More Joys of Homeownership

[jteneyck]

I went down to the basement last evening and found water on the floor.  Fortunately, it was not near my shop, rather, the other end in the laundry area where the sump pump is so the water was draining into it.  I found the leak in a drain line that dumps into the main stack at that end of the house.  It takes water from the kitchen and half bath, and also the sump.  As I looked at the pipe, I could see it was corroded through in two places, on the short vertical piece and on the underside of the diagonal piece.  Well, OK, I'm not doing anything with it tonight.  



Hoping there was still some solid pipe before the 3" T, I went off to the plumbing store and came how with some PVC parts and rubber transitions.  The plumbing is above my drier, which would be a real pain to remove, so it was a very inconvenient place to work, of course.  I got the pipes cut with a Sawzall and found that the last inch or so of the diagonal piece was still good.  Whew.  Some measuring and test fitting of parts, and I the repair was done.  



I am so happy this worked.  The work involved had that piece of the diagonal been no good would have been a real bear.  Getting enough heat on that big 3" fitting, right next to the wall, would have been a real challenge, one I'd rather not have to attempt.  I'm not sure what other alternative I had, though.  I don't think there's enough room above the T for a Furnco fitting if I wanted to install a plastic T.  I guess maybe I could have put a plug in the stub of the 1-1/2" pipe and installed a new plastic T down below in the straight section of 3" copper.  How would you go about it?  Just in case.  

John

[blackhat]

A helper to hold a second torch. My small oxyacetylene torch working on the back and pull the rotten copper stub out. Heavy gloves and cotton rags to heat and wipe as much solder out of the hub as possible. Solder in a stub of new copper pipe and complete as you did. Or bite the bullet and replace the entire stack and as much of the branches as easy.

[EightFingers]

Be sure to ream the inside of the pipe you cut with the sawzall. You don’t want any rough edges to catch debris and start a clog

[jteneyck]

Be sure to ream the inside of the pipe you cut with the sawzall. You don’t want any rough edges to catch debris and start a clog

Hopefully, I got them smooth inside.  

I first had a devil of a time getting the last coupling to slip over the PVC pipe. It wouldn't go.  I thought about lubricant, and then I remembered I have a tube of silicone grease.  I put some on the pipe and on the coupling.  Slipped together easy peasy.  Great stuff. 

John

[Snipe Hunter]

I hope Mr Fernco made out well after inventing those.

[crokett™]

I hope Mr Fernco made out well after inventing those.

Ferncos are great.  My previous house was all ABS.   It's hard to find here and is expensive.  I had to tie into a run with PVC.  Advice from a plumber was cut the ABS and install a fernco wye.  he said the ABS to PVC glued connections aren't reliable.  I thought that was sketchy until I was watching an episode of TOH and they were tying the house into  the city sewer in Boston.  something like 10' deep.  they used basically a much larger version of what I needed.  I figured if it's good enough for Boston and being buried it's good enough for me.

[Dumb_Polack]

Nice save!!!


Question...what's the rope for??


Basement clothes line??

[jteneyck]

Nice save!!!


Question...what's the rope for??


Basement clothes line??

Yessir.  High tech, isn't it?  I put it up 20 or 30 years ago in a pinch to dry something.

[jteneyck]

I hope Mr Fernco made out well after inventing those.

I don't know if these couplings were made by Fernco.  They have a band of stainless over the whole length of the unit, under the band clamps.  The Fernco's I've used only had the two band clamps, with the center section unsupported.  

John

[MstrCarpenter]

I don't know if these couplings were made by Fernco.  They have a band of stainless over the whole length of the unit, under the band clamps.  The Fernco's I've used only had the two band clamps, with the center section unsupported.  

John

Skilsaw, Sawzall, Kleenex, Jello, and Fernco. To get them to slide on a "Professional" might use Duck Butter; the rest of us just use dish soap.