How to break a cast iron fitting?

Unknown

Use the new mini sawall with diamond edge blade. Did a job recently and save opening more wall and removing studs.

Al Hendrickson_42

I am in the midst of trying to remove a leaky section of 4" cast iron soil stack in my old house. There is one sanitary tee that is in a spot that I can't hit with a hammer, or extract in one piece without taking up an entire hardwood floor. Once its out, replacing it with PVC won't be problem, because the plastic fittings are enough smaller to maneuver in the space, and won't have remnants of pipes sticking out of them. How can I break this up to get it out?

I'm thinking maybe I could borrow a hydraulic porta-power unit and lower a small 10 ton ram into the fitting to jack it apart. Does this make sense?

Anybody have any great experience to share?

Thanks in advance!

Al

lee_7

Is it possible to get a demo hammer into space?

bob young

replace with iron if possible.

YOU might have to go to floor below & cut open a pocket in wall & snap stack. . then add dutchman piece & new fitting. why not replace with no-hub cast iron. with plastic it will sound like niagra falls every time you flush the closet. and you will not destroy integrity of existing system with mish-mash amatuer job.

bob young

replace with iron if possible.

YOU might have to go to floor below & cut open a pocket in wall & snap stack. . then add dutchman piece & new fitting. why not replace with no-hub cast iron. with plastic it will sound like niagra falls every time you flush the closet. and you will not destroy integrity of existing system with mish-mash amatuer job.

Al Hendrickson_43

It's already mostly plastic.

I did cut a hole in the wall in the floor below, and opened up as much of one wall and floor as I could on the second floor. The previous owner had everything in the basement and first floor up to about 7 feet up on the first floor replaced with PVC already and grafted to this original piece of iron with a Fernco. The plumber obviously didn't want to tackle this little gem including a sanitary tee, a closet flange and a street el right at the juncture of the first and second floors and two offset walls. I have a hardwood floor above and kitchen soffits below, and now the last remaining 3' of 100 year old cast iron left in the house is rusted through and is dripping. I don't care if it gets noisy. I just want it fixed. No-hub iron would be ok, but I don't think anybody could reach in to tighten the copuplings . . . but PVC could be glued up right where it is.

Now . . . how to break and remove that leaky fitting . . .

Al Hendrickson_43

I could probably reach it with an automotive air chisel . . . and could free it up somewhat with a chain snap cutter.

bob young

use a torch & burn out joint.

KevinCorr

grinder

Can you reach it with a grinder?

kpc_75

that would...

be my vote. An angle grinder w/ a cutoff wheel.

George J.

What state are you in?

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seabee570

fitting

get a long star bit 18 inches or longer,if you can fit it,try and brace behind fitting with smmall blocks of wood or brick,or patio stone and use a hammer to hit it.you only need an inch or so opening

Alan Hendrickson_3

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies!

I think I'll try a long star drill, or maybe weld an extension shaft on a cold chisel and try to break it up. I could get in there with a small angle grinder too, to notch it a bit before I try to split it.

Or maybe a Hilti hammer drill might do the trick with the right bit.

I think I'm going to hire a plumber friend to do the actual replacement part, and maybe to run some new copper water lines up to the second floor while the wall is open, but I'd like to have most of the grunt work and cleanup done before he gets here. I'm pretty good at grunt work.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Be Careful Al

too much vibration or shaking of the stack could damage some of the other old pipes.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

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seabee570

fitting

get a long star bit 18 inches or longer,if you can fit it,try and brace behind fitting with smmall blocks of wood or brick,or patio stone and use a hammer to hit it.you only need an inch or so opening

Alan Hendrickson_4

OK

Thanks! I plan use a snap (chain) cutter to cut loose the part that needs removal before I start wailing on it. In fact, there is about a foot of iron pipe above and below it that I'll take out. Plus I plan to support the stack above it with a steel hanger fastened to the joists . . . just to make sure it doesn't come crashing down.

Alan Hendrickson_4

Me? I'm in Wisconsin.

Al hendrickson_44

All Done, thanks!

Thanks again for all the advice!

I opened up a couple of walls and made up a riser clamp from a steel bar and a big U-bolt and supported the upper part of the stack. On Friday, the plumber/friend came over. I'm an engineer who grew up working in an industrial maintenance machine shop, so I'm fairly handy, and the plumber is still just a one-man shop, so he didn't mind having an extra set of hands.

We used a Sawzall, and a variety of hammers, long chisels, and pry bars to break the cast iron into small enough chunks to extract between the joists. What finally did the trick was that I drilled a 1" hole through the floor in a place that the toilet would cover afterward, and used it to insert a chisel and chop off the branch of a tee. The whole job, including replacing everything with PVC took just under three hours . . . but the plumber is 20 years my junior and doesn't need to take as many breaks as I do. (His day will come.)