Lead or steel?

[Guzak]

I have a vertical drain pipe for a vanity that connects to a cast iron hub at the floor plate. I want to cut it so I can transition to pvc for the drain and vent. Does anyone know if this would typically be steel, or is it most likely lead? I would use a shielded coupler if steel, but am not sure it would work with lead or just smoosh the pipe.

Yes, long ago someone smeared liquid nails all over the joint where the p-trap pipe connects to the vertical. Somehow I don't trust it.

 

[Reach4]

Steel. A magnet will be attracted to that.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Guzak]

Magnet was a great idea. It proved to be lead. Is there any legit was of connecting PVC to lead, or do I just rip out all the cast and redo all of it with PVC?

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Does the lead connect to a cast iron hub at the base of the photo? If so your solution is to remove the lead and oakum from the cast iron and replace it with PVC sealed with a rubber gasket (locally known as a Fernco donut.. Fernco being a brand).

I attempted to apply a band to a lead vent with a tubular brass insert to keep it from squishing, but the lead just kept splitting. Ended up chasing the lead thru 2 floors of a mansion in Seattle to the basement. Replacement of a single P-Trap cost over 5K.. ouch.

 

[Jadnashua]

At the CI hub, they inserted a brass piece of pipe that was leaded into the hub. THen, they soldered the lead to the brass. At least that's what I understand is the typical method (well, the order may be different). Anyway, to convert, you have to clean out the hub and throw all of that stuff away. The easiest way is to use the properly sized donut that accepts the PVC. While the ID of the body of the pipe of CI is generally a fixed standard, the actual ID of the hub is not. They make the donuts in lots of sizes, and it needs to be correct or either it won't seal (too small), or you won't be able to insert the PVC into it (too large which compresses the opening for the PVC).

To remove the brass pipe, you'd drill out some of the lead in the hub to weaken it. Then, when you try to pry that out, the holes you drilled can compress some, breaking it away and loosening it in the hub so you can then pull it out.