Hi everyone,
I'm in a 110 year old house and looking to do a relatively temporary fix. The fixtures tying into one stack in the house are nearly unusable due to a clog which appears to be located near the basement. The fixtures which tie into this stack are a 2nd floor toilet and a 1st floor sink. The clog is located beneath the tie in with the sink, and allows slow drainage; however, with even more than rare use there is backup from the toilet into the sink. Unfortunately, there are no clean outs for this stack whatsoever, and the last plumber attempted to clear the clog by popping the toilet and running his auger from there. He was unsuccessful, but believed he got as far as the bend at the bottom of the stack. He believed he was pulling up roots with his attempts. He then quoted a several thousand dollar job to replace the cast-iron stack with PVC from the basement to the toilet; however, he didn't include any estimate for ensuring that the clog was also removed.
The cast iron is clearly in bad shape, rust barnacles and all, and will need to be replaced before too long. However, that's beyond our budget right now. My hope is that now that I've made the basement pipes accessible so that a PVC cleanout can be tied in with some fernco couplings, the clog can be removed and peace restored for at least a while. I'm planning on doing the grunt work myself and let a plumber do the pipe work - the cast iron is in bad shape. I'd like feedback so that I know what I'm talking about and what options I should discuss in getting this done.
There are two possibilities. The first is to tie it into the cast iron in the wall. I'm concerned about the amount of weight on the stack (it's a three story house, and it isn't clear where the nearest support for the stack is above the basement level), as well as whether snapping/cutting into the cast iron is going to cause enough shaking to the stack to create problems in other hubs above, given their condition. I've also busted through the concrete floor and excavated down to what appears to be clay pipe that connects to the stack, so the second possibility is putting a clean out there.
Here is the cast iron stack:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889054789@N01/8239135480/
Here is the stack / clay pipe in floor:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889054789@N01/8238069481/
Here is the pipe in the floor. The other branch appears to drain a separate stack consisting of a basement toilet and 2nd floor sink and tub. None of these have problems draining.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889054789@N01/8238064889/
Thanks for your options and opinions!
I'm in a 110 year old house and looking to do a relatively temporary fix. The fixtures tying into one stack in the house are nearly unusable due to a clog which appears to be located near the basement. The fixtures which tie into this stack are a 2nd floor toilet and a 1st floor sink. The clog is located beneath the tie in with the sink, and allows slow drainage; however, with even more than rare use there is backup from the toilet into the sink. Unfortunately, there are no clean outs for this stack whatsoever, and the last plumber attempted to clear the clog by popping the toilet and running his auger from there. He was unsuccessful, but believed he got as far as the bend at the bottom of the stack. He believed he was pulling up roots with his attempts. He then quoted a several thousand dollar job to replace the cast-iron stack with PVC from the basement to the toilet; however, he didn't include any estimate for ensuring that the clog was also removed.
The cast iron is clearly in bad shape, rust barnacles and all, and will need to be replaced before too long. However, that's beyond our budget right now. My hope is that now that I've made the basement pipes accessible so that a PVC cleanout can be tied in with some fernco couplings, the clog can be removed and peace restored for at least a while. I'm planning on doing the grunt work myself and let a plumber do the pipe work - the cast iron is in bad shape. I'd like feedback so that I know what I'm talking about and what options I should discuss in getting this done.
There are two possibilities. The first is to tie it into the cast iron in the wall. I'm concerned about the amount of weight on the stack (it's a three story house, and it isn't clear where the nearest support for the stack is above the basement level), as well as whether snapping/cutting into the cast iron is going to cause enough shaking to the stack to create problems in other hubs above, given their condition. I've also busted through the concrete floor and excavated down to what appears to be clay pipe that connects to the stack, so the second possibility is putting a clean out there.
Here is the cast iron stack:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889054789@N01/8239135480/
Here is the stack / clay pipe in floor:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889054789@N01/8238069481/
Here is the pipe in the floor. The other branch appears to drain a separate stack consisting of a basement toilet and 2nd floor sink and tub. None of these have problems draining.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48889054789@N01/8238064889/
Thanks for your options and opinions!