stain around drain pipe

[Peter Louis]

the house is almost 80 yrs old. The renovated ABS drain pipe (right) was connected to the older cast iron (left) at basement. the visible stain is around pipe, and a little efflorscence but cannot tell it is seepage from the pipe underground. How can I tell to the client? Once it failed, I believe the old pipe has to be replaced from property to street city sewer. big job, cannot imagine it.

[Jim Robinson]

I'd recommend scoping it with a camera to see what the condition is under the slab.

[John Kogel]

That stain could be ground water. The basement wall is right there and ground water will follow the sewer pipe back under the basement floor.
Tell him to have the perimeter drains scoped. They will be old and plugged up.
Tell him to have the sewer pipes scoped. If the pipe is intact, it might be good for a while yet.
Cast iron is only good for about 50 years, but it might be good for a lot longer.

[Jim Luttrall]

Scoping would be good practice but realize stains around vertical pipes such as this are going to be common, especially if they have opened up the line to clean or attach new runs.

[Scott Patterson]

Tell them to have it scoped! Anytime I find cast iron pipe over 50 years of age or if I even question that it might have a problem I always recommend the line to be scoped. Only way to tell what is going on!

[Lon Henderson]

Tell them to have it scoped! Anytime I find cast iron pipe over 50 years of age or if I even question that it might have a problem I always recommend the line to be scoped. Only way to tell what is going on!
In the last two years, I've been on about 25 inspections where the buyers had the plastic drain lines to the sewer scoped. About eight of them had problems and four had significant problems requiring excavation and repair. I have done a turn around and now advise scoping on any line regardless of age. On one new construction, the nervous buyer had the line scoped and son-of-a gun, the line was never connected at the tap! OOOOPS!

However, I still more strongly advise scopes on pre-1980 homes as the odds of problems are nearly 50%.