Hello, I'm digging a walkway in my backyard parallel to my back porch. The gutter on my back porch runs down into the ground and then slopes away from the house. This pipe is about 1 foot under the surface. Since my walkway is being built parallel to the house it eventually crosses the same area where the pipe runs downslope away from the house. I was digging in this area and unearthed a section of the pipe (it's heavy, red in color and about 5-6 inches in diameter). It almost looks like it's a ceramic like material. I figure that this piping was set down in the 1970s and I noticed that the piping comes in sections. The sections do not fit together very well and it appears that whoever laid down the piping sealed them together with a coarse, almost asphalt like material. Well, in my digging I came across where two pipes come together...here it appears that the sealant wore off and there's now a half inch gap between the two pipes. My concern is that dirt will eventually seep in this crack and then prevent water from flowing downhill. I really don't have any drainage problems near my house but I was wondering if I should try and seal these two pipes together before I lay down the walkway. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I am trying to replace a dishwasher. I have managed to get the old one out and the new one in, except for the supply line. The instuctions say 3/8" npt fitting a 90 elbow. I can't use the 90 because the fit will be straitht in. The copper pipe that that was hooked to the old dishwasher has a collar and a 3/8" fitting. I got a double 3/8" (2") pipe to join the washer inlet to the supply line. The inlet has a female fitting and the supply line has a male fitting. I can only get the supply line to tighten down about 1/8" before it breaks loose again. What is my problem?