Cast iron to 2" PVC leak - How to repair?

[Potatoes]

Hello. We have a 1st floor laundry room wall open. We took down some thin wood paneling which exposed some cracked and poorly surfaced drywall. We have some friends who do drywall for a living so it is easier for them to hang new sheets as opposed to sanding and patching what was there.

Once we took down the drywall I noticed some seepage around the cast iron flange pictured in the attached image when a nearby sink is running. The PVC is 2". I can't measure the outside diameter of the cast iron pipe as it is below to the concrete.

How do I repair that? Do I need some type of Fernco donut? If so, not sure how to determine what size to get and where to order from.

Thanks!

 

[John Gayewski]

This looks like someone was mixing sched 80 and sched 40.which isn't good for dwv

It looks like the cast could be badly rotted you'll want to check it to see if a donut will even make a good seal again once it's cleaned up. If so yeah go for the donut if not your might need to break some concrete.

 

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[Potatoes]

This looks like someone was mixing sched 80 and sched 40.which isn't good for dwv

It looks like the cast could be badly rotted you'll want to check it to see if a donut will even make a good seal again once it's cleaned up. If so yeah go for the donut if not your might need to break some concrete.

Is there a way for me to determine what size donut I need? I would like to have that onsite before I disassemble it. Thanks.

 

[John Gayewski]

The size of each pipe determines the donut size. The cast iron might be one of a few types. It should say on the fitting somewhere.

 

[Reach4]

Search for the term "caulking irons" in searches. Those tools are meant to pound on the lead to seat it better and to expand it to fit tighter. This caulking has nothing to do with what you usually think of when you hear "caulking".

On the other hand, if your joint does not use lead, that is not going to do it for you.

Maybe you could get two donuts, and see which one fits better before cutting your pipes out.

Also, if you get leaking, the drain pipe below that might have a partial clog.

 

[Potatoes]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the information. I will try to get some of the donuts to use. I took another look at the cast iron last night and I couldn’t see any numbering on it. Might be in back or hard to see with some of the corrosion on the surface. I did put a tape measure across the area. I couldn’t measure the diameter of the cast iron pipe since it is below the surface. I suspect the cast iron is 2” since the inside diameter of the hub is close to 3”.

 

[John Gayewski]

Should be xh or sv. Extra heavy or service weight.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Looks like the fitting isnt very exposed Id measure it accurately after cleaning the hub and order according to to the actually measured size 2.875" just a random number but I dont use fractions for this type stuff Then find out the appropriate size donut. While you are at it clear the drain with a snake

 

[Potatoes]

So I took the PVC out of the hub today. It came out very easy. It was packed with some soft material all around the PVC. Nothing hard at all. Once I took it out, I scraped the sides of the hub. It revealed a recess right below the lip of the hub. There was also something stuck in the middle. It seemed to be like lint and hair mixed with grease. The only think using this drain currently is a washer. There was a kitchen using it too but it hasn't been used in years.

Now since I have the hub exposed I have two concerns.

1) The donut to seal the hub.
- I picked up a 3x2 (P33U-205) and 2x2 (P220-205) Fernco hub. The 3x2 clearly will not fit. I think the 2x2 would work but I inserted the PVC halfway into the donut and I was able to slide the donut into the hub up to the lip of the donut. Maybe the donut gets tight and only seals at the top lip once it is flush into the hub.

2) The pipe had and still has a lot of stuff in it. I'm surprised the drain even went down. This explains why water was seeping up from the hub since it was backing up right below the surface. I had a plumber rod the washer standpipe about a year ago, but I suspect he didn't get to this hub area and only cleared any blocked near the standpipe and its p-trap since washer was the only working fixture on this line and that's what wouldn't drain down.
Am I able to clean the inside of the pipe? It seems like a clogged artery. I was thinking about renting some type or drain auger from Home Depot but I am not sure what that would do. Also there is some sort of cleanout about 2ft away. I am not sure if that connects to this drain. If it does, I am not even sure how I would open it. It sits below the floor surface so I would hate to round that off.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Reach4]

Hire a drain cleaning specialist. A big machine can injure homeowners.

 

[Potatoes]

Thanks, but unfortunately hiring quality professionals are very hard for home owners. I had a plumber a little under a year unclog a section of pipe about 3 feet away with his power drain cleaner. Clearly he didn't even get to this section.

 

[Jeff H Young]

I think id as a diy try to get some of that gunk out by scrapping with a rod and working at it. perhaps shop vac. alternate softening it up with warm water picking at it however posible. Then I would install drainage fittings to facilitate putting warm water down and using a power snake rememdering to keep a very short section of cable outide the drum befor entering pipe or it woill grab and twist up on your hand.
please be very careful ! I dont know the layout or guessing the cleanout plug shown. So first thing I would do is attack the obvious

 

[Potatoes]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up renting a drain cleaner. Used a grease tip and went in maybe 15' or so. I exercised caution and used gloves. It was very easy.

I have a larger 2" Fernco compression donut (P22UX-205) coming from SupplyHouse tomorrow. The ID of my cast hub is 3.178" which is on the larger ended of the range for this part. Fernco said it might work. Fingers crossed.

 

[Jeff H Young]

ok im glad the drained cleared easily did you put your wash machine hose down and open it full blast for a long time?

 

[Potatoes]

I dropped the warm water line into the hub and ran it. Didn’t encounter any issues.