Diggin' in the dirt

After cutting the old drain pipe out, Dad scooped some crud out of the pipe and we thoroughly cleaned it out with the hose. This way, we're sure there aren't obstructions in the line (for at least 20 or 30 feet) and that water will still drain properly - we didn't ruin anything! ;)

The old clay pipe was - you guessed it - a non-standard size. We used a pair of Fernco rubber couplings to decrease the size of the pipe from the 5" clay down to the 2" PVC. This also insures a better seal as you can't glue or solder to clay. (The skinny white pipe is drainage from the furnace)

Ta-Da! New drain installed and draining like a champ! AND, the sewer gas smell is totally gone from the house!
That little loopy-loop (P-trap) just below the grate stores just enough water to seal out any gas from backing up through the line into the room - the other drain was just a straight pipe with a drain hole, so it makes sense that it would have failed.
This project wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We're letting everything settle for a while before filling the hole in; once we're confident there are no leaks or malfunctions, we'll tamp the dirt, backfill with gravel, and pour new concrete sloping everything toward the new drain. 

What do you want to do today?

I've been having a little bit of a problem with sewer gas, lately. Not the most glamorous subject, but why start with glamorous now? Anyway, the most obvious culprit is the floor drain in the basement. It's a relatively easy fix and one that we can do cheaply enough. If nothing else, we'll be able to check it off the list of possible offenders before moving on to something more expensive.
Step one was scoring the concrete with a masonry blade..which would have been significantly less dusty with a wetsaw..

After scoring the floor with the saw, we broke the concrete out with a sledge hammer and carried it out in buckets. As you can see, we ended up making the hole bigger so that we could work around the drain a little easier. Once we removed some of the debris from the drain, it really started smelling..hence the towel plugging the hole.

This drain is what they call a "bell" style drain. We'll be replacing it with one that has an integrated trap - the trap creates a seal which prevents any sewer gas from backing up through the line and out into the room. Our challenge now is rounding up all the pieces and parts to fit this non-standard-size clay piping. More tonight..stay tuned!