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Plumbing "bellies" under house

11 years ago

Hello, we were having plumbing problems in one part of the house and the plumber has told us that we have 3 "bellies" under the house. He explained that is where a pipe has started to sink down because of the shifting dirt, and this causes water to collect in the pipe, causing stuff to not flow down properly. It's pretty severe, we can't even use one of the bathrooms.

We had them jet the lines out to buy some time to research and decide how to address this situation. It's not going to work to jet the lines every few months as a permanent plan, but we will be jetting them every so often while we figure out what to do.

He said the solution is to tunnel under the house, replace the bowed portions of pipe, and then secure all the pipes along the way to the foundation. The 1 belly is on one side of house, the other in the middle, and the other clear on the other side of house; so we would end up tunneling under the entire house, end to end practically. He said this would fix the current problem and prevent future bellies form forming. It's really expensive, first bid came in at 24K!

I need to do more research on this to determine what the best fix is for this problem and then start getting bids from plumbing companies. The one I was talking to said they subcontract with a foundation repair company to do all the tunneling and filling in.

My DH asked why can't we just address the biggest belly on the one side of the house that seems to be the worst. His idea was to just tunnel on one side, cut off that pipe from the rest of the houses plumbing entirely, put a new pipe and a new clean out on that side and run a new sewer line to the street on the other side of the house, so we;'d end up with 2 lines going to the street. Not sure if the town we live in would allow that. I assume there are codes for this sort of thing. But would that work?

Any master plumbers out there that can education me about this and tell me if there are any reasonable alternatives to the massive tunneling solution?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Comments (14)

  • 11 years ago

    Jetting is meant to clean walls of pipe that has decreased in effective size over the years as result of stuff sticking to walls. Jetting is also far more expensive than snaking.
    Were I buying the house or in your position I would have another company make a camera inspection and give me the tape plus a written report. It is neither required nor wise telling them details regarding bellies. Did present plumber run a camera through lines?
    While deciding,absolutly nothing in toilets other than body waste and toilet paper. That means no Kleenx,no paper towel,no sanitary napkins,no baby wipes,no wet wipes. Pull back as much as possible on stuff in kitchen sink disposal.

  • 11 years ago

    Klem 1, the current plumber identified the bellies by snaking and having a camera on the line. I have the camera recording and written report with the measurements of how long each sunken section is. You can see where the pipe fills with water at 3 places along the way. One of the bellies is pretty sunken resulting in it being almost full wtih water. Then they jetted to get everything cleaned out and buy us some time to figure out what to do.

    It's a slab foundation. I'm quite distressed by this news and just am not sure how to proceed. Is tunneling to access the lines the only solution? We have a large family and people over here all the time, so we need to fix it one way or ther other.

    In the meanwhile I am just asking no one to use the one bathroom that gives us the most trouble.

  • 11 years ago

    Just to be clear to anyone else reading this: Sewer lines need to gently slope so that the water carries the solids to the main sewer. Too shallow and the solids will settle out and not be carried by the water. Too steep and the water will run off, again leaving the solids behind.

    What's happening here is that there is a bow in the line that is allowing the solids to settle out - eventually causing the sewer to clog. Jetting it clears that away temporarily.

    I would look at all of your options for re-routing your sewer line. I would also check your homeowner's insurance to see if it's covered.

  • 11 years ago

    "Too steep and the water will run off, again leaving the solids behind."

    While the argument about this ancient belief continues, the NC Plumbing Code, which is the IPC with some revisions, does not place any limits on the slope of drain lines other than specifying minimums.For example, a slope of 1/2" or 3/4" per linear foot would comply with the Code.
    Physics teaches us that objects in motion will remain in motion unless some force acts to stop them. Can anyone argue that the friction within a pipe with a slope of 3/4" per foot is greater than that of a pipe with slope of 1/4" per foot?
    I do not believe that slopes greater than code minimums contribute to drain clogging.
    As for sagging drain lines buried under slab house floors, the original builder and plumber are guilty of substandard work. Piping must be properly supported-- period. And in NC, plumbing code violations have no statute of limitations.

  • 11 years ago

    Bus Driver:

    Okay, that never made sense to me either... so I stand corrected.
    I'd never run across it in practice.

    The important point though is about the lack of slope causing the solids to settle out. what I"m understanding is that sub-surface settling has caused the plumbing to settle as well. Are you suggesting that piping supported by fill isn't properly supported?

    If the earth was loose fill when constructed and not compacted and not supported with sand or small gravel, you could have a point. But if there was sub-surface subsidence that's not the fault of the plumber.

    OP: Can you tell us how old the house is and is this an area where there are problems with sink holes and such?

  • 11 years ago

    If the Earth under the (slab) house settles enough to permit pipes to sag, I would be concerned about the structural integrity of the house. The cause could be from inadequate compaction at time of construction, which is more likely, or subsidence of the Earth due to natural causes.
    Either is cause for concern, the first is probably legally actionable.

  • 11 years ago

    The house was built in the 1987. We bought it in 1999. I am guessing that there has been some settling of the earth under the house which has caused this problem. I don't know if other neighbors have been having similar problems or not. I haven't seen anyone having foundation repair done in my area.

    Is the only solution the tunneling?

  • 11 years ago

    I'm leaning toward what bus said and would add that a leak in drain or h/c line can have same result. With 3 problems that far seperated leaks don't sound likly and is easy to test.
    Add to your options,"pipe busting method". Roto-Rooter is one company that offers it.

  • 11 years ago

    Klem, can you further explain your comment? What do you mean "pipe busting method?"

  • 11 years ago

    Pipe busting, Tunnel dug to first drain location,main line is cut and snake ran through line to point where main exits slab. Hole is dug where main exits slab,main is cut allowing access to snake. High tinsil cable pulled from exit through main and out of tunnel by retriving snake where busting machine is positioned. With cable ancored to foundation at exit,machine pulls a head through main busting and pushing it aside. Trailing behind head a 4" or 6" polypropilin pipe is pulled into position where old line was before. Depending on distance from edge of slab , plumber may tunnel to some fixtures,cut hole through slab or remove tub to gain access to fixtures and connect them to new line. In some situations it can save enough tunneling to make installing line faster and cheaper. On some larger homes with difficult locations of basins,sinks and laundry, I opted to pump grey water overhead to connect with another fixture which was connected to main. If one is able to get code approval,there are pumps suitable for toilets also. I've never dealt with bellies useing pipe bust,only rotted and/or seperated lines. It may or may not fit your situation.

  • 7 years ago

    I had my sewerage pipes replaced last year and now I have a belly can I get the plumber to fix it that had done the job for no charge

  • 7 years ago

    You have my permission.

  • 4 years ago

    Just links to a "we buy houses" page. Spam.