Wet hemp and cast iron pipe in crawlspace

[bmbouter]

I have a 5" or 6" vertical cast iron pipe in a crawlspace. There is hemp hanging down which feels damp, and the pipe itself also feels a little damp. We can't see a clear "trickle" however. Another 3" horizontal iron pipe comes from a nearby toilet and joins with this cast iron below the hemp portion. A plumber says that is related, but that is confusing since the wet portion is above where the horizontal toilet sewer joins with this vertical pipe. This is a septic system.

Some general questions I have are:

What action should we take? Is action even needed?

* Why does the pipe continue upwards? The whole house is 1-floor and we see no outlet. The only pipe coming out of the roof is in another part of the house, but maybe this joins with another bathroom?

* Should we try to tuck the hemp back in, would that even help?

* Is there a product we can seal the portion where the hemp has come out without disassembling the pipe? The issue doesn't seem nearly serious enough to disassemble the pipe.

* What would you do if this was your house?

 

[Chuck]

* What would you do if this was your house?

What's above the crawl space? From your description it could be water running down from above. Perhaps a leak in the collar that stops raining getting in?

 

[oz-plumber]

We have a product thats called Ferropre.
Its a 2 part bonding agent that is used in joining plumbing pipes.
Probably the best solution for your situation.

 

[bmbouter]

Thank you both for the replies.

What I've learned is that my description is not accurate. The 3" horizontal pipe is coming from a nearby shower. It has a p-trap underneath it and both the 3" pipe and p-trap plumbing is completely dry even during shower operation.

The 5 inch 'damp pipe' is actually coming from the toilet itself. I think our next step is to pull the toilet and observe if the issue is coming from the toilet sea, flange, and if not they it's coming from the collar below at which point we'll probably use Ferropre.

How does this sound as a next step?