# cement and oakum joints



## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

Any of you guys ever make any cement and oakum repairs to drain pipe?


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

TheMaster said:


> Any of you guys ever make any cement and oakum repairs to drain pipe?


Discription please...


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## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

TheMaster said:


> Any of you guys ever make any cement and oakum repairs to drain pipe?


I have on clay sewers.


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

slickrick said:


> Discription please...


Just repairs and connections to existing pipe with cement joints. Ever do any of that? I have along time ago. I just wondering who has had experiences with clay pipe and the different repair methods of today and yester year.


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## Plasticman (Oct 14, 2008)

Yes, before they came out with fernco's that was all we had. We even used a cold chisel to cut clay pipe with.


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

We always had chain snap cutters but I was also taught how to cut cast and clay with a cold chisel also. Its good knowledge to have even tho its not used very much if at all.


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## Regulator (Aug 20, 2009)

PC4 only.


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## user4 (Jun 12, 2008)

I always preferred jute to oakum when cementing clay joints, but when they did away with joining water main with lead joints jute got very hard to find unless you were near a shipyard.


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## SlickRick (Sep 3, 2009)

TheMaster said:


> Just repairs and connections to existing pipe with cement joints. Ever do any of that? I have along time ago. I just wondering who has had experiences with clay pipe and the different repair methods of today and yester year.


I started out in a repair shop in University Park in '74 then went to commercial. The guy who owned the mechanical shop was hard core old school. He had me pour lead joints on every joint that turned up, so the concrete guys could not knock them out of plumb. We used white oakum. When I took my journeymans exam, we had to cut cast iron with a chisel and pour a lead joint using brown oakum. I had never seen brown oakum and I grabbed the whole rope. Not knowing to pull it apart. I was whopping and popping to pack that whole thing in there. I heard the one of the examiners say to the other. " do you think we should tell him?" The other said... "Nah" he'll get it".... I did, but if you had hit it with water it would have probably have exploded. I still got a 90 on the exam. It was a couple of years before I realized what they we talking about....:whistling2:


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