Topics
Pipe materials
Clay, cast iron, Orangeburg, PVC and how they fail. 6 items, each with key facts and sources.
- Orangeburg pipe: the tar-paper sewer line under older houses
Rolled from tar and paper, Orangeburg sewer pipe sags out of round as it ages. Its fragility limits how it can be cleaned and repaired.
- Clay sewer pipe: strong pipe, weak old joints
Vitrified clay is still an approved sewer material in New York. In older laterals the trouble is usually at the joints, and the pipe made before the 1950s.
- Cast iron drain and sewer pipe in older homes
Bell-ended cast iron with lead joints, or newer no-hub pipe with clamped couplings: how each is joined, how it ages, and where New York code still accepts it.
- SDR 35 or Schedule 40: which PVC belongs in a sewer line
New York's code accepts both common PVC sewer pipes, but each must carry the right ASTM standard. The number printed on the pipe matters more than the name.
- How to tell what your sewer pipe is made of
The pipe visible in the basement is only the start. A look at the wall exit, the cleanout and a camera video together show what runs out to the street.
- How much slope a sewer line needs, and how deep it runs
State code fixes the minimum fall of a house sewer by pipe size. How deep it must be buried is left to the local building official.