What is this pipe?

[ssk7]

Hello all,

I have been lurking on this site on and off for a few years now, so once I ran into a problem, I immediately came here. I just bought a house that is slab on grade, and when the water was turned on, the floor became wet. We traced it to the picture posted. We actually had to pull up tile to get to this, but I am almost certain tile never should have been placed on it in the first place. The experienced DIYer among the group claimed that just a cap was missing, but I want to double check. I have no clue what is going on in this image. this is in my pantry, next to out water meter. We have another closet that houses the furnace and water heater. Please help!

Thanks

Edit: I wanted to add that I'm almost sure the circular hole is some kind of drain. My question is pertaining to the small T-shaped pipe coming out of the flooring hanging over the drain.

 

[Terry]

The tee looks to be just that. But it's missing pipe or a cap on the right side.
I'm thinking 1/2" copper.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ssk7]

Hi Terry,

Thanks for the reply! Will a simple cap stop the leak? When we turned the water on, water shot out of the side of the T, which was under the tile and quickly flooded that small area before we turned it back off. What exactly is that pipe's purpose? I just want to make sure I shouldn't be doing something else with it.

 

[Reach4]

How fast does the water come out?

 

[hj]

The indications are that is s "drain" tee for some purpose but we cannot tell you WHY it is there.

 

[ssk7]

It comes out quite rapidly. Within five minutes of the water being turned on, the now pantry area flooded with 1-1.5 inches of water. We have some ideas of what it could be, but aren't sure. There is a newer addition on the house that now houses the washer and dryer, but before that was there they would have had to go elsewhere. We're thinking they were located there. To give some idea of layout, there is a flight of straight stairs behind the kitchen wall. This "pantry" sits beneath the stairs. It is about seven feet wide, with the ceiling dropping to about five feet high where the water meter sits at the furthest end.

 

[Reach4]

Possibility -- maybe far-fetched:

1. suppose that is a drain, but the drain is clogged with debris.
2. there is a water softener that is stuck in the backwash state
3. one pipe is the softener drain, and the other is some other drain line. They connected a tee there just to mechanically position the pipes.

I am not saying that is at all probable. It is the closest (but still not that close) to rational that I could think of.

 

[Kreemoweet]

Drain for water heater relief valve, with valve left open in the "test" position? Kinda strange that someone
would buy a house with water not turned on and clearly having a functional water supply system.

 

[ssk7]

This house was a HUD property, so I have been coming across lots of strange findings. The water heater is located is a separate closet next to the furnace. This closet under the stairs contains the water meter and roughly 5-6 feet of additional space. Since it opens up to the kitchen, and the washer and dryer is set up in the addition, we figured we'd use it as a pantry. Now, we're kind of curious what this little space was originally, which would give use an idea of what that drain was used for. We're capping the tee for now, but want to make sure this is the best option. I would hate to call out a master plumber just so that a 50 cent piece can be added.

 

[FullySprinklered]

Don't worry. No master plumber has ever charged fifty cents for anything.

 

[hj]

Not to worry. I have been to several homes where the repair was to cut the refill tube in the toilet tank shorter, and I used their scissors. They were NOT "fifty cent repairs" either.

 

[ssk7]

LOL! If I call a plumber out, I already know to have my wallet ready. The cap may cost 50 cent, but labor will exceed that by several thousand percent. That is what I'm trying to avoid. If the cap will do it, great. I just didn't want to assume and create a bigger issue.

 

[hj]

Well, WE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO assume, to answer your question. A 1000% would be $500.00, so I doubt it would be "several thousand percent" more.