Seattle waste line replacement - DIY or pro?

[JeffK]

I'm in Seattle and have 1955 home, one story with full basement, that we've owned for 5 years. It has a chronic slow drain that is prone to clogging at the main floor bath. I usually can snake it out with the smaller of the two snakes I have but it's a battle each time. I've been using the Bio-Clean product and it helps some but feels like another part of this band-aid approach to maintenance. I'm figuring the actual ID available in the pipe is dime sized in some areas and hair can clog it easily. I'm ready to go to the next level to remedy this headache.

The plumbing is all accessible from the basement and it's next to the main stack. The tub (see brass p-trap) and bath sink (line that comes in furthest away from the stack) are both independently and together prone to slow draining and frequently clog every other month or so. I have reefed on the cleanout at the end of this horizontal line as hard as I dare after letting penetrating fluid sit on it and it will not budge.

We had our sewer line replaced this year as a separate issue and I had the guy replace a section of the stack just above the floor to about 6', the gasketed clamp can be seen in the pics. I'm wondering about replacing the exposed cast iron and galvanized waste line in the pics as a DIY project. I'm handy around the house but haven't done any plumbing type things other than replace faucets and some tightline from the downspouts to a rain garden. I'd love for this to be a $100 weekend project and not a check writing exercise (still recovering from the sewer job!).

Questions & assumptions -

Is this just a replace what's there with modern ABS job?
I presume I'll use more radiused turns.
Use a gasketed clamp to attach to the bath drain line so as not to go in to the wall/finished basement ceiling.

The cast iron vent stack is the only real mental hang-up I have. It must weight a fair amount, although it is strapped and didn't fall when the sewer guy worked below it. Do I just leave it be, add in a new wye in the stack and gasket-clamp the stack? The toilet waste line wye is right on top of the other wye and this is where the strap runs, I'm concerned the vent might need some other sort of support. Or can these easily be taken out downward? And a new one put in from above?

I'm less concerned about the larger diameter stack above the ABS and gasket-clamp portion, except that the first wye above it seems to need to come out. Is this true? Does it look possible to leave the stack alone and just unscrew(?) the first horizontal galvanized pipe section from the wye? Chip out any crusty bits inside and then how would I attach new ABS to this?

Otherwise, any plumber in the (West) Seattle area can certainly PM with an estimate and quick description of what they would do!

 

[Reach4]

It has a chronic slow drain that is prone to clogging at the main floor bath.

Are you saying that the only real symptom is the slow draining from the tub?

I would be inclined to pull that brass p-trap. If that does not show a clog you can remove, I would stick a small Brasscraft drain bladder into that trap arm.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JeffK]

Both the bathroom sink and tub will slow drain, i.e. the following conditions have existed:

Tub drains slow
Sink drains slow
Tub and sink drain slow at same time

 

[Reach4]

1. Where is sink in your photo?
2. have you pulled the brass p-trap?
3. I see the nice cleanout plug you have there. Have you pulled that square-headed plug and rodded down that pipe? I suspect that pipe is common to the tub, lavatory, and something else.

 

[JeffK]

I've attached annotated images.

1. See pic
2. No, sounds like a start to see the condition of the pipes but the snake goes easily beyond this by 12-18" then becomes difficult.
3. As noted in first post the cleanout is seized. Tried liquid wrench and whacking the end to unstick it. I've taken a standard (14"?) plumbing wrench to it and hung off of it, I'm 235 lbs. I was concerened I was going to break something.

I think my snake is 15', which it will go to on the 'from sink' line to maybe near where the tub line comes in.

 

[Reach4]

A little diameter snake can poke thru stuff and leave a hole that still just gives slow draining.

I am thinking maybe to put a wood block above the leg of the combo coming from the lav to resist the CCW, and to add a hanging strap, or strut from below to take the downward force. Then increase the leverage on your wrench by putting on something, like a piece of steel pipe, to increase the moment arm on your wrench. I am not a plumber, and a plumber might have a better idea how much force to use.

In a pinch, you can break that brass plug out with a chisel. Try this search in a search engine: brass drain plug chisel They actually intend that that is a common way to remove a stuck drain plug.

You still could do the drain bladder thing. Also, when you pull the brass p-trap, you may see something in the trap area.

 

[Plumber Man]

If you have a hand torch you can heat the wye and brass clean out plug, with them being two different types of metal they will expand at different rates and should make it easier to unscrew.

If you're handy that doesn't look like a terrible complicated job.
The best option to connect back to the 4 inch stack would be to use a 2in push gasket. The hard part is going to be getting the lead and piece of pipe out of the 4 by 2 tee. To remove the lead you can use a drill and bit to drill several holes around the pipe and then use a screwdriver to pry the lead out.

An easier option would be to cut the galvanized pipe about 3 inches from the 4x2 and use a no hub band to make the connection from the old galvanized to the new abs. I would assume you will find a iron buildup on the inside of the pipe where it goes from cast iron to galvanized so if you use this option make sure to look inside the pipe and chip out the build-up before you put in your new piping.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

I would cut the pipe between the cleanout and the wye for the shower and replace the horizontal piping from the sink to that point, including a new cleanout. Then use a proper snake to clean out the remaining short section of horizontal between the cut and the stack. Connect the old work to the new work using banded couplers and install hangars on the new piping.
This should provide a big improvement without too much risk in getting in over your head.