Do ALL ball joints have packing nuts ? We have 1 1/4 bronze ball valves in the pool room which are leaking near the handle. I removed the handles but not sure the valve is meant to be serviced. (It would certainly be easier/cheaper). The brand says Miber for which I can find no info on the internet. Thanks.

We have a 4 inch sewer line running through a 6 inch sleeve out our basement wall through cement blocks. During a heavy rain we get ground water leaking in between the pipes. It is not leaking around the 6 inch sleeve. It trickles in, but enough that it runs down the wall across the floor and into the drain. My husband has tried to seal it from the inside with all kinds of sealant between the sewer line and the sleeve, including hydocement, but it continues to leak. Unfortunately the exterior wall is covered by a covered porch, which has a deck like floor. We had a basement repair company out and one suggested a plumber that would wrap a "rope" like caulking around the sewer pipe and cover it with a water activated sealant. The other recommended installing a vinyl panel over the wall and breaking up the cement floor to channel the water into the gravel and to the sump pump. Then he would patch the cement. He said it was impossible to stop the leak, and the solution was to channel the water instead. So we would still have water running down the wall, but covered by a vinyl panel. Two plumbers that were here suggested taking up the floor of the porch and hand digging down and repairing the leak from the outside. The pipe is only about 18 inches under the dirt. None of the options are cheap. Has anyone had a similar problem and how did you solve it?