Old Sewer Pipe - Replace?
Mid-way through our renovations, we discovered a hole and a crack in a section of 4″ cast iron sewer pipe under our garden unit (we have no basement), while trying to improve our backyard drain. Alex Figliolia did a video inspection of the entire 36 feet of pipe. While there were no more apparent cracks…
Mid-way through our renovations, we discovered a hole and a crack in a section of 4″ cast iron sewer pipe under our garden unit (we have no basement), while trying to improve our backyard drain. Alex Figliolia did a video inspection of the entire 36 feet of pipe. While there were no more apparent cracks in the rest of the pipe, it is full of rust and has some standing water (partially back-pitched). The plumber who did the inspection thought the whole thing needs to be replaced – their quote is $5800. Our contractor will do it for 10K and restore everything. He also says (1) the plumber would often damage other parts of the home like walls and flooring in trying to get the job done quickly, and restoring everything to its original state could cost another $6000, and (2) they may find other problems while working and we could end up paying far more than their quote (An estimater from Figliolia mentioned they would inspect the line outside the house leading to the city sewer “for free.”).
Naturally the cheaper option appeals to us, but are these valid concerns? Has anyone used Fagliolia or other plumbers for this type of job, and had damage caused by plumbing work? And do they often create more work for themselves?
The other big question is we’re not even sure if this needs to be done. Pipe looks old and clogged, but we’ve never seen the inside of an old sewer pipe. If there are any plumbers out there willing to take a look at this pipe, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lta0Dy748hY
(The said crack seen at 13 – 15 seconds into it, top right corner of screen. This is after our contractor used a snake to clean it out.)
This new problem comes right after a couple of hiccups including flooding on Saturday 13th. We’re running out of money, and having a difficult time deciding what to do — just patch up the pipe and bury it, pretend we never saw it, or spend addional 6 – 10K and have peace of mind. So hearing from anyone who’s gone through a similar situation would be much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Fixed costs are $10 per linear foot (10ft of 4 inch is $70, plus a $7 flange, tax and travel to the supply store). So for a 40ft run you would pay a minimum of $400. With concrete involved you not only have a large labor cost but have to factor in debris disposal as well. Finally, it is absolutely honest for them to warn you about other potential problems. Somewhere you have a 90 degree elbow connecting the floor drain to a vertical drain. When replacing that elbow you can easily break the end of the vertical and you will have to break open the wall to get everything in order. While working on the elbow the vertical pipe might slide down and something above it could break as well. These aren’t scare tactics – once you start touching old plumbing (lets say 50 years or older), the best choice is really to just replace everything. With that said, it sounds like you are short on cash, so just patch it, put cheap flooring on top, and save up for a full plumbing and wall repair fiasco in 3 to 5 years.
gents, sorry after thinking about it, I want to take my statements back. Obviously from previous post you can see, that it were very “favorable” for me conditions and they cannot be compared to job which include delivery of materials, cutting pipes on both sides, removing 4″ pipe and restoring all everything to the original state. Also in my case this job was not filed since there was already permit for the sink moving part.
Finally after digging the tranche in my basement I can report that this is hard job and your plumber will earn every penny by doing it.
AlexSPK:
This pipe servers two kitchens, basement laundry/sink and rainwater from the back of the house. The plumber showed me the kitchen 2″ pipe and it has solid fat covering most of the inside of the pipe. I know, it worked for literally 100 years, but I was to put new concrete floor there any way and could use the opportunity.
He already had pipe and tools at place. He had to put fitting on one side to connect sink anyway.
And I guess he likes me a lot 🙂
BJ: Why on earth would you need a 4″ pipe for any sink in a residential setting? Even huge three-compartment sinks in restauarants don’t need anything larger than 3″. $200 to replace a 10′ section of cast iron sounds idiot-cheap or 1980 pricing. The pipe and two couplings will be around $90. Then you have to deliver it, cut out the old, install new.. for $110? I understand that you full exposed the old pipe, but still…
Thanks everyone for your valuable comments.
We’ve talked to the master plumber at Aladdin and he seemed to think we may not need the full replacement if it has been working.. We’ll talk to him again and see if we can get away with just replacing the cracked section.
We don’t yet have flooring on this floor, but they would need to partially remove plywood subfloor and break concrete to dig a channel if replacing the whole pipe (I think pipe’s about 1-2′ under ground). I think our GC’s concern is also about other parts of the house, like walls that they’ve already worked on.
bobjohn, do your numbers ($200 for 10′) include both labor and materials?
Our GC may not use a licensed plumber but a plumber that he always works with (They have done great work so far). It would probably cost us more if we request that he go with a licensed plumber. Is this a bad sign?
Excuse my ignorance, but do we still need a licensed plumber if we’re not filing the job? What if we opt to patch it up or replace just the section with the crack?
Thanks again.
sounds high. How will they access the pipe? Do they need to break floor? how will they repair it?
I had plumber another day moving sink in the basement and he pointed out that I had 2″ pipe from sink to the main stack (~10′). The pipe was 2′ under ground. I gigged it out myself and he changed 10′ of pipe with 4″ one for $200. From this numbers 36′ of pipe should cost ~$800. But digging is not always fun.
That video is seriously NSFL (not safe for lunch). Especially the cascade of waterbugs/roaches towards the end! Maybe you could finance the work by selling the footage to Dirty Jobs. And no, I didn’t watch all 9 minutes of it. 🙂
I had Aladdin Plumbing replace my main sewer pipe (60ft run through basement)and they did an excellent job. I don’t have the bill in front of me, but it cost somewhere around $3000, and that included all the materials. They did it in a single day. May be more expensive if they have to excavate. Aladdin was the plumber for This Old House brooklyn. very professional and fast.
Subcontractors typically do demolition that then gets repaired by others, since that is not their specialty. Is your GC suggesting they hire a plumber they know or are they suggesting they do the plumbing in house? The work must be done by a licensed plumber. If they are hiring their own subcontractor with whom they have a good working relationship and including repair of all demolition, you may be looking at a good solution. I like to keep a tight reign on my subs, and they in turn look to me for direction so we can get as much work done with the least headaches.
On the other hand putting a patch on a pipe should only take a day.