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cast iron drain pipe to pvc

7K views 25 replies 10 participants last post by  jagans 
#1 ·
Please have a look at the uploaded picture. According to my tape measure and the number two stamped on the side, it looks like this is a 2 inch cast iron hub sitting inside of a 6 inch cast iron pipe buried in the cement. The 2 inch pipe is loose and I would like to change it to PVC.

I scraped some of the paint and used a file to test the material used to seal the hub and I really don't know what it is. I'm assuming lead.

I won't know for sure what I am up against until I have it apart. However, my plan is to replace with a 2 inch PVC pipe and a reducing rubber boot / coupling.

The house is 100 years old.

- What would have been the standard to join this hub? If lead, grinder to remove?
- Does PVC and rubber boot / coupling sound reasonable or what would be the good alternative?

Thanks
 

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#2 ·
They used lead from what I've seen, I wouldn't use a grinder on lead, the lead will coat and ruin the stone real fast. I replaced my iron with PVC since I had to dig down and install a trap/drain and a new cleanout in the basement floor where there never was one- it had just a wye to the floor with a clay disk laid over the opening and that was the drain and cleanout.
I just took a sledge to the hubs and cracked it out real easy, but I assume you want or need to save that piece embedded into the concrete, in which case whacking it with the sledge is going to crack that too.
 
#3 ·
Typically ,that joint will have oakum (rope like product) packed around the pipe and then pushed into the bottom of the hub---

then lead---

the easiest way to remove the pipe from the hub?

A drill and a screwdriver---use the longest bit you have--drill out some of the lead---stick a thin screw driver into the gap---pry out the lead--

once you get it started,the job goes rather quickly.

there are black rubber 'doughnuts' that allow you to adapt PVC to the old cast iron hub.
 
#5 ·
Ditto that.

Looks like it's not going to be covered up, and you've already got one Fernco on there, so what's one more :)

Cut it off about 2-3 inches above the hub and use a straight 2x2 fernco to your new PVC.

EDIT: Unless the top hub is leaking, which is doesn't look like it is...but if it is, then forget what I said.
 
#10 ·
This looks to me like a terra-cota pipe coming up through the floor, a cast iron T stuck into the TC bell and mortared with sand mix. There is no way you are going to pile up lead like that.

This is really a cobbled connection, and probably not done by a plumber. You will need a diamond blade to cut the TC in a right angle grinder. Fernco makes a lot of different fittings. They may have a combination reducing Y you can use here.

From what I can see that is not a caulked joint (Oakum and Lead) Again it is a Rube Goldberg connection.
 
#13 ·
IMO- the best way to clean up that mess is to use a pair of ratchet cutters- snap the large pipe below it's hub and transition to plastic and connect the two- 2'" lines using shielded transition couplings.
The cutters are available at a rental yard and will allow you to cut the back of the pipe.
If the riser is clay- a fernco is the easiest way to make the transition, but I avoid them when ever possible. They are not approved inside a structure in my area.
 
#26 ·
Thanks Ghost. Good Points on the potential for clogs, thats why I chamfer the inside of both pipes, cut square, and make sure I get full insertion. Ill use the shielded mission couplings from now on.

Now did that pipe coming up through the floor turn out to be Terra-Cotta? And did the pile on top turn out to be crowned mortar?
 
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