The joys of homeownership-

or, How I spent My Sunday...

With a shovel, and a trowel and a hacksaw and a bottle of PVC glue! Argh! I hate my secondary water system! Today I dug around in the dirt and mud to find the broken pipes, fixed 3 broken pipes, spent too long on my knees and belly making the repairs and I still have one more leak to fix.

The remaining leak might turn out to be a real challenge because the pipe lives under a concrete slab! I've dug out the area next to the concrete and discovered an open end of a T, sticking out from under the slab. There's a broken coupler glued on to the portion that ends just parallel with the edge of the slab. When I came into the house tonight, I didn't know how I was going to fix this little problem without significant amounts of manual labor.

But I figured it out, just about the time I started this post. I need a 3/4" expandable rubber plug! I don't know where I'm going to get one just yet, but that's what I need.

I also don't know what was in that hole for the past 6 years preventing it from flooding out, since I didn't find any parts when I dug out the hole. Ideas?

UPDATE: I found the expansion plug, (not inflatable plug, Carol) at Pep Boys during a lunch time trip. Now if I can get it installed without cracking the tube, things will be perfect.