"dpb" wrote in message ...
Kevin wrote:
You know the real answer, of course, already...

Yeah.....
...
But, my next question would be the whole replace with PVC or cast iron
again. I know this has come up before though, so I won't even bother
asking it....

Slick! I like it...

In general, it's far simpler and cheaper to replace waste lines w/ plastic
instead of cast.

If you can find a location upstream of this bad section that is still in
pretty good shape, making the transition would be relatively simple w/ a
Fernco or other coupling.

Much of the upstream pipe has already been converted to plastic (or is still
the old lead stuff). When I remodel the master bathroom, I'll end up
replacing the rest with PVC, which would leave only the main vertical stack
to content with (mind you the master bath is a few years off, and I'd prefer
to take care of the rest well before then).


The question is where the drain goes after the floor and what it will take
to do it that likely really will need looking after sooner rather than
later.

One presumes given the description and problems, this is a fairly old,
probably original, installation...

The case iron is most certainly original. What gets me is that I've heard
quotes of up to 100 years life for the stuff (probably in this newsgroup),
yet mine is already failing (*already* is relative, mind you). Of course,
I'm sure the previous owners did nothing to help the situation.

The drain pipe actually exits the house about a foot off the basement floor
(and leads to a septic tank). I could conceivably dig down far enough on
the outside to find it. Since the a large portion of the basement
foundation is exposed on that side, I may only have to go down a couple
feet. While I don't like the prospect of having to repair that, it's not
totally out of the question. Could be a good project for a hot midwest
summer afternoon.....



Good luck. You may be able to limp along for a while yet, but probably
best to be planning on the replacement before too long.

--


Cheers!
Kevin