# Cajun's Cast Iron Sewer Repair



## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Here's a cast iron stack we took out and rebuilt after tying into 6" clay pipe about 3 feet below grade - all under a house on piers with about 24 inches of crawl space. Digging up a sewer line in a tight space is tough.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Cajunhiker said:


> Here's a cast iron stack we took out and rebuilt after tying into 6" clay pipe about 3 feet below grade - all under a house on piers with about 24 inches of crawl space. Digging up a sewer line in a tight space is tough.


 Did you REDUCED the size of the sewer pipe??? My late father would slap me back of the head for doing that..


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

No. Moved toilet across the house and had another tie in. What you see here is tying in 2" k/s drain to the 6" sewer line,


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

Cajunhiker said:


> No. Moved toilet across the house and had another tie in. What you see here is tying in 2" k/s drain to the 6" sewer line,


 So its a dead 6" clay drain going into the 4" pvc tee??


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

rjbphd said:


> So its a dead 6" clay drain going into the 4" pvc tee??


No comprende'???? 
See pic again. 2 inch pipe goes into 3 inch pipe that goes into 6 inch pipe


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## Ptturner91 (Oct 13, 2012)

Cajunhiker said:


> No comprende'???? See pic again. 2 inch pipe goes into 3 inch pipe that goes into 6 inch pipe


 The pipe going into the wye you have reduced then increase again

Or does it just look reduced with the fernco from going from clay to pvc ?


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## BC73RS (Jan 25, 2014)

Is it maybe that a 6"clay x 6 "PVC Fernco looks like its reducing? Where as it's actually not. Clay has larger O.D.


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Ptturner91 said:


> The pipe going into the wye you have reduced then increase again Or does it just look reduced with the fernco from going from clay to pvc ?


Yes, you are correct. The OD on clay pipe is larger than the OD on PVC, thus the fernco is a clay pipe to PVC fernco, specifically made for a clay pipe to PVC transition


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## Leach713 (Nov 1, 2013)

I would hate to run a snake in that kitchen line with all does bushings , I would used bell reducers


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

BC73RS said:


> Is it maybe that a 6"clay x 6 "PVC Fernco looks like its reducing? Where as it's actually not. Clay has larger O.D.


Inside 4" dia is still smaller than 6" clay pipe!!


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Leach713 said:


> I would hate to run a snake in that kitchen line with all does bushings , I would used bell reducers


Good idea


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## BC73RS (Jan 25, 2014)

rjbphd said:


> Inside 4" dia is still smaller than 6" clay pipe!!


 Not talking about 4" at all just a 6" transition Fernco is all.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

rjbphd said:


> Inside 4" dia is still smaller than 6" clay pipe!!


RJ, its a 6"clay to 6" PVC fernco which is perfectly legit! If you're going to bust his balls then bust them over using a short sweep 2" 90º. Looks good aside from that, Cajunhiker. But really its semantics. It will still drain fine.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

Best Darn Sewer said:


> RJ, its a 6"clay to 6" PVC fernco which is perfectly legit! If you're going to bust his balls then bust them over using a short sweep 2" 90º. Looks good aside from that, Cajunhiker. But really its semantics. It will still drain fine.


Looks like a 3" 90deg to me.

Also looks like damn fine job.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

plbgbiz said:


> Looks like a 3" 90deg to me.
> 
> Also looks like damn fine job.


Ah yes, you are correct. Sometimes pipe size I hard to determine on photos. Never mind then what I said.


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Nothing wrong with what he posted at all. Nothing wrong with that 3" 90 either in a horizontal to vertical. Perfectly legal.

What is the combo catching?


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

Good job.


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## Leach713 (Nov 1, 2013)

Will said:


> Nothing wrong with what he posted at all. Nothing wrong with that 3" 90 either in a horizontal to vertical. Perfectly legal. What is the combo catching?


You cant use a regular 90 in a horizontal position unless is a long sweep or serving a single fixture drain


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## wyrickmech (Mar 16, 2013)

Leach713 said:


> You cant use a regular 90 in a horizontal position unless is a long sweep or serving a single fixture drain


t it's going from horizontal to vertical. That is legal


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## Will (Jun 6, 2010)

Leach713 said:


> You cant use a regular 90 in a horizontal position unless is a long sweep or serving a single fixture drain


 Nope, sorry but your wrong there. Ok in horizontal to vertical. Atleast under IPC it is


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## Leach713 (Nov 1, 2013)

Will said:


> Nope, sorry but your wrong there. Ok in horizontal to vertical. Atleast under IPC it is


My fault I seem to misread 
And yes a reg 90 from horizontal to vertical is perfectly legal


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## AKdaplumba (Jan 12, 2010)

Could you not just use a 4x2 wye instead of reducing slong the way?


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Bushing were always a no no on waste pipe. Or so I thought. I doubt it was inspected


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## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

Looks like a 4" wye to me. That's not a 6x2 bushing in the top of that 45 is it? Also, Christies Red hot glue????


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

I've seen plumbing that was 10 times worse than this, its legal .


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Anything could be legal since plumbing is theory in practice. Whatever works I suppose


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

arie stratus said:


> Anything could be legal since plumbing is theory in practice. Whatever works I suppose


Wrong , not just anything is legal , there is a code we adhere to. Yes that code is bare minimum, but it doesn't mean ANYTHING goes. You're from Dallas make that same statement to Dianne Villarreal in Dallas and see what she tells you.


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

I don't know who Diane is but in the Arts District here in Dallas I am God


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Oh looked her up she is a government employee like me. Lol


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

arie stratus said:


> I don't know who Diane is but in the Arts District here in Dallas I am God


Your god in Dallas Tx and didn't know who the Chief plumbing inspector in Dallas is, I'm not impressed.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

arie stratus said:


> ....in the Arts District here in Dallas I am God


:laughing: :jester:


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

I meant I am God of the Arts District I don't answer to her. She has no authority over me. Laws and plumbing code are made by humans and they are always changing. That's why they come out with a new code book Evey three years and half the states rip half the pages off. The state of Indiana still use the 97 code. Talk about no change or progress


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

How do you clean that section of 6" when it finally clogs full of grease?


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## tim666 (Mar 11, 2014)

Everybody seems to know more than everyone else on this forum


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

tim666 said:


> Everybody seems to know more than everyone else on this forum


Welcome to the Plumbing Zone where anyone with access to a computer is a plumbing guru.


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## dclarke (Dec 22, 2012)

Overall it looks fine to me. Blue glue doesn't meet code for us but in service I've sure used it. You can stick 100 of us in an identical situation and we would come up with 100 different ways to do the exact same thing. We all have different codes so take constructive criticism and ignore the negativity. Keep up the good work.


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

The bushings are not legal but than again your jurisdiction might allow it.


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Thanks for the comments. It was inspected and passed. Thanks again for the feedback.


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## gdplmr (Apr 17, 2014)

I would have installed a test tee at the tie in for testing or cleaning, but nice job for what you had to work with.


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## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> How do you clean that section of 6" when it finally clogs full of grease?


A 6" drain line on a residential house is going to fill up with grease? 

Let the sewer jockey from 10 generations in the future figure it out. :laughing:

Repair looks fine to me. digging in a crawl space is no fun.


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Rando said:


> A 6" drain line on a residential house is going to fill up with grease?.


Yes. And then it will all have to be done over again


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## fhrooter72 (Apr 12, 2011)

BC73RS said:


> Is it maybe that a 6"clay x 6 "PVC Fernco looks like its reducing? Where as it's actually not. Clay has larger O.D.


I had an inspector fail me because he thought I reduced the sewer when it was a clay-PVC fernco. I had to take pics and send to his supervisor in order to get it passed.


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Unclog1776 said:


> Yes. And then it will all have to be done over again


How do you figure a 6 " waste pipe will fill up with grease? In a house?


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

fhrooter72 said:


> I had an inspector fail me because he thought I reduced the sewer when it was a clay-PVC fernco. I had to take pics and send to his supervisor in order to get it passed.


Inspectors can such tools


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

arie stratus said:


> Inspectors can such tools


Can be


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## fhrooter72 (Apr 12, 2011)

tim666 said:


> Everybody seems to know more than everyone else on this forum


I've noticed that. I've always said that you could get 10 plumbers to do the same job and it will get done ten different ways. Each one will be exactly right and all the others will be wrong.:laughing:


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

fhrooter72 said:


> I've noticed that. I've always said that you could get 10 plumbers to do the same job and it will get done ten different ways. Each one will be exactly right and all the others will be wrong.:laughing:


My way is the right way.😀


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

arie stratus said:


> How do you figure a 6 " waste pipe will fill up with grease? In a house?


Because I see it every week


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

arie stratus said:


> Inspectors can such tools


 Yep... and we got a newbie here wanna be one..


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

rjbphd said:


> Yep... and we got a newbie here wanna be one..


Yes


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

arie stratus said:


> How do you figure a 6 " waste pipe will fill up with grease? In a house?


It takes about 3-5 years but Unclog1776 is right. There isn't enough volume to properly carry the water and grease or food particulates down the line. An oversized pipe can be just as bad as an undersized one. It has to do with line carry.


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Best Darn Sewer said:


> It takes about 3-5 years but Unclog1776 is right. There isn't enough volume to properly carry the water and grease or food particulates down the line. An oversized pipe can be just as bad as an undersized one. It has to do with line carry.


As a long as it has the proper fall I would think it would be good enough. But a clean out should be placed outside the house foo sho. I can see grease ball building up right at the throat of that combo. No doubt.


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

If tg


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## Best Darn Sewer (Dec 23, 2012)

arie stratus said:


> As a long as it has the proper fall I would think it would be good enough. But a clean out should be placed outside the house foo sho. I can see grease ball building up right at the throat of that combo. No doubt.


I will preface what i am saying with the fact that I don't think Cajun Hiker did anything wrong with his work. His work is fine in my opinion. You gotta work with what you got. 

But, the reason grease builds up isn't due to improper slope. Even at a 1/4"PF of slope on a 6" line a fixture with a DFU rating of 2 like a kitchen sink doesn't produce enough volume of water for a 6" line to fill up enough to carry the food particulates and grease that comes with it. It sticks to the side walls and forms like layers of ice over time. As I am sure you know a sewer line is designed to be self-scouring and that is done by the water level height filling roughly a third of the horizontal pipe under flow conditions. That is impossible if a line will never have enough volume to do that. Over enough time and depending on use it will jam up with grease completely. I have seen plenty of 3" or 4" drains picking up island sinks loaded with grease after 5 years of use for the reasons stated. A 6" line may take longer to do so but the point is the same. The line has to be jetted to clear it out.


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## plumbdrum (Nov 30, 2013)

rjbphd said:


> Yep... and we got a newbie here wanna be one..


I still have tools

Sent from my iPhone using PlumbingZone


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## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> Because I see it every week


Take some pics of the one this week I would like to see that.


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Rando said:


> Take some pics of the one this week I would like to see that.


Ill do my best to get you a screen shot this week. The fact remains you still made a 6" line inaccessible to anything that will full clean it. What if it fills up with roots?


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Rando said:


> Take some pics of the one this week I would like to see that.


Ill do my best to get you a screen shot this week. The fact remains you still made a 6" line inaccessible to anything that will full clean it. What if it fills up with roots?


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## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> Ill do my best to get you a screen shot this week. The fact remains you still made a 6" line inaccessible to anything that will full clean it. What if it fills up with roots?



Take off a toilet or cut install a clean out? :laughing:


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Rando said:


> Take off a toilet or cut install a clean out? :laughing:


And what toilet would be running down that two inch line?


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## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> And what toilet would be running down that two inch line?


 
Holy **** you just aren't going to let this go are ya. 
You were concerned about grease build up in the 6" line not the 2" line. 
Find a spot up stream from the PVC repair like a toilet, take the toilet off and stick the cable in or cut in a clean out somewhere in the clay or find another spot above grade to cut in a clean out farther up from the PVC you're so worried about. Or call a Plumber and let him show you what to do. Fawk me.


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## Unclog1776 (Feb 5, 2013)

Seems like a lot of work when you had a chance to add a 6" clean out. How do you know there is a stool upstream from there anyways?


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## Leach713 (Nov 1, 2013)

Unclog1776 said:


> Seems like a lot of work when you had a chance to add a 6" clean out. How do you know there is a stool upstream from there anyways?


Can't you go inside the home and remove the p trap from a kitchen to run a snake??


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Unclog1776 said:


> And what toilet would be running down that two inch line?


According to your theory the six inch line would clog with grease. So he is saying take out the toilet and run your machine.


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## arie stratus (Apr 14, 2014)

Leach713 said:


> Can't you go inside the home and remove the p trap from a kitchen to run a snake??


Yup and hopefully those darn bushings won't give the drain cleaner hell


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## Leach713 (Nov 1, 2013)

arie stratus said:


> Yup and hopefully those darn bushings won't give the drain cleaner hell


Well not if you know your machine and bits.


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## Cajunhiker (Dec 14, 2009)

Just an FYI, 4-inch accessible CO upstream connected to 6" sewer line, and 2" CO on outside wall of K/S. The pics show 2" K/S drain and a 2" combo catching a washing machine drain and then catching the 6" clay sewer. Real point if pics is to show difficulty of digging under a house in piers w about 24 inches of crawl space.


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## Leach713 (Nov 1, 2013)

Cajunhiker said:


> Just an FYI, 4-inch accessible CO upstream connected to 6" sewer line, and 2" CO on outside wall of K/S. The pics show 2" K/S drain and a 2" combo catching a washing machine drain and then catching the 6" clay sewer. Real point if pics is to show difficulty of digging under a house in piers w about 24 inches of crawl space.


I remember doing some pier and beam homes my jman would of help me dig anaccess hole big enough for me to fit under than let me do the plumbing .
Some times we dug enough for two to get under there , also we dug like a tunnel job that would help us do the work easier , instead of crawling on our belly will would sit Indian style since we dug for comfortable position


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## Rando (Dec 31, 2012)

Unclog1776 said:


> Seems like a lot of work when you had a chance to add a 6" clean out. How do you know there is a stool upstream from there anyways?


Wow :laughing:


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