Slow drip on sewer pipe joint
A damp sewer pipe joint or extremely slow drip discovered during renovations often indicates a seal beginning to fail. While minor dampness may have persisted for years without issue, the transition to active dripping prompts homeowners to plan for pipe replacement before major damage occurs, though fixing it requires disturbing finished basement walls.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Leave the joint alone if staying in the home and it is not actively leakingDid this help you?
- 2Fix or replace the section when selling the houseDid this help you?
- 3Plan to replace the pipe or section with PVC before it becomes a major leakDid this help you?
- 4Throwing away the broken filter section and attaching the hand shower directly to the shower arm.Did this help you?
- 5monitoring the area for leaksDid this help you?
- 6cleaning deposits and watching the pipeDid this help you?
- 7hiring a professional plumberDid this help you?
- 8wrapping it with silicone tapeDid this help you?
- 9leaving it alone if it is not currently leakingDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Hello everyone, I was getting some drywall work done and my handyman partially scraped my PEX pipe. Based on this image, does it need to be replaced?”source ↗
“Due to some work in my basement I now can see this place closer where one of my toilets lead pipe joins the main sewer pipe. I know for sure that it looked wet when I bought this home 6 years ago, but only now I removed some walls and can see details.”source ↗
“What do you think, and what the fix will require in case I need to do it? The bathroom that this lead pipe goes to is finished”source ↗
“Can these two still be connected somehow? Do I just need to buy a small adapter/fitting, or is the filter broken and I need to replace the whole thing?”source ↗
“Not very familiar with plumbing, so any help on what part I need would be appreciated.”source ↗
“Since then, One of those wet-looking seals has started an extremely SLOW drip. Like one drop a week level of slow. I'm in the planning process to replace the cast iron pipe. No reason to wait till it actually leaks”source ↗
“By broken plastic piece I am guessing you are referring to the white thing? If yeah, how can I remove it? I tried using my finger and a screw driver, it didn’t budge.”source ↗
“In the basement and I noticed the corrosion by the water main. Floor is dry, but deposits on the floor. Nothing felt wet. Is this normal or worth having looked at?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 3Do rusty pipes need to be replaced if they aren't leaking?
- 3Trenchless vs traditional sewer repair: when do you actually need to dig?
- 127How to fix a leaking water pipe in a tight space