Pipe is done!



Top of fitting

Check one more major item off the Bathroom to do list!  I was concerned about the remaining cracked section of cast iron and researched ways to repair it but came to the conclusion that the best way to repair it was to replace it with PVC.  That approach would have worked great but I was concerned with possibly cracking the fitting in the basement. 

"Just replace the fitting then," one may say.  Well, that would have taken me at least a weak to do as the fitting was partially concreted in the corner and had every fixture on the first floor connected to it. 



We're talkin' kitchen sink, washer, toilet and bathroom sink!  And to make things harder the pipes for the washer, toilet and sink penetrate and are concreted into a load bearing wall.  I know I have to replace the whole thing eventually but I wouldn't have met Mrs. Forest's deadline if I tackled it at the time.  So there's one more thing added to the house to do list.



Bottom of fitting

I ended up solving the cracked pipe problem by lining the 4 inch cast iron with a 3 inch PVC pipe. I measured the length needed to line the cracked section and extend into the cast iron fitting in the basement. The length came out to 60 inches but of course when I inserted the PVC into the cast iron it would only go to about 28 inches. I thought maybe that would be sufficient but realized I was wrong after pouring water down the pipe and noticing water seeping through the crack in the basement section.



A decision had to be made:

• Leave the pipe at 28 inches and try to epoxy the crack in the basement
• Attempt to pound the pipe in the 32 inches and run the risk of cracking the fitting or getting the PVC stuck short of the 60 inches

I went with the 2nd choice and I'm glad I did because it worked like a charm!  Next was to complete the connection to the PVC coming down from the 2nd floor, which went together fairly quick.  And finally the leak test - YES, IT PASSED!