Outdoor Plumbing Problem

[bakechad]

I have a 1.5" sump pump discharge pipe that comes out of my basement above ground. See photo at:

It them goes underground into a 4" PVC pipe for about 8 feet. Then it makes a 90 degree turn and runs along the back of the house past our garage. At this point it makes another 90 degree turn and takes about a 60 foot run to the storm drain in the street. The total length of pipe is 130 feet.

My original problem was that the joint at the first 90 degree turn was seeping water. This went on for about a year and I slowly began to see the pipe as the dirt and grass were washed away. Then I noticed the pipe was cracked.

I immediately called a plumber. They came out and discovered the pipe was cracked from the house to the first 90 degree turn. The replaced this length of pipe for $350 (the union rate is $120 per hour plus parts). They then ran water down the pipe and it flowed for 10 minutes with no problem. Then it began to pool at the first 90 degree turn. They told me I needed a camera inspection of the pipe to determine whether it was being caused by a blockage or pitch problem.

The next day they came with the camera and charged me $275. They said there is no blockage and that there is not enough pitch in the pipe for the water to make it to the street and it would freeze in the winter time and re-crack the pipe. They said the pipe needs to be dug out and a new pipe buried deeper with more of a pitch. They have given me an estimate of $5000 to complete this. To say the least I suffered sticker shock!

At this point my plan is to ride out winter and see what happens. While I am no handyman, I figure to save $5000 I can get some people to help me in the spring and dig it out ourselves.

Can anyone give me their opinion of my situation and the validity of the plumber's assessment?

Thanks

[roger61611]

That seems pretty elaborate, sump pumps around here usually dump out in the yard a ways from the house. Couple thoughts, if the thing did freeze or get messed up, the sump pump would be blocked and back up. Also, here (miswest US), I think its a code violation to dump such water directly into the storm system.

To answer your question, I'd do what you're contemplating - it's a bunch of work but 5 grand seems a little zealous.

[bakechad]

Some more info:

I live in the midwest with my back yard at the top of a river valley, this is why I can't shoot it out the back. Also, code does not allow it to go out the front of the house. We can dump in the storm system which feeds into a concrete canal which then goes to the river. We cannot dump into the sewer system.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

When we moved into this house (Midwest), the sump pump *did* dump into the sewer, but the seller's declaration acknowledged that they had suffered some basement flooding when the city sewer could not cope with heavy rain. One of the first things we did was run the sump pump outlet into the yard well away from the house.

Perce

On 10/27/05 02:39 pm [e-mail] tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

[DAC]

Not sure what kind of volume your dealing with, but have you considered maybe a drywell that would be closer than 130 feet away with 2 90's?

It would seem that you have fairly decent drainage otherwise you would of noticed a wet area where the PVC was cracked and seeping.

Just a thought...

Darwin

[Toller]

I don't understand. Your backyard is at the top of a river valley? Does that mean it slopes down significantly? You shouldn't have much water in your basement with a sloping backyard. But you do. Why can't you shoot it out the back? If the storm sewer takes it to the river, then what's wrong is sending it there directly?