I have the concrete slabs broke with the sledgehammer and removed and the whole trench is now excavated. The pipe is in 4" sections and only the one section is broken so i needed a 4' length pvc for the drain line and 3' for the cleanout to reach ground level.
At the wholesale plumbing sotre bought a 10ft section of 4" diameter pvc drain line, 2 fernco couplings for clay to pvc, 4" wye joint , 4" adapter and cleanout plug, pvc primer and glue, and a bag of cement.

I think all i need now is some pea gravel for the bedding.

I am going to get started on measuring my cuts and assembling the pvc section of pipe and cleanout.

Any pointers on cutting and assembling pvc piping, or laying and connecting the drain line?

You are absolutely correct, Generally the excavation is the difficult & expensive part of your repair, but you seem to have that under control.

Now as we discuss the plumbing part of the job allow me to give you the correct trade nomenclature so you will be on the same page with your plumbing suppliers and inspector.

Technically speaking, what you are working on is not a drain line, it is the "House Sewer" line. Code requires a main cleanout within 3ft of the point where the house sewer enters the structure. In the case of slab construction it would be found outside and approximately 3' from the foundation. For houses with a basement the main cleanout is generally just inside the footer wall and for houses with a crawlspace it can be inside or outside the footer wall.

The line from the main cleanout to the septic tank or municipal main is defined as the house sewer while the main line inside the house is defined as the "House Main Drain". This is important to know because the codes allow different materials for each type of line.

The raw cut end of a pipe that has no threads or fittings is called a "Spigot end" or simply a "Spigot"

The formed female end of your pipe is called an "End Bell" and pipe which has an end bell on one end and a spigot end on the other end is called "Hub & Spigot" pipe so that glazed clay pipe that you have is "Vitrified clay hub & spigot pipe". It was generally made in 4' sections and when laid, the hub is always placed on the upstream end. While it can be done, as a general rule it is nearly impossible to cut that type of pipe without breaking it.

(I have made & attached an illustration to help you understand the text.)

To begin your project excavate until you find the end bell on a section of pipe downstream from where you want to install your cleanout. Fernco makes a rubber donute gasket that will fit inside the hub of that clay pipe, then your PVC will be inserted into the center of the Fernco. (make sure the Fernco you buy is listed as "Vitrified clay x PVC") If you can not find the correct Fernco some jurisdictions will allow you to pack the joint with "Oakum" which is a fiberous rope looking material that is impregnated with tar. To install the oakum you wrap it around the pipe and push it into the joint with a broad screwdriver, packing as tight as you can.

You can make your cleanout with a Wye & 1/8th bend (sanitary 45deg elbow) in the manner you describe, but what you are making is a running cleanout and in some jurisdictions they require a running cleanout to be installed to the line can be snaked in both directions. The preferred fitting is a "Rodding Tee" sometimes called a "Cleanout Tee". An ordinary sanitary tee has a radius towards the downstream direction of flow, but a Rodding Tee has a radius in both directions. In some jurisdictions if they require a bi-directional cleanout and if you use the Wye & 1/8th bend method you actually have to make two cleanouts, one in each direction. Also not that the one for snaking in the upstream direction must be installed on the downstream side of the downstream cleanout. That is to insure that you can snake the complete line. If they were reversed you could not snake the space between the two cleanouts.

You then continue your new PVC pipe to the Spigot end of the vitrified clay pipe on the upstream side of your repair and connect the PVC to the clay pipe with a Fernco coupling. (Careful here. Although both the clay pipe & the PVC are 4", that is the ID of the pipes, but because the clay pipe wall is much thicker than the PVC pipe a common 4" Fernco won't fit. Make sure you get a Fernco coupling that is listed as 4"PVC x 4" Vitrified Clay. (Although I have on occassion found them in Home Depot & Lowes as a rule you will probably have to go to a real Plumbing supply house to find the correct Fernco's)

Now to answer your next question, how to cut the PVC. You can easily cut PVC with a hacksaw, a PVC saw or what I prefer for cutting 3" and larger, a common hand wood saw.

Here is a tip when cutting pipe with a saw. After you start your cut, when you are about 1/4 of the way through the pipe, rotate the pipe a 1/4 turn, cut down another 1/4, then rotate the pipe again and finish your cut. Rotating the pipe in that manner will help keep a straight cut line on the end of your pipe.

Sand is the preferred material for bedding the pipe and continue covering with sand until you have a minimum of 4" on top of the pipe, then you may use "Clean fill dirt" that is free of rocks until you have 12" above the pipe. When you finish backfilling it is best to have the top about 3" or 4" above grade to allow for settling.

One a side note, the first clay pipe you found was 4" clay tile that was just laid end to end with no seals around the pipe, then it was covered with pea gravel. Back in the days before perforated poly or PVC they used that method to make leach fields or to install storm drains. The little gaps between the sections allowed the water in the pipe to leach into the soil the same way that modern perf pipe does.

I should have got his thread going sooner!

Wow, amazing respone Lazypup your post has been exceptionally helpful, you've taught me more in 1 post for this project then everyone else I have spoken with combined.

Thanks for taking the time to respond and teaching me the proper terms of the plumbing trade. The diagrams are very useful.

I exposed 4 sections of "verified clay hub & spigot pipe" under the mound of buried concrete debris. Fortunately only 1 section of pipe was broken in the center. The hub of one part of the broken pipe is still attached on the upstream side of the house sewer line and the spigot of the other end is still attached to the hub(end bell) downstream, the center shattered. It looks like some compound was use to glue the verified clay pipes together.

If i cannot get the broken hub(end bell)off the spigot upstream and the broken spigot out of the hub downstream, then i was planning on renting a snap cutter (chain or soil pipe cutter) at home depot to cut the broken sections out. But when you said that this pipe is nearly impossible to cut, I am worried i won't have square cuts that will line up tightly.

As for the clean out i got a wye and 1/8 bend, but now I wish I would have know about the "rodding tee"! I read about the bidirectional wye and 1/8 bend method, but it seemed it would increase my cost and further complicate things for a novice like me.

The city Sewer inspector told me to get a wye and 1/8 bend so i am sure they meet my jurisdictions code, but the rodding tee would be better. Too bad I already measured cut and glued the pvc repair section together. Doh!

Left a couple of extra inches to spare of pvc spigot at each end of my assembled pvc sewer line. This was incase i couldn't remove the broken pipe and have to cut it the hubs upstream & downstreeam off. When I cleaned, primed, and glued the new pvc house sewer line and cleanout together i put the wye and 1/8 bend in the middle of 2 pieces pvc with extra lenght of spigot at each end.

"(Careful here. Although both the clay pipe & the PVC are 4", that is the ID of the pipes, but because the clay pipe wall is much thicker than the PVC pipe a common 4" Fernco won't fit. Make sure you get a Fernco coupling that is listed as 4"PVC x 4" Vitrified Clay."

I lucked out today and made it to the plumbing wholesale supply house just before they closed for the weekend. The 10 ft pvc pipe i bought says 4" CRESLINE PVC TYPE PSM SDR 35 SEWER PIPE and the Fernco coupling i bought says MR02-44 CLAY TO 4" CL/PL, it fits tightly on the pvc spigot and is about an inch wider in diameter on the other side for the clay spigot.

I see now where I went wrong possibly, i got 2 of these Fernco couplings for 4"PVC x 4" Vitrified Clay. I don't have the Fernco rubber donute gasket that will fit inside the hub of that clay pipe,where the PVC will be inserted.

I will see tomorrow if i can remove the 2 parts of broken clay pipe, if not i hope i can cut them out. I will try to find a Fernco rubber dounte gasket listed as "Vitrified clay x PVC" at home depot or lowes, the plumbing supply house isnt open til monday. And at the bulk material supplier I will get sand instead of pea gravel for bedding and cover 4" of pipe.

Couldn't find a Fernco dounute gasket for 4" clay X 4" pvc at any store in my area, called everywhere.

Had to cut the bell end off the downstream 4' section of hub & spigot pipe with a grinder. Layed 2" of pea gravel bedding on the had clay trench floor. Attached the spigots up and downstream with the Fernco couplings to the 4' section of pvc already assembled with the wye joint, 1/8th bend, and cleanout. Poured concrete encircling the 2 coupling so the new section of pipe won't shift.

Monday the City Sewer Inspector will check it out and then I can cover the pipe with 6" of pea gravel above, then 2' of clean soil, then few inches of top soil and the old dug up sod last, with some reseeding.

After all that work, I was wondering how everything turned out?

Zombie thread... resurrected after 5 years.
Houzz should really close comments after a year of inactivity.