Can I replace main stack by myself?

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K.C.

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Hi all, a follow up question to a previous post:

I've got a cast iron main stack that's approaching the end of its life. I'm currently remodeling, so the main stack is exposed. Others suggested it's a good time to replace it. However all plumbers are booked out for many months, and by that point things will hopefully be drywalled in again.

So I'm wondering--how hard do you think it would be for me as a plumbing novice to replace just the long middle part of the cast iron main stack (that goes through first floor and finished attic), leaving the basement section (which could be accessed by a plumber in the future) and the section that penetrates the roof? There are no connections to it in that section, just one pipe with a bend.

I'm hoping it would be as easy as- take out cast iron in small sections, replace with PVC in as long of lengths as possible, tie in to existing cast iron with Fernco couplings. But maybe it's not actually that easy?

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First floor

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Tuttles Revenge

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That entire stack is just a vent. Its perfectly fine to leave it for the next 100 years.

If for some reason you do decide to remove it you want to start at the top and remove it in small pieces by cutting it with a ratchetting Snap Cutter/Soil Pipe cutter which are rentable. I like to tie a rope to each section I'm cutting so that it can't accidentally drop and take out a ceiling or hit a floor.

But that cast iron is in perfect shape. No reason to remove it at all.
 
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