Under a house in south Lynnwood, near Halls Lake, the crawlspace drain lines were leaking in several places and the toilet above was leaking at its base. In February, Samuel, Joseph T. and Joseph P. found the causes, replaced the failed sections in new ABS and reset the toilet on a new flange, all in one visit.
What We Did
The crew traced the worst of the leaks to two mistakes made when the drains were put together, both invisible from inside the house. One ABS fitting had never been glued, so the joint had only ever been held together by fit, and at another joint a piece of plastic sheeting had been caught between the pipe and the fitting, holding it open enough to leak badly. The crew removed and replaced three separate sections of leaking drain pipe and a leaking wye fitting in the crawlspace, hung the new runs on strapping and checked their slope with a level so they would drain as they should.
In the bathroom above, the toilet had been leaking at its base, which sends water into the same crawlspace. The crew pulled it, fitted a new flange with a waxless seal and reset it, and the house's drains were sound again by early afternoon.
Why It Matters
- A drain leak never shows on the water meter. Water in a drain has already been counted on its way in, so a drain leak only drips while someone is using the fixtures above it. A meter test can pass while the crawlspace stays wet.
- Assembly mistakes can hide for years. An unglued joint or a piece of plastic trapped in a fitting can hold for a long time before it lets go. When one joint turns out to have been put together badly, check the others on the same run.
- A leaking toilet base is a drain leak too. It drips into the same space, so it is worth fixing on the same visit, on a flange that will hold the toilet firmly.
- Look under the house once a year. Damp insulation, wet soil under the drain lines or a musty smell are the early signs, long before a stain shows up indoors.
Why South Lynnwood
Lynnwood is our home city, with our shop on 204th Street SW. The city grew quickly after it incorporated in 1959, and plenty of its houses are old enough that a leaking drain gets blamed on age. Here the worst leaks had nothing to do with age: they came down to the way two joints were put together, which is why it is worth having someone look under the house before assuming the whole system is worn out.
Call About a Damp Crawlspace
If the soil under your drains is wet, the crawlspace smells musty, or a toilet rocks or leaks at its base, call for a free estimate, or request a callback. We look under the house, find the source and tell you what we found.
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