Hello everybody!
This is my first post on these forums, but it's not likely to be my last. We recently purchased a home who had a... let's just say "handyman" living in it before. We think he was a cabinet maker of sorts, because he clearly made all of the cabinets in the house and did a decent job at it, but he dabbled in everything. He's done a great deal of remodeling on his own and clearly cut a number of corners; some humorous, some confusing, and all are going to be costly to fix. Unfortunately, with buying a house and all, money is tight, so I need to fix what I can on my own. I'm a computer guy myself, so plumbing, woodworking, etc are very high in my skill set. So I was hoping to get some answers here.
The most pressing matter I have at the moment is that of a small leak. I've spent 20 minutes or so searching through the forums to see if I could find the answer on my own, but it would seem that each problem has its own solution. So I thought it best to just post my problem and see what comes of it. I recently removed an area of shelving that the previous owner installed and uncovered what appears to be a drainpipe that goes into the concrete floor. Shortly after then, an extended portion of pipe was accidentally kicked (not hard) and then the leak began. A very small amount of water began to drip from the main pipe at the connector and it creates a small puddle in the period of 24 hours, but only when the plumbing is in use. We had a bit of a plastic, caulking sealant that we've used on windows in the past (the name escapes me at the moment) and we'd hoped that it would be enough to temporarily seal this leak, but the water still worked its way through.
We know that the pipe leading into the ground is cast iron and we're already planning on replacing it with newer plumbing when we can afford it, but what can we do until then? Is there a temporary seal that will hold the water back on cast iron until we can get the thing replaced? Or do I have to just keep soaking it up with towels?
This is my first post on these forums, but it's not likely to be my last. We recently purchased a home who had a... let's just say "handyman" living in it before. We think he was a cabinet maker of sorts, because he clearly made all of the cabinets in the house and did a decent job at it, but he dabbled in everything. He's done a great deal of remodeling on his own and clearly cut a number of corners; some humorous, some confusing, and all are going to be costly to fix. Unfortunately, with buying a house and all, money is tight, so I need to fix what I can on my own. I'm a computer guy myself, so plumbing, woodworking, etc are very high in my skill set. So I was hoping to get some answers here.
The most pressing matter I have at the moment is that of a small leak. I've spent 20 minutes or so searching through the forums to see if I could find the answer on my own, but it would seem that each problem has its own solution. So I thought it best to just post my problem and see what comes of it. I recently removed an area of shelving that the previous owner installed and uncovered what appears to be a drainpipe that goes into the concrete floor. Shortly after then, an extended portion of pipe was accidentally kicked (not hard) and then the leak began. A very small amount of water began to drip from the main pipe at the connector and it creates a small puddle in the period of 24 hours, but only when the plumbing is in use. We had a bit of a plastic, caulking sealant that we've used on windows in the past (the name escapes me at the moment) and we'd hoped that it would be enough to temporarily seal this leak, but the water still worked its way through.
We know that the pipe leading into the ground is cast iron and we're already planning on replacing it with newer plumbing when we can afford it, but what can we do until then? Is there a temporary seal that will hold the water back on cast iron until we can get the thing replaced? Or do I have to just keep soaking it up with towels?