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View Full Version : Plumbing job in bathroom: How big of a job is this?



Clarence Martin
09-12-2013, 10:02 AM
Got a crack in the old Cast Iron drain pipe that runs between the wall . 1st and 2nd floor bathrooms and toilets are right on top of each other. Pipe is at least 100 years old. Water drips out when flushing 2nd floor toilet. Toilet is set fine. It's the pipe.

Now, I noticed a small water stain on the wall behind the toilet in the 1st floor bathroom. bedroom is on the other side of the 1st floor bathroom wall. Would it be a difficult job to take that toilet in the 1st floor bathroom off, cut a section of the wall in the bathroom out to get at that cracked drain pipe, cut that drain pipe out , replace it with PVC drain pipe, put a new piece of drywall back up and reinstall that toilet ?

How long might that take with 2 people working at it ?

Andrew Fleck
09-12-2013, 10:23 AM
Unfortunately it sounds like your main stack has reached the end of it's life. Could you repair the faulty section? Sure, but it's just a matter of time before the next part starts to fail and the process starts over. I have never replaced sections of cast iron pipe with PVC but I'm sure it can be done. I have replaced a main cast iron stack and that is not fun at all. The old cast iron is very heavy. It's best to hire that job out, but that is very expensive. If you don't want to tackle the stack I'm pretty sure there are adapters for connecting PVC to cast iron. That might be the most cost effective fix. I'm not a plumber by any means but I have spent a significant amount of time with the old cast iron stacks. I'm sure somebody here will offer up a better solution. Good luck with it, hopefully you find an easy fix.

Andrew

Jamie Buxton
09-12-2013, 10:38 AM
So you haven't removed the sheetrock and laid eyes on the pipe? Perhaps what you've got is a leaky joint, not a broken pipe.

Clarence Martin
09-12-2013, 10:46 AM
I talked to a semi retired Plumber that's been in the business for 54 years. He quoted me a price of between $500 to $700.00 Depending if I was willing to finish off the drywall.

Does that sound like a reasonable price ?

Dan Hintz
09-12-2013, 10:55 AM
I talked to a semi retired Plumber that's been in the business for 54 years. He quoted me a price of between $500 to $700.00 Depending if I was willing to finish off the drywall.

Does that sound like a reasonable price ?

What would he do for that price? If he replaced the entire stack, I'd say 'yes'. If he was only going to fix the leak, I'd go purchase one of those rubber lined pressure cuffs for $20 and do it myself using a screwdriver/socket wrench.

Bob Turkovich
09-12-2013, 11:18 AM
What would he do for that price? If he replaced the entire stack, I'd say 'yes'. If he was only going to fix the leak, I'd go purchase one of those rubber lined pressure cuffs for $20 and do it myself using a screwdriver/socket wrench.

Dan,

How does he get the coupling over the pipe without cutting the pipe first? (What am I missing here? I checked Fernco's website and I couldn't find a multi-piece cuff that you could slap on the pipe.). If he slits the coupling to get it over the pipe, there's no guarantee the crack won't eventually progress past the coupling.

Brian Elfert
09-12-2013, 11:19 AM
My grandparent's had a similar cast iron pipe running from the 2nd floor toilet through the first floor down to the basement. The pipe cracked or something and had to be replaced in the 1990s. The cost was around $4,000 I believe to have a plumber do the work.

Clarence Martin
09-12-2013, 11:30 AM
He would cut out the drywall behind the toilet. Since the pipe is 100 years old, the 10 foot section of pipe would be taken out and replaced with a new 10 foot PVC pipe. Those Fernco boots installed to connect the PVC to the remaining Cast Iron. New Drywall section installed. Reinstall the old toilet

Dan Hintz
09-12-2013, 11:37 AM
Dan,

How does he get the coupling over the pipe without cutting the pipe first? (What am I missing here? I checked Fernco's website and I couldn't find a multi-piece cuff that you could slap on the pipe.). If he slits the coupling to get it over the pipe, there's no guarantee the crack won't eventually progress past the coupling.

I was thinking of a repair clamp... essentially a rubber-lined boot that can be wrapped around a pipe (without cutting into it), which is then tightened using a few screws. This is not the best picture as this one appears continuous, but they have partials. They use them on subs for emergency repairs.
270778

We still don't know the actual cause of the leak yet...

Kevin Bourque
09-12-2013, 1:04 PM
I do this type of work from time to time

You could replace a 10' section of cast iron pipe and then have a new crack 1" above the repair. Then what do you do?
If you plan on selling the house in the next few years than a quick repair might be the answer, but if you plan on staying a while then replacing the cast iron is the way to go.

David G Baker
09-12-2013, 1:13 PM
I have seen repairs made in cast iron pipe with inner tube material wrapped around the pipe and a clamp on the outside sealing the leak. I would replace the whole cast iron pipe with plastic and be done with it.

George Bokros
09-12-2013, 1:41 PM
If you are going to cut into the wall, replace the whole pipe and you won't have to do it again when it leaks two inches below the current leak.

My thought is do it right so you do it once.

Clarence Martin
09-12-2013, 1:46 PM
I do this type of work from time to time

You could replace a 10' section of cast iron pipe and then have a new crack 1" above the repair. Then what do you do?
If you plan on selling the house in the next few years than a quick repair might be the answer, but if you plan on staying a while then replacing the cast iron is the way to go.

Except for the Cast Iron Elbows (think that is what they are called) that the toilets drain into, the 10 foot section of Cast Iron drain pipe in the wall is the only Cast Iron drain pipe in the house.

Duane Meadows
09-12-2013, 3:11 PM
I talked to a semi retired Plumber that's been in the business for 54 years. He quoted me a price of between $500 to $700.00 Depending if I was willing to finish off the drywall.

Does that sound like a reasonable price ?

Hmm... Let's see here. At that price, he might just as well go to work at the HD for minimum wage! I'd ask $2800 if you bring it here to my Plumber's Studio. Oh, you want it installed AND the wall repaired? No telling what that might cost! Ahh, go ahead and sign here... no need to read the fine print. If this job goes well, just might have to try my hand at woodworking. I can see it now, "The 'Artistic Creations in Wood' Studio", that's what I'll call it......


Sorry, been reading too much Creek, I guess! Couldn't resist.

Art Mulder
09-12-2013, 4:19 PM
~18 years ago I did this in our then-house. I replaced the cast iron main soil stack from the basement floor level right up to the ceiling level of the 1st floor.

I took it out in ~4 foot chunks. It was VERY heavy -- I suggest you have a helper on hand if you do it yourself, ESPECIALLY when you cut out the chunk that has the toilet bend attached.

I used a sawzall and a metal-cutting blade (several) and cutting went fairly smoothly in the basement -- where I could easily get at all sides of the pipe.
On the main floor, where I could NOT get on all sides of the pipe, as it was in a wall that I only wanted to remove one side of the drywall, -- cutting there I recall being a royal pain in the neck, as it was just so hard to get at it for the cutting.

I replaced it with ABS. There is a rubber boot with double hose clamps, as I recall, which looked much like the image above, which connects it to the existing pipe sticking out of the concrete and to the vent pipe where it entered the attic.

...art

Rich Enders
09-12-2013, 4:42 PM
I was told years ago that cast iron DWV is substantially quieter than PVC or ABS. If this is true you can imagine the situation in a multi-story house, in the middle of the night, when someone flushes upstairs and the noise on the first floor in the vicinity of the stack.... You might wish that you had spent the extra.

Clarence Martin
09-12-2013, 5:31 PM
Hmm... Let's see here. At that price, he might just as well go to work at the HD for minimum wage! I'd ask $2800 if you bring it here to my Plumber's Studio. Oh, you want it installed AND the wall repaired? No telling what that might cost! Ahh, go ahead and sign here... no need to read the fine print. If this job goes well, just might have to try my hand at woodworking. I can see it now, "The 'Artistic Creations in Wood' Studio", that's what I'll call it......


Sorry, been reading too much Creek, I guess! Couldn't resist.


He's an old friend of the Family. Giving me a big break on the cost of the repair. When I had the Pressure tank for the well replaced, he charged half of what anyone else was charging. :D:D

Duane Meadows
09-12-2013, 6:17 PM
Yep, It's good to know folks like that!

Dan Hintz
09-12-2013, 6:35 PM
I just checked ours to make sure... we have cast iron sticking up from the basement floor about 6", but everything above that to the roofline is PVC. If noise is an issue, a layer of foam will cut down on noise significantly.

Joel Goodman
09-12-2013, 6:44 PM
I was told years ago that cast iron DWV is substantially quieter than PVC or ABS. If this is true you can imagine the situation in a multi-story house, in the middle of the night, when someone flushes upstairs and the noise on the first floor in the vicinity of the stack.... You might wish that you had spent the extra.
+1 -- I am in a 2 story with PVC and it's way noisier than the cast iron in my previous place. The wall has to be opened so why not open in the vicinity of the leaks and get a clearer picture of the condition of the pipe.

Mel Fulks
09-12-2013, 8:00 PM
Reports vary a lot on whether the iron is quieter,maybe some of the older iron was thicker. Anybody else remember the tv show where plastic was swapped out for iron ? Nothing was leaking ,the only issue was noise.Homeowner and contractor agreed there was little difference in noise level. I think it was one of the PBS things. Soundproofing would have been the better solution.

Kevin Bourque
09-12-2013, 9:57 PM
I agree that cast iron is quieter that PVC, but if it's an issue PVC can be easily wrapped with insulation to quiet it down.

Brian Elfert
09-12-2013, 11:13 PM
I have ABS in my house. I hear water drain noises from time to time, but I have no idea if cast iron would be quieter. Personally, I would rather have plastic pipe and a little noise than deal with cast iron joints and the potential for the material to crack down the road. Does today's plumbing code even allow for cast iron plumbing in a house? Would the plumbing inspector even know how to inspect a new cast iron installation?

Jason Roehl
09-13-2013, 9:21 AM
By the time you yank, jerk and saw out the leaky section of iron, you'll probably have it cracked somewhere else. I'd replace the whole shebang, unless you can get a Fernco boot around the leak. Clean the pipe very well before you put the boot on it.