[HomeInheritor2022]

Heyo! My first post here, but not the important bit. Long time voyeur, first time participant.
I'm fixing up the house I'm set to inherit. I come from poverty and so the idea of owning something and -not- taking care of it is unthinkable. The previous owner was paranoid of drain obstructions so every time the kitchen sink would drain slowly, down went the drain-o. The plumbing has never been replaced since the house was built in the 70s.
I invited Gold's Plumbing into do their free estimate, and the price they're asking is far beyond my ability, especially for such a seemingly-simple replacement. However, the plumber who came out really didn't want to give me the tools to doing this on my own (for obvious reasons, I mean, it's putting him out of a sale). Not even the name or how common the pipe itself is.

So the pipe pictured leads into the wall, where a big sturdy black pipe is. I've investigated with a flashlight (there is not much room beneath the sink, so sorry for no better pictures), and the problem stops at the pipe, but does continue through to the threading.
The measurements were about 18mm long (hard to account for the length I cannot see/measure) and 18mm diameter.
The leak presented with the furthest-up hole, and then when I investigated the rest, the rusted-through/corroded metal just fell free, which is another point towards the big black pipe not being affected at the moment.

In retrospect, writing this, I'm sure I could have unscrewed the plastic bits, taken the metal pipe out of the fixture, and measured what was left, but here we are.
I was given an estimate of $750 just to replace the current corroded pipe, and $1500+ if they had to get into the wall and affect the black pipe.

Is this something I can do myself, or should I try to finance the fix? If DIY, what kind of steps am I looking for, what do I call the pipe/where do I find it/what will it set me back?
Thank you for any help offered~

 

[huesmann]

You're probably gonna need to do some exploratory surgery here.

 

[rjniles]

The going into the wall looks like a 1.5" galvy nipple. Disconnect plastic connected to it and try to remove with a pipe wrench, turn counter clockwise. If it breaks off you will have to get the threads out of the hub in the wall.

 

[Nealtw]

How To Remove Stuck Rusted Pipe From Cast Iron Plumbing Stack, PVC Conversion - YouTube

 

[quatsch]

The PSI is virtually zero
so I'd try sheet gasket material
fastened with several hose clamps,
with flexible sheet metal between
the gasket & the clamps.

Since you bring up poverty
I am not going off topic by saying that
with $30k earning 7% interest in some investment,
2.2% inflation, spending 3% more than you make,
at some level of income you'll go bankrupt in 10 yrs.

Have I sold you on the idea of a gasket?

 

[SW Dweller]

classic galvanized pipe with out any slope to it.

Stop using the sink. Until you make the repair.

cut a good sized hole, 18 x 18 in the back of the cabinet and wall board.
Expose where the galvanized meets the vent pipe. If that is a threaded connection then break
it and replace the pipe with PVC of the right size.
Breaking the connection in the wall may be difficult to next to impossible. I would try heat, blow torch first. Then penetrating oil. Just putting a wrench on the pipe will just crush it.
You have to get the wrench to a place where the pipe is solid and you can turn it.

 

[HomeInheritor2022]

Yeah. We turned off the water since even the occasional drip would just land in a gross brownish stain below the holes.
'1.5 galvanized pipe'. Thanks for the advice and for the name. Video link helped too. Overall sounds/looks doable. I assume like, Home Depot will have what I need?

Serious, thanks for every response so far and moving forward. Y'all are much nicer than that plumber haha.

 

[jmon]

Yeah. We turned off the water since even the occasional drip would just land in a gross brownish stain below the holes.
'1.5 galvanized pipe'. Thanks for the advice and for the name. Video link helped too. Overall sounds/looks doable. I assume like, Home Depot will have what I need?

Serious, thanks for every response so far and moving forward. Y'all are much nicer than that plumber haha.

Yes, your local homedepot should have all the material you need to make the repair. Pvc use to be really cheap, but it's getting up there with all the material shortages etc. Still your best bet. Easy to work with.

The hard part for you will be hooking up to the main cast iron piping. Once you open it up, post another picture where the galvanize pipe hooks into the main. Thank you.

Hope you get it fixed soon home inheritor2022. Btw, Welcome to the forums.

 

[Fix'n it]

what tools do you have or can borrow/buy ?

 

[miamicuse]

Remove the plastic connection first, that's easy.

Next you will need to uncouple the metal galvanized pipe, probably 1-1/2" if it's a kitchen sink. You can try to put some penetrating oil on the connection to the larger cast iron pipe just behind the wall, then use a pipe wrench to turn the galvanized pipe counterclockwise to un-thread it, if that works, great, if that doesn't, I would take a hacksaw or reciprocating saw and just cut the pipe in the middle just past the point where the "break" is. Once you cut that front section out, the rest of the pipe appears to be all open at the bottom, in other words, instead of a shape of the letter O, it is the shape of the letter C with the opening at the bottom. You may be able to put plier onto one side of that letter C is just peel the pipe inward and out of the joint. Be careful when you do it and not any corroded pieces fall into the cast iron section.

Once you have done that, hopefully the female connection at the cast iron tee is still usable, and what you want there is a 1-1/2" MIP X 1-1/2" OD trap adapter. One end screws into the cast iron, and the other end is a slip joint ready to receive the outlet of a tubular plastic (or chrome) P-trap outlet. I usually use a brass trap adapter myself but you can use a PVC one if you wish.

 

[quatsch]

with out any slope to it.

Did he say that?

 

[CaptTom]

Welcome!! Sounds like you're really going to need this site in the years ahead. There's an old saying about boats, and I suspect it applies to houses, too: There's nothing so expensive as a free boat.

That said, I know where you're coming from. I bought a distressed old wreck of a house when I was young and poor, and over the years have basically re-built it several times over. I made a LOT of mistakes and learned a lot. Wish this forum (and the internet) had been around in those early days!

It'll be a good idea to put a general location in your profile. Lots of questions can't be answered until we know what sort of zoning laws and climate we're dealing with. And if you're in the US, do your measurements in old-fashioned inches and feet, not metric. Yeah, I know. But let's not start that argument.

 

[huesmann]

Did he say that?

If it had any slope it would have been less likely to rust out.

 

[quatsch]

I assumed the hole was due to using caustic drain cleaners. No slope + caustic is for sure a problem.

 

[SW Dweller]

A buddy of mine had the same issue in his kitchen sink. Drain cleaners never helped.
When he redid the cabinets I went over for two days and worked on pipe from the vent stack to the sink. It was not much fun to repair. I ended up with a strap wrench because the pipe wrenches kept collapsing the pipe.
Once the pipe is out of the vent stack, hopefully it is threaded. Bad news would be lead.
Thread in the 1.5" male adapter first. Use pipe dope on the threads rather than Teflon tape.
Pipe dope will help lube the treads. Then glue the new plastic pipe into the adapter.
Make sure you have at least 1/4 bubble out of plumb, slopign to the drain. You do not want standing water in the sink.