The main water line is buried in a perimeter foundation on my hundred year old house. The threaded part that connected to all the plumbing inside and outside of the house broke off leaving the top of the pipe flush with the concrete. Can I thread the inside of this pipe and then screw in a smaller pipe to gain a way to reconnect without having to jack hammer the foundation to access enough of the pipe to thread the outside?
Plumbing – thread the inside of a steel water pipe (encased in concrete) to safely make a connection to the remainder of the water system
plumbing
Related Solutions
Re-leading the joint isn't too hard. You will need a slug of lead, a ladle, yarning iron, packing iron, caulking irons, oakum, and torch. The process goes like this:
- Safety first! Wear thick leather gloves and avoid eating lead particles.
- Clean the old lead out
- Using a yarning iron, pack the oakum around the pipe. Repeat this operation until the hub is packed to about 1” from its top. Pack the oakum with a hammer and packing iron to make a bed for the molten lead.
- Using the plumber’s ladle, carefully pour the molten lead into the joint, as shown in Figure 30. Dip enough lead to fill the joint in one pouring. Allow a minute or two for the molten lead to harden and change incolor from royal blue to a dull grey. Usually, one pound of lead is melted for each inch of pipe size.
- Caulk the joint first using the outside caulking iron and then the inside caulk ing iron. The first four blows should be struck 90 degrees apart around the joint to set the pipe. Drive the lead down on the oakum and into contact with the spigot surface on one edge and the inner surface of the hub on the other. Use firm but light hammer blows.
The process isn't really hard at all for vertical pipe, but does require some specialized tools. If you have several of these joints in your house, it might be worth the investment!
Yarning irons:
Caulking Irons:
Inside/Outside Caulking Irons:
Ladle:
Horzontal Pour:
I ended up pouring some very liquid mix of waterproof cement down the pipe and catching it again at the exit, it seems that is filled the little cracks inside the pipe. It's been a few weeks of testing by pouring water down and I don't see any leaks anymore. I have to specify that the pipe was horizontal and the cracks on the bottom part of it, that allowed the cement to fill the cracks.
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Best Answer
It may be possible but I would be concerned that the age and condition of the pipe might make it brittle and not good for tapping threads into.
My suggestion for a solution would be to rent a "core augur" and drill a new hole nearby through the foundation, and fix the pipe outside the structure. Run the new pipe through the new hole and abandon the old pipe.