I'm working on redesigning my kitchen - 1950's brick ranch with
basement (MI). It appears the previous owners moved the sink from the
east to the south wall of the kitchen. This makes for a very limited
kitchen layout, so I would like to move it back.

There is a 3" drain that was cutoff flush with the basement floor
directly under the old sink location. It was sealed with, as best I
can describe it, "cloth gunk" when I bought the house. I capped it
with an expanding gasket. The gunk would get wet if the drainline
backed up, so this tells me it is still connected under the basement
floor.

The current stack is on the south wall near the existing kitchen sink
and next to the laundry tub in the basement.

I see my best options to move the sink as:

1. Run PVC straight down to the old pipe. Use a Fernco doughnut (or
something similar) to seal 2" pvc to the inside of the 3" cast iron.
2. Run PVC straight down. Break up the floor around the old pipe and
install an external coupling.
3. Run PVC down, turn 90 degrees horizontally (with propery slant)
about 8', turn 90 degrees right, run about 5' to the existing stack and
tie in there.

For all options I would install a Studor vent under the sink.

Option one seems the easiest. Would this work? I would really like to
avoid having to cut into the stack.

Any help is appreciated.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm working on redesigning my kitchen - 1950's brick ranch with
basement (MI). It appears the previous owners moved the sink from the
east to the south wall of the kitchen. This makes for a very limited
kitchen layout, so I would like to move it back.

There is a 3" drain that was cutoff flush with the basement floor
directly under the old sink location. It was sealed with, as best I
can describe it, "cloth gunk" when I bought the house. I capped it
with an expanding gasket. The gunk would get wet if the drainline
backed up, so this tells me it is still connected under the basement
floor.

The current stack is on the south wall near the existing kitchen sink
and next to the laundry tub in the basement.

I see my best options to move the sink as:

1. Run PVC straight down to the old pipe. Use a Fernco doughnut (or
something similar) to seal 2" pvc to the inside of the 3" cast iron.
2. Run PVC straight down. Break up the floor around the old pipe and
install an external coupling.
3. Run PVC down, turn 90 degrees horizontally (with propery slant)
about 8', turn 90 degrees right, run about 5' to the existing stack and
tie in there.

For all options I would install a Studor vent under the sink.

Option one seems the easiest. Would this work? I would really like to
avoid having to cut into the stack.

Any help is appreciated.


I am not aware of any donuts that will work. The 2" one might since the ID
of a 3" pipe is close to the ID size of a 2" hub. There may be other
options I am not aware of at a real plumbing supply house. If you can find a
fit that is just a little oversized you can always trim the rubber a bit to
fit. I have been forced to do this a time or two with untrue sized hubs.

If you have to break away the floor you will only need to go about 2" deep
for a Fernco coupling to work.

I would suggest that before you tackle any of these that you open the pipe
and make sure it can handle a strong flow from a garden hose. It would be a
real pity to find a broken or plugged line After you did all the work.

If you find a solution be sure to post back to the same thread for the
education of myself and others.

Colbyt

Just got home and opened the cap. It was actually just a mixture of
broken pieces of cast iron and sludge. Picked out what I could and
used a shop vac to get some of the gunk. It is taking a medium flow
from a hose now and is draining out through the main cleanout (I had a
fear it was just dumping under the house or something). Poured a
bottle of drano down and will see if it clears more gunk and if there
is more phyical blockage.

Seems like a weird location for a stack - dead center of a basement
window. If I get it flowing good I'll divert around the window with
some elbows.

I'll update again if I find a fitting.

Latest update: It's actually a 4" drain. Drano did not do much. I'll
try digging for more broken iron and snaking tomorrow.

I'm now thinking I could transition from 2" to 4" with PVC, then use
the donut or some rubber gasket. Home depot did not have anything that
looked like it would work. I'll keep searching.

Thanks for the advice. I kind of like the lead/oakum idea - seems like
it would be a little more rigid than a Fernco connector if it gets
bumped. It will be in an exposed traffic area along a wall in the
laundry room.

The other issue I have not fixed is that the main cleanouts were never
leaded in - I can just pick up the cast iron piece without removing the
screw in cap. Probably easier just to cap these with the Ferncos.

Is any special equipment needed to do the leading, or just a torch and
something to melt the lead in? Time for more research.

Should I put in a cleanout too, or is that overkill?

I seem to have found a cheap/easy solution at Lowes. The ID of the
iron pipe is about 3 3/4" Picked up a Fernco 3" to 3" donut, a section
of 3" PVC and a 1 1/2" to 3" PVC wye. Cut about an 8" section of 3"
pipe and put the donut on so about 2" of pipe is below the donut. This
fits VERY tightly into the pipe - maybe too tight. Put the wye above
the donut - the wider bell keeps the donut from sliding up. Managed to
push about 1/4 inch into the iron pipe and gave it a full garden hose
of water - No leaking through the donut (didn't seal the PVC yet).
Disassembled for the moment since I'm not ready to run the rest of the
pipe yet. I'll wire brush the ID of the iron to clean it up and help
push the donut down. Cleanout cap will go in the top of the wye, sink
drain into the side.

The cleanouts are higher than the floor drains, so my sewage problems
back up on the basement floor anyway. I will pick up caps on my next
trip to Lowes. Learned two things several years ago:

1. Never try to snake a sewer line under a maple tree with a 50' flat
blade snake - it can get entwined in tree roots 40' out.
2. You never want to hear your plumber say "backhoe".

wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to have found a cheap/easy solution at Lowes. The ID of the
iron pipe is about 3 3/4" Picked up a Fernco 3" to 3" donut, a section
of 3" PVC and a 1 1/2" to 3" PVC wye. Cut about an 8" section of 3"
pipe and put the donut on so about 2" of pipe is below the donut. This
fits VERY tightly into the pipe - maybe too tight. Put the wye above
the donut - the wider bell keeps the donut from sliding up. Managed to
push about 1/4 inch into the iron pipe and gave it a full garden hose
of water - No leaking through the donut (didn't seal the PVC yet).
Disassembled for the moment since I'm not ready to run the rest of the
pipe yet. I'll wire brush the ID of the iron to clean it up and help
push the donut down. Cleanout cap will go in the top of the wye, sink
drain into the side.

After cleaning lube the pipe and the donut with liquid dish soap. You can
do the same for the pvc. Sometimes this makes all the difference. Do not
substitute petroleum products.


Colbyt

Well it worked. It took a lot of soap, trimming the donut a bit, and a
lot of pounding with a 3 pound sledge, but I got it to seat. Ran some
1 1/2 inch pipe about 5 feet up and no leaks with a full blast garden
hose. Of course I forgot one 45 degree fitting, so it is back to the
store to complete the run to the kitchen.

Thanks for the help.