I have a Ranch style house that is 27 years old. I just noticed after a heavy rain/snow melt that my water supply line in the basement is dripping. The copper line runs through a PVC pipe in the cinder block wall. The gap around the copper pipe (inside the PVC) seems to be patched with flexible caulking. That's the way it's been since the house was built. It appears that this caulking type material is starting to wear out and there's a small hole where groundwater is entering. The waterline itself isn't leaking. I'm just wondering how I should go about fixing the drip and what product in particular I should use. Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Leak where water supply line enters basement
- Thread starter Airwolf
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Many of us are visual here. A pic is worth a thousand words, because to be honest, I can't understand the question. Sorry.
I attached a picture. The leak occurs from the caulk around the bottom left area of the pvc pipe. The copper pipe isn't centered in the pvc, so there's only about a 1/8" gap between the copper pipe and the pvc pipe. I guess I'm mainly looking for what particular product to use and how to repair the leak. I've been getting too much mixed info. online and in stores.
I know many folks who have had great success by injecting expanding concrete into the hole. I know is will seal up cracks penetrating the exterior.
That would probably be the easiest but a couple people told me not to use cement because it won't allow the pipe to move, whereas caulk is more flexible. I was thinking about using some sort of silicone type caulk because that's what was there originally. I looked at Lowe's and they have some that look promising but then other people have told me that if I use that type of stuff to stay away from anything that was Polyurethane. Then other people recommend polyurethane. I've also been told to just put some roofing tar in the gap. So you can understand my confusion. I just didn't want it to turn into something I'd have to re-do once or twice or start worrying about. I guess another thing to consider is the house is 27 years old, so a lot of modern products wouldn't have been around back then. I'm thinking about just using a poly or silicone crack filler or a 100% silicone caulking. I didn't know if there would be adhesion issues with certain products either... So that's mainly why I joined this site and posted. Thanks for your response!
Airwolf, It would be best to wait until its dry out. Try to clean some of the old caulking out and then put your new silicone in and let it cure. You shouldn't have anymore water. Depending on where you live if its not deep you could dig it up and do the same thing at the other end of the plastic sleeve. Lots of plumbers forget to caulk the outside sleeve.
Thanks for your reply, Tom! Have a bucket under it now, not getting much, just a slow drip. Was going to wait til spring or summer when it's dry for a while to make the repair. Any suggestions on removing the old caulk? There's not a lot of space around that pipe.
Anything with a sharp point that you can get in there and clean some out. Be careful not to gouge either pipe. You won't be able to get a lot out but just enough to be able to get some new caulk in. Like you said take it out when its dry and your ready to repair it.
