How to Replace a Terra Cotta Pipe

Cut away the broken or damaged section of the terracotta pipe. When terracotta pipe has been underground for some time, it tarnishes to a dark brown color. The darkness is a result of moisture and age and is a sign that the pipes are more fragile and likely to crumble than those with a bright orange, green or yellow pigment. Use chalk to put a cutting guideline at each end of the section to be removed, then use the pipe snap cutter to sever the pipe along the marks. Lift the old pipe away and make room for the new to be installed.

Use a reciprocating saw to cut away the broken or damaged segment of terracotta pipe which has taken on a green or yellow tinge. Cut slowly so as not to shatter any portion of the pipe, especially the typically more fragile bottom half which has endured standing water on the inside and the outside for its entire lifetime below ground.

Install a polypropylene coupling to the open pipes at each end of the section you have removed. Slip the couplings onto the pipes at each end, and use a tape measure to record the distance between the two. Measure from the lip on the inside of the open end of each coupling, where the new pipe will sit. Cut a length of new terracotta pipe to fit, with the soil pipe cutter.

Slide the new pipe into the rubber couplings at both ends, adjusting the couplings as needed to allow the pipe to fit in place. Use the screwdriver to tighten the hose clamps attached to the couplings. There should be one clamp on each end of the coupling so that the existing pipe and new pipe are all held together firmly once tightened.