adding to T to pipe running to septic tank

[Ken Tannenbaum1]

Just got the permit to add an addition which has a bathroom. The excavator/foundation contractor scoped out where the existing waste line exits the house and he will add a T to that pipe to include the new bathroom. I dug today to see exactly where the existing pipe exits the house (put in 20 years ago by previous owner) and found the pipe is a flexible expanding green pipe similar what I installed from our gutters. I'm no expert but I was surprised that it's not PVC. It's about a foot below ground and has presented no problem since we bought the place two years ago. Is it a proper pipe for that purpose? Thanks.

 

[MACPLUMB]

Pictures or it Don't count

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Ken Tannenbaum1]

 

[Reach4]

Any chance you uncoverd a pipe in the drain field rather than the sewer line from the house?

 

[Ken Tannenbaum1]

Anything's possible but I don't think so. We dug in the only spot where the waste line exits the house and the hole you see in no further that three feet from the exterior. So the idea that something is in between what's in the photo and the house is tough to image. Hey, I'm the homeowner, just wondering if this type of pipe is used for a waste line. If not, it's strange that this is what we found. There's about a 35 ft run to the septic tank from the house. Either way, the excavator/foundation contractor will be here next week. I like to be informed, that's why I'm at the forum asking the question. Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

I am not a pro. I would be shocked if I found that was my sewer line to the septic tank.

While doing your work, you could also consider a gray water bypass line to the leach field that bypasses the tank. This would be good for the washing machine standpipe, and for the drain for the water softener.

How far from the house is the septic tank cleanout? 18 feet?

 

[Ken Tannenbaum1]

I'd shocked too, especially since the guy who built the house ran the water dept in a major town outside NYC and everything in this place is well beyond code specs. You could be right, I don't know and I'm not there now. As for your question about the clean-out, there is none in the line running to the tank, which as mentioned, the tank itself is about 35ft from the house. The worse that will happen is that if for some weird reason this is the existing (and only) waste line....real unlikely...it'll be replaced by something else in the process of what we're doing with the addition.

 

[Ladiesman217]

Anything's possible but I don't think so. We dug in the only spot where the waste line exits the house and the hole you see in no further that three feet from the exterior. So the idea that something is in between what's in the photo and the house is tough to image. Hey, I'm the homeowner, just wondering if this type of pipe is used for a waste line. If not, it's strange that this is what we found. There's about a 35 ft run to the septic tank from the house. Either way, the excavator/foundation contractor will be here next week. I like to be informed, that's why I'm at the forum asking the question. Thanks.

Do you have a basement?

How far down is the waste pipe inside the house?

 

[Ken Tannenbaum1]

No basement, no crawl space. Waste pipe's on the ground floor, embedded in the slab foundation in 1980.

 

[Reach4]

Note that you don't ever use a tee as such. You use a wye or a combo wye+45 which is like a tee. But it has a fairly gentle curve, and guides things in the direction they need to go.

Picture from https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/pvc-fitting-question.46248/ #5.

 

[Ken Tannenbaum1]

It's very apparent from my research that the drain pipe I uncovered is not the septic drain pipe I was looking for. It's obviously there, I just didn't dig a wide enough trench to find it. I'm sure I will when I get back to doing the digging. Thanks all for the input...

 

[Reach4]

It's very apparent from my research that the drain pipe I uncovered is not the septic drain pipe I was looking for. It's obviously there, I just didn't dig a wide enough trench to find it. I'm sure I will when I get back to doing the digging. Thanks all for the input...

Cool. You have to feel a lot better.

I would try shoving a rod into soft ground between the tank and the house. First locate the edge of the tank. Then maybe start digging there. You may be able to probe deeper and find and track the pipe. Then track. They sell rods for the purpose, but you might have something suitable.

https://www.menards.com/main/plumbi...39-c-8570.htm?tid=-5609148072355909361&ipos=3

There are plumbers and drain specialists who can accurately track pipes by inserting a transducer through a pipe. A surface unit tracks where that is, and maybe even gives the distance down.

Have you had the septic pumped lately? Maybe that operation could be coordinated. I expect they could run the probe from inside or a roof vent, but they could also maybe start inside the septic tank. I am just speculating, and I don't have experience with that. Paying several hundred could save you a lot of time I suspect.

 

[Terry]

My video showing how to witch for pipes using a coat hanger cut in two done in 2010 during my bout with cancer.
I've put back 42 pounds since then.