Misaligned drain pipe cutting off drainage.

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

Thanks for your assistance!

I have a 4 ince cast iron main drain that runs beneath my concreat slab foundation. At the midpoint there is a missaligned pipe whic cuts the 4 inch opening down to a 2 inch oval. My house was built in 1978 so the pipes are 24 years old. What are my choices for fixing this?

My fear is that the cast iron will be too far gone for a replacement section to correct the problem. The plumbing camera-men who found the problem said I would be a candidate for a pipe splitting procedure to install a new main drain.

Cost would be $12,000 (US). This house is barely worth that much. Anyone have a better idea?

Thanks again!

Jeff

[journeymanParticipant]

Jeff,
It is not unusual for cast iron pipe to shift outside the foundation, but it seems a little strange that occured inside the house.
Perhaps you have some unstable soil beneath your basement. In any case, it won’t hurt to jack-hammer the area where the suspected problem is.
If the pipe is shifted or damaged in any way, ask your plumber to show you the damage. An easy repair can be made by simply cutting a section of the cast pipe out and reinserting another piece using a double hub fitting which is allowed for repair in most areas that require hard pipe within a building foundation.
As for the cost, it is “considerably less” than replacing an entire house drain.

[SylvanLMPParticipant]

Hi Jeff, I think to install spigot and hub Cast Iron one would need at least 4 joints to fit it in properly and we both know facing a hub down stream is illegal (except for possibly vents)

I would ask the video inspector to use the locator feature on the better camera’s to pin point the exact misalignment and then it may be a great Idea to check the local codes as many areas do allow No Hub piping with either NH couplings or MJ connections either of which will last many, many years.

[journeymanParticipant]

Two sixteenth bends to accomadate the direction change, a double hub fitting and a section of service weight which is allowed underground and not for venting as is no-hub equals four fittings and passes inspection in a city that still requires service weight cast iron underground and no banded couplings inside a building foundation and not within teen feet of the outside wall.

[racefanoneParticipant]

A cast iron sission joint would work.

[SylvanLMPParticipant]

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In reply to message posted by racefanone:
A cast iron sission joint would work.

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And a Kaffer fitting, BUT I think we are talking legal here

They do make a No hub couplimg for Extra Heavy Cast Iron as I use it all the time in the installation of cast Iron roof drains where a caulked joint is not practicable.

Most codes will allow an MJ (Mechanical Joint) much like a Vitriolic coupling.

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