heathcliff,

thanks, can you remember what the price was or there about?

Fish


On 21 Nov 2005 14:33:56 -0800, "Heathcliff"
wrote:


fish wrote:
Hi everyone,

We own a rental property, built in 1950 so some of the systems are
nearing the end of their life expectancy. For example, the waste
stack in the basement is seeping a little bit, so it needs to be
replaced. My question is, what should it be replaced with, cast iron
or plastic, and what should I expect to pay for this? How big of a
hole needs to be cut into the basement floor?

Thanks,
Fish

Something similar happened to me a few years ago, although (a) it was
the upper part of the cast iron stack that was most affected, and (b)
it was 75 years old. However, yes it was rusted out from the inside
and basically it was time to replace the stack. I sprung to have new
cast iron put in up to the level of the highest fixture (pvc above
that) for the soundproofing issue. Basically, so if the toilet was
flushed or tub drained upstairs, it wasn't obtrusively obvious
downstairs. In my opinion the difference between iron and pvc is
significant in that regard. My advice would be:

1. Do some more diagnosis. Where is it leaking from? Could be a bad
joint, or might even be condensation. It's actually a little young to
be corroded through. Try to find the highest point that is wet. Poke
it with something -- can you poke a hole in the pipe? If the pipe is
sound but there's a bad joint you might be able to solve it with caulk
or epoxy or something.

2. If the pipe is indeed bad, consider using cast iron for the above
mentioned reason. On the other hand if it's a one story house and the
basement is unfinished then soundproofing might not be a big issue.
We got wildly varying estimates from plumbers for doing the cast iron
-- but found someone to do it for a perfectly reasonable price in the
end.

-- H