cast iron problems

[muzz]

A year or so ago, I needed to replace our downstairs toilet. It had a cast iron flange that was leaking badly. A plumbing friend of mine gave me advice on what to do. He told me to take the old flange out; quite a chore, and then replace the flange with a pvc one that twisted in to the cast iron pipe, sorry don't know what they are called. It was quite a job getting the flange in the pipe, and was worried about the cast iron cracking, but it went fine--until today. The cast iron broke a big chunk out and leaks in to the crawl space when flushing. Luckily we have another toilet! I am guessing that the cast iron needs to be replaced with plastic and some kind of connection between the iron and plastic, but not sure where to go from here. Thanks for any help on this.

 

[Jeffreyhel]

sounds like it's time to get into the crawl space and cut it off and replace it with pvc. Make sure you use a GFI for electric and watch out for the vapors of the glue and cleaner. Vent crawl space with a fan if you are going to be there any length of time.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[hj]

flange

If he was a real friend or a real plumber he would have knocked that old flange off and leaded a new one on in about the time it took you to put in that "makeshift" one, and then you would not have this problem. But it may be time to go back to him and ask him to snap off that broken piece, (personally, I would remove the cast iron bend and replace it with a new one, but not all plumbers have the tools to do it), and couple a piece of plastic on to replace it.

 

[muzz]

Can I use a sawzall with some metal blades to cut cast iron, and how nice of a cut does it need to be? Do I take out all the cast iron out, or leave some to have a place to mate the plastic to, and what do I use to mate these two together? I have about a foot or so of cast iron going from the toilet down to the main drain. I am fairly sure that it is 4 inch pipe. Will the toilet need to be taken up, or would the plastic be able to be slid into the existing flange?

 

[DJ2]

Here are a couple of ideas for you.

If the broken pipe is accessible and solid above and below the break you can wrap it with neoprene and hose clamps. You may find a ready made clamp of this type at a plumbing store. You wouldn't need to remove the toilet to do this.

Or, to do a better job: Go down to where the first cast iron hub connects to your broken pipe. Remove everything from there to your toilet. Get a rubber connector that fits the bell of the remaining pipe.

These rubber connectors are made specifically to connect cast iron to plastic.

Once you have the rubber connector in you can start over with plastic pipe. I think, by the way, that you only need 3 inch plastic for the toilet...but I'm not sure. You'll want to remove the toilet and start fresh with this solution.

I'm not a plumber but I've done stuff similar to this. You can do it.

Wear goggles and use other precautions mentioned in the replies. Cast iron and the lead packing can be broken out with a hammer and a small chisel. Be careful that you only break what you want to. Move slowly and do a little at a time. You don't want to break your main drain pipe or you'll have a much bigger problem.

Good luck. You'll feel great when you finish. It will give you a sense of power over your world.

 

[Sulconst2]

i can only imagine this ill advised homeowner in his crawl space beating on his cast drain with a hammer. even if he does clean out the fitting he is not going to find a banded fernco to fit 4" hub to 3" plastic. he'd have to clean out the lead and use a rubber donut which imo suck. can you imagine him cracking the fitting at the main! his "power over the world" would be reduced to crapping in a bucket! his shrubbery would die from peeing outside. his kids would stop coming home. his wife would leave him. his dog would call him spot!

hire a professional. you can do it!

can anyone say "chain snap"?

 

[DJ2]

Thanks for the terms Sulconst2. That's helpful.

To be more specific, use a banded fernco on the 4 inch pipe if there is good pipe above and below the hole and the hole is small enough to be adequately covered by the banded fernco. Very little risk in this application.

Again, as emphasized by Sulconst2, you are taking a risk by messing with the hub. I want you to be well warned but I can also assure you that I have done it.

Taking the old, broken pipe out and cleaning out the bell of the 4 inch pipe went very well. Using a small chisel I never felt that I was in danger of breaking the existing pipe. I've only done it once, however, so maybe I was lucky. Sounds like Sulconst2 is more experienced.

After I got the bell cleaned out I used a rubber donut that reduced the pipe from 4 inch to 3 inch. From there I used new plastic pipe to get to the toilet.

The plumbing store had two sizes of rubber donuts for 4 inch pipe. The first one didn't fit and that caused me some grief. Second one fit fine, however, is is working well after about 5 years.

Good luck.

 

[muzz]

Got er done today, two hour job. Pulled the toilet and flange, got the cast iron pipe out without too much trouble, used a rubber donut and 3" plastic to the toilet, flushed and no leaks. All is well, my wife loves me again, the kid doesn't need to pee on the shrubs anymore, and the dog helped me with the install, barking instructions. Seriously though, thanks for all the help, especially DJ2. Now it seems I let a mouse in the crawl space, grrrrr....

 

[Cal]

Good for you muss .

DJ2 said,,and I quote,, " I'm not a plumber but I've done stuff similar to this"

Please be careful what you advice on . That guy was real lucky his cast iron issue didn't turn to an absolute nightmare !

I AM a Plumber and I do this STUFF all the time. Somethings are better left to the pros.

 

[DJ2]

Good Advice Cal

Good advice Cal.

It's hard for me not to tell someone that something is possible, even though it's risky. At least he had some good warnings before he got into it so he knew what the risks were.