Pipe Materials, Locations and what they could mean for your wallet.

Reading through a report for sewer or waste pipe inspection will give you a lot of information on your pipe, or potential pipe (if you are purchasing the home / building) but without the context of what it means to you specifically or the site, it may just feel like a lot of gibberish.

Based on this concept, we decided to create a section of the blog dedicated to documenting a lot of the terms and what they might mean to customers, (owners, potential owners, agents and property managers). So to kick this off we decided to do post about materials you will often see in interior and exterior waste pipe and sewer laterals and what that might mean for you in terms of potential costs (future repairs, replacement ect). In order to do this, we will start with the interior pipes and move to the exterior sewer lateral.

Interior Waste Pipe

This section will deal with the pipe inside the foundation of the house, specifically in two parts. The first part will be drainage pipe under ground followed by above ground. For pipe that is buried underground (within the house) are listed as follows (Underground Drain, Waste, Vent Pipe and Fittings): ABS (schedule 40), Cast Iron, Co-Extruded ABS (Schedule 40) Co-Extruded PVC (Schedule 40), Copper and Copper Alloys (Type DWV), PVC (Schedule 40) and Stainless Steel 316L, (“Copper tubing shall not be used for urinal drainage or applications which are detrimental to the integrity of copper tubing”).

The second part is above ground pipe, within the footprint of the house / building and are listed as follows: (Above Ground Drain, Waste, Vent Pipe and Fittings): ABS (schedule 40), Cast Iron, Co-Extruded ABS (Schedule 40) Co-Extruded PVC (Schedule 40), Copper and Copper Alloys (Type DWV), Galvanized Malleable Iron, Galvanized Steel, PVC (Schedule 40) and Stainless Steel 304 & 316L. NOTE: “Stainless steel 304 pipe and fittings shall not be installed underground and shall be kept not less than 6 inches (152 mm) aboveground”

Also note: “ABS and PVC installations are limited to not more than two stories of areas of commercial or private residential accommodations.”

Pipe Materials that should not be found in the interior of the house:

• Clay Pipe or “Vitrified Clay Pipe” (VCP for short).

• Polyethylene (or “PE” Pipe).

• PVC graded for sewer or storm.

Pipe Materials that you may think about replacing:

Galvanized pipe. Depending on the age, galvanized pipe will start to corrode and the rust and corrosion build up within the pipe will start to degrade the performance of the flow within (this is often found in 1.5 to 2 inch pipes). Leaks may occur. This is a difficult pipe material to perform spot repairs with, as it can be hard to find a section of the pipe that is in good enough condition to make a new connection to. Most plumbers will recommend replacement of the galvanized pipe in its entirety to ensure proper working pipe after repairs.

Clay pipe. At times we will find clay pipe within the house. This is often in an older house (late 1800’s to early 1900’s) or possibly a build out of the home that extended over the existing exterior sewer lateral, and was not replaced at that time of construction. In either case, the clay pipe is not up to code compliance and may be a cause for future issues, from root intrusions to leaks that lead to soil erosion over time. We will always make the recommendation that when appropriate, clay pipe within the house should be addressed via replacement.

Exterior Pipe Materials:

This section will deal with the exterior pipe materials used for drain system (specifically “includes all the piping within public or private premises that conveys sewage, storm water, or other liquid wastes to a legal point of disposal”).

The list is as follows: ABS (schedule 40), Cast Iron, Co-Extruded ABS (Schedule 40) Co-Extruded PVC (Schedule 40), Polyethylene (PE or HDPE pipe), PVC (schedule 40), PVC (sewer and drain), PVC (type PSM ), Stainless Steel 316L, and Clay (Vitrified Clay Pipe/ VCP).

NOTE: “No vitrified clay pipe or fittings shall be used aboveground or where pressurized by a pump or ejector or underground within the foundation line of the building. They shall be kept not less than 12 inches (305 mm) belowground.”

NOTE: “Replacement of existing building sewer and building storm sewers using trenchless methodology and materials shall be installed in accordance with ASTM F1216. Cast-iron soil pipes and fittings shall not be repaired or replaced by using this method aboveground or belowground. Replacement using cured-in-place pipe liners shall not be used on collapsed piping or when the existing piping is compromised.”