JMichael
New Member
My house was built in 1960 and has the original cast iron waste pipes. The pipes were pushed around to accommodate the hard pipe for an HVAC system which we have since relocated to the attic. The result, however, is that the pipe dips in places and is no longer a gradual decline to the main pipe to the sewer which is located across the entire length of the house by the bathrooms. It's about a forty foot run from the kitchen/laundry area to the bathroom area.
The pipe already rotted out in one of the low spots three years ago and we had the pipe repaired at that spot and had the mess abated. The repair has now failed right at the rubber coupler they used to replace the rotted piece of pipe.
So, I want to replace the cast iron run with PVC or new cast iron done right. So I have some quick questions.
I'd like to avoid trying this myself. 1) So what would be a very rough estimate for having somebody replace the pipe? The house has a crawlspace and I have an access point cut in the floor near the leak. 2) When replacing the cast iron pipes, how far do you typically go and, if you stop at the main line that leads to the sewer, how do you properly join it at that point?
I'm waiting to get a call from the contractor who had his guys repair the pipe and clean up the mess. This was three years ago. He's on a week long job right now and will supposedly get back to me tonight. We like him and have him do inspections for us when we run into little things here or there... and the work he did cleaning up the mess under the house was excellent, so I'm trying to be a little tactful. But, 3) realistically, what is his liability in this? We noticed the leak because we began to pick up a smell in the house a few weeks ago. I just crawled under the house yesterday to take a look. I already have been feeling a little nauseas the past few days, so I don't want to live with this another week especially not with my daughters around.
As always, thank you very much for your advice.
The pipe already rotted out in one of the low spots three years ago and we had the pipe repaired at that spot and had the mess abated. The repair has now failed right at the rubber coupler they used to replace the rotted piece of pipe.
So, I want to replace the cast iron run with PVC or new cast iron done right. So I have some quick questions.
I'd like to avoid trying this myself. 1) So what would be a very rough estimate for having somebody replace the pipe? The house has a crawlspace and I have an access point cut in the floor near the leak. 2) When replacing the cast iron pipes, how far do you typically go and, if you stop at the main line that leads to the sewer, how do you properly join it at that point?
I'm waiting to get a call from the contractor who had his guys repair the pipe and clean up the mess. This was three years ago. He's on a week long job right now and will supposedly get back to me tonight. We like him and have him do inspections for us when we run into little things here or there... and the work he did cleaning up the mess under the house was excellent, so I'm trying to be a little tactful. But, 3) realistically, what is his liability in this? We noticed the leak because we began to pick up a smell in the house a few weeks ago. I just crawled under the house yesterday to take a look. I already have been feeling a little nauseas the past few days, so I don't want to live with this another week especially not with my daughters around.
As always, thank you very much for your advice.