Home Improvement → [Plumbing] Cutting off a PVC Sewer pipe in a hole.......

I just had my sewer line replaced and the plumbers left me with two cleanouts in my yard. One is just outside the house and is located in a flower bed. The second is located just adjacent to the street. The distance between the two is less than 40 feet. The plumber told me to cut off the one at the street below ground level, cap it and bury it as he said it will never be used. He said the clean out in the basement and outside the house will provide plenty of access. My problem is trying to cut this pipe square for capping a foot below group. Unless I dig a pretty big hole I can't get a saw in there to do the cutting. I've seen the "string trick" for cutting pipe but I want to be sure what I cut is "square". The pipe is 4 inch PVC schedule 40. Both pipes stick up in excess of of two feet and one is nearly 4 feet out of the ground. Any suggestions....perhaps a dremel with a cut off wheel? I am very paranoid of dropping a tool down the clean out......

a cord powered dremel works just fine for this type job. if you only have a battery powered one, simply tie a lanyard to it and loop it on your wrist.

you don't have to go a foot below grade though, just so long as the finished cap is below grade.

Why did the plumber leave it that way telling you to cut it off and cap it?

Cut it close to the ground and then use one of these

»www.amazon.com/Cobra-PST ··· 002YVLJ8

I have two cleanouts on the sewer lateral in my yard - each one is on a T that points in the opposite direction making inspection easier. Are you sure that's not the case with these?

Use a dremel or hack saw. Just make sure the edge is clean and free of burs when you're finished.

Make sure you map out where the cleanouts are before you bury them! Back when I was getting the sewer lateral for my house inspected I was told by the plumber that I could bury the exposed cleanouts so I don't have to worry about mowing around them. He then told me to map them and to be sure not to lose the map, as they charge a hefty hourly fee to relocate them.

Once I get mine buried I plan to write it out a map on a sheet of paper in relation to the house (not a tree, walkway, or anything else that might not be there 50 years from now), scan it and leave a copy both in my email and tape a copy to the wall of the coat closet closest to the front door.

Cutoff does not have to be perfectly square. A 4" fitting has several inches of overlap. as long as you get, lets say 1/2" in all the way around, all will be good.

If it were a pipe under pressure, that would be a different story however there is no appreciable pressure in a sewer line.

To keep stuff out of the pipe and being lost forever while you are working on it, get 9 or 10 plastic grocery bags and put all 10 inside another one. Wad them down to the bottom and tie off the outer bag on itself. Tie a piece of chord below the knot on the outer bag and thread through the handles. This will be used as a pull out if things go badly or when the job is done.

Stuff this down the 4" being sure to keep the chord above grade. Possibly tape it to the outside of the pipe above where you are cutting.

An aside question: why did the plumber not do this for you?

Make sure you can get at both of them if need be. The one by the street will give you access to the pipe all the way into your house. If you have a failure between the house and the cleanout in the flower bed the one at the street will be needed to reach it.

#2 shovel.

If the line was just put in, the soil should be pretty loose, and the sod pretty messed up...

Digging a foot down around the pipe, large enough to get access with a hacksaw or sawz-all should take about 7 minutes. To be honest, reading this thread probably took longer than digging the hole would have...

you can never have too many cleanouts! Although I am curious why he put them ABOVE ground... they should be buried, preferably in an access box (forget what you call them).

I like flush. You can mow over it, but you can find. Paint the PVC that shows black or green or whatever makes it blend. I used a power jigsaw after digging some clearance.

»www.pvcfittingsonline.co ··· ug_2.jpg

Me too. Easy to find, not too ugly.

Here is what the plumber left me......note the pipe out by the sidewalk and the one up next to the house........

Did he cement the tops? Ideally he did not, and left them long so that you could cut the pipes after the grade was stable.

Even if he did cement them there is enough pipe to let you cut the pipes to size and add the new caps.

I think you will be scraping off some dirt off of your yard once things settle after a few rains, and replacing that with topsoil. Do not buy "black dirt".

A drill and one of these should do it. Of course, you still have to dig to put a cap over it. I like to add a metallic plug to find it below grade with a metal detector. I did that with my wellhead, "just incase".

»www.amazon.com/Pvc-Insid ··· 07UQNPAY

I bought one of these at Home Depot, less then $10.