"RogerT" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote:

Hello again,

sorry if I'm not describing the situation very well. The pipes are
cast iron, according to the plumber, and it is a 1.5" pipe (internal
diameter) that is not fitting very well into it's T-section, but that
is behind a rotten stud (2X4) and I really can't see that part. It
goes up to a vent however, and down to the drain, so I am guessing it
has to be a T-section at that particular spot. The home warranty
people denied the claim until I can give the plumber access to the
troubled spot, and since it's against the outside wall of the house
that's where he wants "access" to be gained. Consequently I am having
to take down steel siding (on the outside wall of the kitchen, next
to the back door) and cut a hole to expose the troubled area,. About
halfway through at his point. Thanks for your interest. Will
definitely update as progress is made.
Take it easy...

Dave

Thanks. That I can picture. I had basically the same situation -- at
least in regard to the vertical cast iron pipe being in the wall behind
the sink, and that being an exterior wall with metal siding and next to a
door. The vertical cast iron pipe in my case was a 4-inch stack that went
down to the drain and up through the roof as a vent. An upstairs bathroom
and toilet also drained into the same 4-inch cast iron stack. Being old
and cast iron, the stack itself had rusted out and was leaking inside the
wall. In your case, the vertical pipe may be 4-inch or maybe 1.5 inches,
depending on what it's function is. If you have a 1.5 inch vertical pipe
(drain and vent), that's easier to work with than the 4-inch pipe. Where
the horizontal pipe goes into the vertical pipe, it is probably leaded
into a "Y" fitting that you can't quite see.

I had two construction-type people who I know doing the work and they did
the whole job. In my case, about 6 or 7 feet of the 4-inch cast iron
stack had to be replaced -- from a point above the sink and behind a wall
cabinet down through the floor with a few fittings to tie into the main
4-inch stack/drain in the basement. So, it was a complicated job that
required carpentry, construction, and plumbing skills.

One of the two guys I used knew how to carefully un-snap and remove the
metal siding pieces between the door and the edge of the house and mark
them and then was able to re-use the same siding and put it back in place.
He knew the terminology -- something about J-channels or something like
that -- and he said there is a special little pry tool that is made for
carefully prying off the old metal siding (although he was able to do
without the tool). I had my doubts about whether taking the old siding
off and re-using it would work, but he was able to do that and the
finished product turned out great. That meant that I didn't have to worry
about trying to match the rest of the siding on the back wall when the
siding went back up.

Like you, the best way to access my job was from the outside. Once the
wall was completely opened up from the outside, they were able to cut out
the bad section of 4-inch cast iron stack and replace it with 4-inch PVC.
They used a rubber fitting, known as a Fernco (brand name) to connect the
4-inch PVC to the 4-inch cast iron. They used an angle grinder to cut off
the old cast iron pipe.

Due to all that was involved, it took the two guys about a day and a half
to do the whole job and get everything back together.

One little caution -- be careful when cutting the hole on the back wall to
see the pipes. By that, I mean to be careful that there are no electric
wires in the wall that may get accidentally cut.


Wow. Sounds like your job was a lot more labor-intensive than I expect mine
to be. The vent and drain pipes are the same size as the horizontal one
that is leaking, and they are all galvanized and threaded (you can see and
feel the threads on all the pipes). I suspect that the plumber said the
horizontal member was cast-iron simply because that's what it looked like,
black and fairly rough from all the built up crud it has on it due to the
leaking in the vacinity. You can clean it off however, and it is
galvanized. And threaded on both ends. So anyway, I've cut away an access
port to the T-section, but there are studs on either side of it, and I
suspect I am going to have to take out some of those too. Seriously, I am
tempted to simply knock a small hole in the livingroom wall that will
accomodate the elbow joint on the "near" end of the horizontal member, and
do the replacement of that pipe myself. Patch up the access port, put the
siding back up, and call it good. What irks me is that we are going to have
to replace the kitchen cabinets and redo the "floating" tile floor in there
as well, due to the mold and water leakage over the past four or five years.
Am tempted to take it up with the contractor, who was rated with the BBB,
but I can't really blame him, it was one of his workers who took a shortcut
and thought it wouldn't matter. And that contractor did us a major favor by
stopping everything in the middle of it all and replacing a center support
beam that ran through the attic from one end of the house to the other
because it was half-rotten from having an air conditioning duct sitting on
top of it and sweating on it for twenty or thirty years, without adding
anything to the bill. So I actually feel I owe him big time. shaking
head

Glad I was finally able to describe it sufficiently for you to picture it.
Just wish there was an easy way out. But again, thanks for the interest and
encouragement. Suspect it'll be downhill from here.

Take it easy...

Dave