Advice on replacing clay waste line

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Taylor

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About 4' or 5'. I've been taking the pipe apart in pieces. Sledgehammer breaks it, lower parts start crumbling as I lift it out.

Here are pics of pieces I've taken out, and a view from the laundry room of the pipe going under that load-bearing wall. FWIW there is: 2x6 wall I put in to take a moved laundry sink (foam gasket underneath, so it's not meant to carry load) and 4x4 support sitting on 4x4 plate behind it, with 2x4s added by me and all lagged into a 2x12 to spread the load away from that single support.

Oh and if you look real carefully, you'll see the 4" wye where the pipe goes under the wall, where it was connected to a toilet on the left.....

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Taylor

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Another pic

This is from underneath the stairs, looking at the pipe that needs to be removed without undermining the support above it.

My current best plan: place some 2x lumber up against it, then a 4x4 horizontal, then pound on the 4x4 with a sledgehammer. If it won't move, declare victory and connect to PVC with a no-hub.

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Taylor

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Running out of energy

I'd appreciate a reality check from the pros..... Given that my pipes appear to be CI, should I just bag replacing the rest of it and just put in PVC to the outside? Part of the point of doing this was so I wouldn't have to deal with sewer line failures in the future, after finishing and tiling the basement. I have removed one piece that has a 2" hole in the bottom, so it hasn't been a complete waste of time.

I've spent the last couple of hours browsing the archives on replacing CI, and I learned that MA code forbids CI stack above PVC, exactly what has been on my agenda (with riser clamp supports).

I still have to move around some drain lines in the laundry room. The minimalist approach is to replace the drain line before the feed into the stack, then leave CI from stack wye to the part that goes under the support wall. Or I can replace the wye under the stack with PVC (in violation of MA code). Or I can try to get rid of all the buried CI. The soil around that line under the wall is wet, but I'm starting not to care.

Please don't advise me to "get a pro." I can't even get someone to call back with an estimate. I guess everyone's busy with bathroom remodeling.

Thanks as always for any advice or perspective.
 

Jadnashua

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As I understand it, MA doesn't allow the homeowner to do his own plumbing, either...

It looks like CI. The fact that parts of it were falling apart seriously implies the underground portions have exceeded their life. It may be time to go to the sewer connection. The transition can be after you turn to the horizontal. The interior parts of the drain systems probably need a good checkout, too.

You may want to get a company in to run a camera down the line to check the status of it out to the main sewer line. That should help assess the state of that line.

To get over the CI PVC issue, you can get hubless CI and use no-hub connectors above ground, and the rubber sleeves below.
 

Taylor

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To get over the CI PVC issue, you can get hubless CI and use no-hub connectors above ground, and the rubber sleeves below.

That's something I don't understand, and the people at the plumbing supply store didn't know. Why would I use Ferncos instead of no-hub connectors? The latter surely has greater shear strength. I believe Ferncos are okay below ground, where things shouldn't move much, but then I've seen some claims that Ferncos are required below ground, which makes no sense. And now I see a Fernco metal-jacket connector for three times the price of a Mission coupling in a Big Box store......

Edit: BTW Jim, thanks for your reply, hope my honest question didn't come off as anything else, it is something I've been wondering about......
 
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Redwood

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Well seeing those pictures...
Its not clay! Definitely Cast Iron.

Any banded coupling that fits is okay IMO
 

Jadnashua

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My point was you can buy hubless cast iron pipe. This does not use a poured joint, so you need to attach them somehow...thus the no-hub. You could redo the bad parts with this, then underground, use pvc.
 

Taylor

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I'm pretty sure the above-ground CI is in good shape, and CI stacks are considered the cat's pajamas so I don't plan to mess with that.

OTOH in wet season the underground line sits immersed in wet soil. People who put in French drains told me that clay or CI that they dig out of concrete fall apart.

I agree about running a camera out to the sewer connection, at some point. At least two houses on this street have replaced their sewer lines.
 

Taylor

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I ran a level on the piece of pipe from base of stack underneath wall....it is perfectly level.

I am assuming that the weight of the stack pushing down at one end leveled it out over the years.
 

Taylor

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Another archaelogy question

While taking out my below-ground kitchen waste line, I discovered that it goes into a T, not a bend as I expected. North of the T, the pipe is CI exterior with some kind of black (lead?) interior, I'd say 3" or 2" diameter. It appears to contain a congealed oily mess. The kitchen waste line south of this was almost completely full of waste, and oily. No idea where the "oil" comes from.

Any ideas what the pipe north of kitchen waste line is for? It is not the same as the other waste pipes, with its interior.

I plan to bury it and forget it. Just curious.
 
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