Cutting Pipe in Shower Base

[Amatuer123]

Dumb question. I had a plumber over and he enlightened me that my drain pipe was lead and he used a caulking iron to seal it by pounding the lead which sealed around the pipe. I need to now cut it flush w/ the concrete as I didn't get a chance to cut it before he started to seal it. Any idea on what tool I could use to cut it to make it flush w/ the concrete? I'm installing a mustee shower base. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Amatuer123]

Here's a pic.

[jadnashua]

hack saw, cable saw, pipe cutter, dremel tool (messy), sawsall, inside pipe cutter and there are more. If it is sealed into lead, you might want to support it well, or that act of sawing it off might loosen it up. Does the drain fit over, in, or around the pipe? How far does it go down? You might want to fill in around the pipe with concrete, let it set, then cut it off. Nice and sturdy then.

[Amatuer123]

Thanks Jim. The drain fits around the pipe and the pipe s/be flush w/ the concrete; a rubber seal is then put over the pipe and is also flush w/ concrete; finally a removable strainer is put on the pipe. My concern was getting a level cut which would be level w/ the concrete but maybe the removable strain. The dremel may work best as a hack saw w/be unable to cut it flush w/ the concrete. But after looking at it doesn't appear that the cut has to be perfect. And if it comes a little loose the plumber was nice enough to leave me a caulking iron so I could whack it again.

[hj]

A plumber? If so then he knows that lead pipes were not sealed with a lead joint that you hammer down. Cast iron pipes used a lead/oakum joint seal. Hammering a lead seal around a PVC pipe does not usually seal it, it just indents the pipe. There are many ways to cut the pipe down, but first you have to have the base there so you know whether to cut it above or below the floor, depending on the drain fitting in the base. Above the floor just use a saw. Below the floor, cut it off even with the floor and then use an internal cutter, a ZipTool or Dremel, or a drill with a RamBit and cut it down to the necessary level.

[jadnashua]

I've never tried it, but fishing line supposedly will cut it as well. You could hack it off high and use a router to clean it up, too....

[sulconst2]

maybe i'm missng something her. shouldn't he install the drain to the pan, slide the pan over the pipe, install the rubber bushing, then cut the pipe?

[hj]

She/he is trying to cut the pipe to size before installing the pan, which is why I said to determine the exact dimension first. Once the pan is in place and the rubber gasket set, the only way to cut it will be either with some internal cutting device, (there are several ways to do that), or cut it off above the base and use a RamBit to drill the pipe down until it is at the correct height. Right now, I am uneasy about the what has been done already, and not sure if it was done correctly so that there will not be any problems once the base is set, if there is a backup at some future time.