What are these pipes for?

[Greg O]

That is the most sense you have made yet! Greg

[Michael Baugh]

Hey, you're right. So before replacing his pipe, he needs to see if there is sewage running or has run in the others. If there is, the other owners need to participate. Thanks for the repost.

[spam]

Thanks everyone for the replies. We have done some more checking and verified the two unknown pipes are NOT wastewater from other properties. We have also verified the downspouts go to the street gutter now (but probably did feed into these two pipes originally). My question now is, do you think it's likely that a perimieter drain system (under the foundation) may still feed into these pipes? A contractor we asked told us this is quite possible in a home 50 years old.

We cannot just connect these pipes back up to the side sewer, as the City will not allow it, knowing the pipes are not wastewater. Even though the downspouts no longer feed into these pipes, if they are collecting stormwater then the discharge ends have to be connected to something, otherwise water will collect around the foundation.

[Michael Baugh]

Suppose they are perimeter drains. And suppose they did go to the sewer. In the process of installing new line, you'll likely need to have the line surrounded with stone. Well, if I were doing it, I'd probably go ahead with the installation project, and do all the things that needed to be done. As well as putting a bag and some dirt over the ends so they wouldn't even be apparent when the pipe was being inspected and smoketested, if it is. Then, before things started being filled back up with gravel and dirt, I'd uncover them and let their drainage be by way of the gravel surrounding the pipe. I suspect that they could well be perimeter drain, and if it is, you've got a path already to the street. Matter of fact, there are some folks that have connected a 2" line to their perimeter drain pipes and ran it further below grade to the street as they were putting in their gravel after inspection. Would certainly never show if they ran a camera up your line. And after all, you wouldn't be connecting to the sewer. See how a smoke test gets done. I watched as someone smoketested an unknown pipe, and smoke came up alongside a corner of his house, and from a spot in the garden where there was an erosion path. The unknown pipe was a perimeter drain pipe, one of two.

[CR]

I agree, if you are sure they are not sanitary then just leave them open in the ditch line and bed with gravel cover the pipe ends and part of the gravel with fabric to make a french drain out of it. Again depending on the lay of the land, it should work for many many years trouble free. CR

[Matt]

I'm in Kansas city, and my downspouts started backing up this weekend. Now I know why!

Unblock the darn things, please! My wife is pissed!

[VIP]

Probably go to the neighbors house. Their sewerage needs to go somewhere too. However there is also the possibility that there used to be some sort of radioactive leakage under your house and they had to drain it somewhere. To test, turn off all the lights at night and see if the liquid in those pipes glow in the dark. Give it a try and let us know if it does or not.

[noone]

The proper way to deal with this is to put a sump pump in your basement. The ends of these pipes should either dump into the sump pump ir be sealed and another part of the pipe be made to dump into the sump pit. If these pipes were used to perimeter draining and you just cap them off, prepare for leaky basement walls and possibly even foundation damage. Sump pumps were used after they stopped allowing rain drainwater into sanitary sewers. If they were just old raingutter hookups, you can just ignore them, but be sure the tops are capped where the gutters used to enter. That may require some digging. I never could understand why they ran raingutters into any kind of sewer, they always seemed prone to clogging and would then overflow at roof level. In my opinion they are supposed to drain on the lawn or into a ditch above ground. Yet, for some reason, it seemed that prior to the 1960s they always did that. I guess no one thought about all the leaves and twigs that come down raingutters. Heck, mine clog up just draining onto the lawn, but are pertty easy to unplug if they have free ends.