he will realined entire length of your sewer pipe...

Inserting 3" PVC pipe into existing 4"Clay pipe is a very bad idea.

Milo