Advice on bathroom pipes?

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Terry

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It's normally the floor joists weren't laid out right, or yes, the wall was framed in the wrong location, or they decided to do a 2x6 and not a 2x4, or someone kicks the pipe while pouring the concrete. Sometimes it's a matter of what side of the foundation do you pull you measurement from. I like to ask the framers what side there were pulling from so that we had the same measurement.
 

Jasesun23

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I noticed the pics for the first page were with the insulation still down. These might be clearer. I don't think this is something I want to attempt. I guess I'll have to call another plumber to take a look at the toilet arm. Really looking forward to getting this done so I can start putting this bathroom together.



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Jasesun23

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Some more close up pictures. Should I leave the hot water radiator piping alone. It is black iron pipe I'm assuming since I can't clean it off like the other brass pipes?

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Jasesun23

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First off I'd like to thank everyone for there help and wisdom. This site is very helpful. If I sound like i'm asking the same questions its only because I'm not familiar with plumbing terminology and getting some conflicting opinions form the plumber I spoke to. I know I have gotten your recommendations . I'm just writing this post so I completely understand what either I need to to or to understand what I should tell the plumber to do. My options are the following ---

1) leave the pipe. If I do that I will have to bend the lip up to put new subfloor, then tile, then put the disc back on and hammer the lead pipe down to make it flush against the floor
leavethepipe.jpg

2nd option- Remove the whole lead toilet bend. Someone melts the solder. Clean out the cast iron pipe as best as can. Then a rubber gasket is inserted into the cast iron waste pipe. And PVC pipe can be inserted into that (following 2 pictures)
remove sodder.jpgsolder.jpg

3rd - Is to cut the iron pipe about 2-3 inches before the point it joins the cast iron pipe (yellow line) I'm told this is probably brass pipe that goes into the cast iron with some lead over it that makes it look like one piece. Then with a rubber/steel screw clamps connect that cut off piece with any PVC pipe (two pictures below

cut.jpgcut2.jpg

Please let me know if I am understanding the options correctly. Thanks again for everyone's time and patience

Jay
 

Jasesun23

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Bathroom was put on hold for a little bit but I'm back now. Terry I never doubted you for a second so I took your advice. Got some more pics for others who have to do this in the future. It was a pain to get the old lead bend out. Having never done this I was very cautious. Now I know I don't have to be as delicate as I was. I first cut off the whole lead bend with a hacksaw. Then I cut the bass ferrule to 1/2 of the cast iron. I tried the drill but was scared I'd break the cast iron. Now I realize it would of been no problem. Also after I drilled an 1.5 inches I started to see brown. I didn't know if this was the oakum or cast iron ( it was oakum). So I took out the dremel and a metal cutting bit. Spend about 20 mins cutting chunks of the bass ferrule until I got to the back of it. Then bend the whole thing inward and it came out. The lead came out in a ring as i started to pry it off the cast iron.
Going to grab a donut from the plumbing supply store. The cast iron is XH and its inside diamater is roughly 5 4/32 to 5 6/32. Fernco website says they sell them in 1/32" sizes so I'm not sure which one to get. I know from HJ posts that he believe depending on how the cast iron was made a donut my never work.
Do you guys think that is clean enough?
What is the technique for inserting the donut? Donut first then put in the pvc? Or pvc first then tap in the dounut?
For the shower from the brass supply hot and cold piping should I switch it to copper. Need to extend it and bring it into the one handle shower valve. Is connected threaded brass to a threaded copper adapter okay?
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Jadnashua

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For the heating pipes, assuming your boiler is in good condition and you don't have to add water constantly, black iron pipes should last a very long time. Ideally, in the heating system, you never need to add water. So, there's no free oxygen being added that's disolved in the fresh water to rust anything. It's when there's a leak, and you add water all the time to keep it working that you start to have problems with iron piping - it rusts from the inside. That's also why galvanized water pipes are a problem...the galvanized coating isn't perfect, and it's cut through at fittings, plus, the fresh water is constantly providing oxygen to let it rust. A vent is not generally wet, so often, they last a very long time, but not drain pipes that are wet and there's lots of moisture and oxygen to rust things out.
 

Hackney plumbing

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With that long brass wiping ferrule you had there I probably would have cut the lead off flush with the brass and then heated and wiped the lead off. Then found a proper fitting band for it to convert to plastic.

That brass would outlast all of us and the cast iron. Just my opinion.
 

Jasesun23

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Hackney - that was an option and what my dad's friend (plumber) recommended. However Terry would not give me bad advice :) . And from a bunch of posts from HJ I have read that the brass ferrule is tapered and using a no hub clamp might not work that well. However HJ said that it may be impossible to find a donut that fits well into the cast iron hub and recommends releading it.
I'm about to go to the plumbing supply store and see what they have. ID is as close as I can get it 5 4/32. OD is 6". The letters on the hub are XH. And some more letters on the T are from what I can tell "I22LB1". Cant see a brand though. The other thing I am a little worried about is the ring inside the hub does not go all the way around . At the top and the bottom is flat (even a little raised). I'll buy a donut and if it goes in too easy I'm going to return it and get the next size up, until i find the size that gives me some trouble getting on.

With my 3 options
1)leaving the lead bend (toilet was too close to wall anyway plus the lead bend is 50 years old)
2) leaving 2 inches of the brass flange , cleaning the remaining lead off it and using a no hub type connector to pvc
3) removing everything to the cast iron hub and using a donut/ty seal type plug with pvc after it.

I choose option 3. Hope it works out.
 

Ganjoka

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Re: Lead and oakum joints in cast iron soil pipe.
I know I come very late to this thread but I feel the need to respond to one of your comments. You are incorrect when you state that the only reason to use oakum in a cast iron soil joint is to keep the lead from running down the pipe. The oakum is the most important element of the joint. It is used because it will swell and seal the joint tight when it comes in contact with liquid. This is why you should not over-pack a joint or pack it too tightly. The lead is used as a cap for the oakum to seal the joint against contaminants or tree root infiltration if buried and to hold the joint firmly until the waste line is activated and the oakum swells.

I am a retired 3rd generation contractor/builder and learned this and much more from an old school plumber that I worked for during the summer in high school and college.
 
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