confused: 3 or 4 inch soil pipe?

[Zimmee66]

Hi All!

Im getting conflicting bids from plumbers and Im not sure who to trust.

I have a rotted floor, and a buckled lead soil pipe that are to be fixed. I long since gave up on trying it myself but even some plumbers seem unsure about what to do here.

My question is this:
The soil pipe leads to a cast iron bell--I understand that there is a brass or iron sleeve in there.

Some plumbers say they will cut to th middle of the lead pipe and then use a rubber connector.

Some say they will take it down to the sleeve in the bell.

Some say they will remove the sleeve too and use a gasket inside the bell.

Which is best?

My other question is that some say they will use a 3 to 4" rubber adapter. But I think the current lead sleeve is 4" (does that sound right?) so--wont stepping down to 3" restrict the efficiency of the toilet?

Everybody seems to dread this job--and I dont know what to tell them I want (and so how to choose the best plumber).

Any advice would be much appreciated!
regards
jim

 

[Terry]

Everybody has a different way of doing these.

I remove the old lead sleeve and arm completly.
I cut off most with a sawzall, then use a small drill and drill bit and drill out most of the lead. I can pry out the lead with a screwdriver.
the brass ferrall will just fall out.
Don't bother using a torch, they would be useless.

I like to use the fernco inside hub rubber sleeve with a 4x3 ABS flush bush.
Then I use a spigot 4x3 closet bend and a 4" flange.

hj, being older than me, uses cast iron.
Pouring lead was a little before my time.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

do it the cheap way

Digging out or burning out that brass nipple and old oakum
inside that cast iron pipe is a major
pain , and thats not even takeing into consideration
totally smokeing up the house with a nasty odor.

the way I would do this is to jsut cut off that lead back to
the brass nopple and then clean off the lead from the brass
with a torch, and simply put on a Fernco fitting

either a 4 inch one if you want to run a total line out
of 4 inch or get a 4x3 fernco and reduce it down at
the brass hub.

dont make it any harder than necessary
and it is gonna last another 100 years either way.