I hear in the wall what appears to be a pinhole leak in a pipe, but, I have no water leaking anywhere. ( I cut out drywall next to one of the pipes where I hear) It’s DRY! With no water being used in the house, there is minute amt. registering on meter, (next to nothing). With the hot water pressure valve on top of water heater turned off, usage on the meter show NO usage, but, I can still hear hissing in wall.(Hissing stops when I turn off main water valve outside the house.) What’s up??

–Ellen

Ellen, it sounds (no pun intended) like you may have a leak. If you did have a pinhole in your piping system, chances are the water loss is too low to be noticed on a water meter’s readout (dial), and you would also have water showing up somewhere (unless you have lines buried below ground). The best thing to do is call a plumber who can come in and perform a hydrostatic pressure test -which is safer then a compressed air test.

-Brian

I bought a house in May, in the state of Texas inspectors don’t have to insect sewer lines and I took a chance and lost. The sewer line was old clay pipe. had a contractor to come out and fix 68 ft but the he found out that he would have to go to the main he wanted more money which was 10 grand, also the main was 14 ft down. When he found out I could not come up with it he left me with a hole in the ground and no sewage. I have been using a pick and shovel for the last 3 weeks or so to try to do it myself but I am out of energy to even look at it. So what is my next move?

–Dennis

Dennis, you should contact the municipality that you live in, in most cases you (the homeowner) are only responsible up to the property line and not all the way out to the main. At 14 feet down, this is not a do-it-yourself project. Digging a trench, especially one that deep, requires proper excavating equipment and shoring. Without shoring, the trench could collapse/cave-in, filling with soil –leaving you and anyone else in it buried alive. Click here to read TrenchSafety.org’s great piece (illustrated) on why trenches cave-in.

An alternative to digging a trench would be one of the several types of trenchless technologies available, these replace or restore failing sewer pipes with only limited excavating. The North American Society for Trenchless Technology’s website, www.nastt.org, is a good place to start looking for companies that offer different trenchless solutions.

-Brian

The water draining from my central air conditioning is causing the PVC pipe to reverberate with a thump, thump, thump as it drips into the sink.  I have been told it is cold water sludge build up in the pipes.  I have tried cleaning the pipes with hot water and bleach with no success.  Any suggestions?

-Don

Don, the PVC pipe thumping/reverberation is probably starting at the unit and being transmitted down the pipe. It’s only a drain with nothing in or on it that could actually create a noise or vibration. I recommend you call a company that services central air units; they should be able to diagnose.

-Brian

I have a two-story fifty room hotel and I have a hot water recirculating pipe that gives instant hot water in any room at any given time. The mechanical room is located in one end of the building but somehow I constantly get pinhole leaks on the opposite end of the building, in almost within same rooms or area. Why not in different rooms?

–Sanjay

Sanjay, your pipe is corroding as well as eroding. Failures typically occur in the recirculation line first because it’s smaller in diameter and it’s receiving constant flow through it (which actually erodes it). Your problem is not unusual at all, typically the hot water line is looped around (in your case, it would be in your last units) and then returns as your recirculation line. If you want to avoid repeatedly replacing or patching this pipe, epoxy pipe lining will prevent corrosion and erosion.

-Brian

My walls in the upstairs bathroom are extremely hot. Don’t know if it is plumbing or HVAC. The bathroom is over the utility & HVAC system downstairs. Can you shed some light?

-Carol

Carol, you should try to measure how hot “extremely hot” is and see if there is anything that changes the temperature such as the time of day, or if any appliances are running such as the furnace or hot water tank. Your domestic hot water lines should not cause the walls in your upstairs bathroom to get noticeably hot -even if your hot water pipes are placed directly against them. It’s possible that it could be some electrical problem, but I think with more than one wall affected, that would be unlikely. Your HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) being directly below the bathroom could be a culprit. Whether your HVAC system is new or old, there could be something wrong with its vents. But what I think it most likely is that you may have a vent from your HVAC system, hot water tank, or other appliance going through the wall up to the roof. These vents are often installed without enough clearance around them as they go up to the roof (e.g. too close to a wall in your bathroom).

-Brian

I have a home that had tree root problems and was causing the sewer to back up. We snaked out the sewer line and it runs ok. The problem is the sludge and gray water that has built up. It has clogged up in a pipe that has branched off the main. Snaking does not help because it sludgy. A plumber suggested jetting out the entire system with a power jet, but this is too expensive for me and might crack my clay tile. Is there any other alternative to fix this problem? ( e.i a chemical or some other method.)

–Steve

Steve, if snaking isn’t helping, your only hope of clearing it out is hydrojetting. And if that doesn’t work you’ll need to replace the pipe. Instead of digging up and replacing, you could contact companies that do trenchless pipe replacement. They offer various types of less intrusive (but costly) solutions that eliminate the need to dig up the pipe, including pipe bursting or sock lining with a CIPP (cured-in-place pipe) method.

-Brian

Can you use PVC pipe for the hot water as well the cold in a house? If so, what exactly should I be looking for as far as the hot water goes?

–Charles

Charles, PVC is used for water service lines to homes and buildings and comes in sizes larger than CPVC pipe which is more often used for internal plumbing. CPVC is an option for use with hot and cold water, but I’m not a fan of plastic pipes for domestic water as there are some potential issues if not installed properly, such as pipe expansion, gluing of the fittings and being near electrical wires. Whether you’re installing pipes in a new home or replacing your existing pipes, I would recommend either copper (which is more expensive) or PEX.

PEX is one of the most versatile, easy-to-use plumbing systems on the market today:

• You can use it with hot or cold water.

• There are adapters that let you connect it to existing galvanized, copper, and other pipes.

• Most plumbing leaks and system failures occur at joints in fittings. But since PEX can bend around most corners without a coupling or fitting, it requires fewer fittings which means opportunity to leak and installs faster.

• PEX flexibility also allows it to expand and contract more than other types of pipe. Increased capacity for expansion makes PEX more burst resistant.

• Complete, easy to use repair kits are available for all PEX systems.

• Much like a circuit breaker for your plumbing system, PEX systems have a shut-off valve at each supply line. Having a shut off at each line allows the repair person to leave the rest of the system operational while working on one line.

Here’s a link to a great short video, Working with PEX Piping with Plumbing and Heating Expert Richard Trethewey, This Old House television.

-Brian

Several of our readers have emailed us asking, “What’s an RSS Feed?” RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”. It’s an easy way to distribute content like news, stories, podcasts, and even the post on PipeProblems.com that you’re reading right now –to a large number of people, like you! Software programs, called “RSS readers”, collect that content and then present it in an organized and easy to read format.

Most people are interested in many web sites whose content changes on an irregular basis. For example, let’s say that you’re interested in keeping up with what’s new in high-tech, you could subscribe to the RSS feeds for TechCrunch, Gizmodo, and Engadget. If you did subscribe, instead of having to go out and check each site to see if there’s any new content, you’d automatically be notified of any new posts.

With an RSS reader you can subscribe to many sites’ feeds and read the new articles, entries, and posts all in one place without having to visit the individual websites.

There are several different kinds of RSS readers: Dedicated programs for viewing RSS feed (that generally aren’t free), plug-ins that allow you to view RSS feeds in your email program (e.g. Microsoft Outlook), and websites that allows you to set up RSS feed subscriptions through them. I recommend using the websites’ RSS readers –not only are they free, but they work on BOTH Mac and Windows computers. The three I see used most often are Google Reader, MyYahoo!, and Bloglines.

I also recommend watching the below video (<4 min.) explanation of RSS feeds and readers by Common Craft. To view it you can either click on the player below or click here to open the video on YouTube.

Brian LeMaire (right) is President of CuraFlo and has been in the plumbing industry since 1981. He is a qualified Journeyman plumber throughout all of Canada as well as a State registered plumbing contractor in Ohio. Brian has been involved in all aspects of being a plumbing and heating contractor including new construction of hospitals, schools, and industrial facilities. Prior to founding CuraFlo in 1996, Brian owned and operated a very successful service & repipe business in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Dr. Dave Dunn is Vice President of Research and Development for CuraFlo and the President of FLD Enterprises, an Adhesives and Sealants Consultancy in Aurora, Ohio since 1996. Dr. Dave holds a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Keele in England. His popular Q&A (adhesives and sealants troubleshooting tips) column Ask Dr. Dave appears regularly in ASI Magazine.

There is a bad spot in the cast iron sewer pipe under the living room floor. I can remove the vanity in the bathroom next to it and cut out the floor to expose about 4 feet of the pipe upstream of it. Can I just slide in sections of 3″ PVC into it past the problem area and re-flange this toilet in the 3″ PVC since this is the last or furthest from the sewer exit on the other side of the house. There are no other drains into it until the other side of the living room. I had it filmed and know the exact location of the bad pipe. The whole house is a terrazio floor and I don’t want to cut it in the living room.

-Diane

Diane, sliding a piece of new pipe into the old cast iron pipe is not an option. But, you can remove the existing damaged cast iron pipe and replace it with a section of PVC or ABS pipe. You’ll need to use an approved transitional fitting (plastic to cast iron) and a toilet flange on the floor.

-Brian