I have a very old home that I am remodeling the bathroom in. I have the floor tore up to the subfloor and I see that there is a hole in the cast Iron pip for the toilet. What is the best way to remove the bad part? It turns out that I would of need to move it back 2 in anyway for the offset in the new toilet. Thanks for any help!
You can rent a cast iron snapper from a local store or perhaps call a plumber. Its a handy tool that wraps around the cast iron and snaps it, usually fairly straight and clean. Be sure to have a second pair of hands tho because it might be heavy and a pain to manage by yourself depending where the pipe is and the space you have to work with.
Then once you snap it, put a rubber coupling on it and change it to 3" PVC.
Would it be possible to cut it with my sawall? I did have our 1 and only local plumber look at it He said he couldnt snap it and I needed to replace all my plumbing! So you know where he was going! I figgure it was just because I'm a single female and he didnt think I knew anything! I grew up arround construction business of my Dads and I wish he was arround to help me!
Yes you can use a sawall. You are going to need a very good blade to do it tho. You will need a carbide blade made for cast iron to cut it. It has a rough bumpy surface instead of the normal saw blade surface. It will take you a little but of time to cut it but it can be done. Make sure that if you are using a battery sawzall that you have extra batteries.
Yes a sawzall will cut it. But you need to get a cast iron cutting blade. HD sells them for about $15. Take your time. Ideally however you should be removing the pipe back to the bell anyway. It will take a little while to do but its well worth the work. Look as the rest of the cast iron pipe. If you see rust markings that appear to be coming out of the pipe. This is an idication that the pipe is beginning to rust though. If that is the case be prepared to fix other areas as well.
Posts: 1012 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 31 January 2006
It looks like you ran new pipes to that bathroom from below. Are you able to access the cast iron from there to cut it? Would be a safer bet than to do it where its already weak and so close to the joint.
I ran the plex up the side of the laundry shoot. The only reason I didn't want to take it out from the wall is that the vent stack goes straight up from the bathroom in to the attic and out through the roof. That I know would be way more than I could do. And until I find a better plumber I will have to do the work.
You do not have enough room to cut the cast. You need to chisel out the lead from the bell housing and install new pvc from the bell out to the toilet area. Cut the pipe first so you can access all the way around and take your time. This method of lead sealing can be dog to remove. There are seveal layers of chinking (rope) that must be removed after the lead is cut away. The way we do it is get a drill and drill a lot of holes all the way around the fitting into the lead and then take a small metal chizel and go to town. Be carefull not to crack the bell then you Will have to remove the entire fitting. Do not attempt to use a torch to melt the lead. You will end up burning up the house. Those boards were cut from the origional contractor. Its very common to see that on older homes. To repair you need to go at least four feet to each side of the beam, Ideally you need to bolt the sister joist to the old joist. Would not hurt to use liquid nails as well. Then of course drill holes for any new pipes you need to run. Also rebox the heat duct so the new floor is solid all around the toilet flange, otherwise the toilet will begin to rock and any new tile floor will crack. this is the best time however to consider putting the air supply stack into the wall. This is a good example of what we run into every day when doing bath renovations. In fact that is a easy one.
Posts: 1012 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 31 January 2006
Thanks for so much useful information! I wont be able to move the heat duct as right behind it is a laundry shoot to the basement. I do plan on cutting it back to a 4 x12 size so I can reinforce the floor arround the toilet. Its rocking befor is what promted me to redo the bathroom in the first place! I'm suprised the cast tub didn't fall through as bad as the boards were under it!
