Do-over; Cast Iron Stack And Copper DWV Replacement

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

WereOutThere

Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Location
,
I’m looking at the big picture here, how to hire the right tradesman. I’m not lookng for a low bid, I can pay the prevailing wage to do this job the best way, not the fastest or easiest way to optimize profit.

Sorry this is a small book, but hang with me and you’ll understand my question. I’ll keep this as concise as I can!

I tossed the balance of my 401k into a down payment to get into my house during the 2009 Crash, my house is my retirement. I’m acting as a general, subbing out work on my house thats out of my league.

I’ve worked in pre-construction management, gotten lots of bids for projects, I know how the trades work; time is money, good labor is expensive, the least experienced journeyman that gets the job though inspections is good enough, and I’ve seen my share of horror stories.

My DWV is cast Iron and 2” copper (more typical in Comm Const nowadays). I want to keep it that way. I’m not looking for a low bids!

Unfortunately the last owner of my house who did a bathroom update in the 90’s got the lowest common denominator that butchered my Cast Iron Stack and framing to schweck in some copper and PVC, that resulted in some settling along a bearing wall.

Time for a do-over! I’m shoring to fix the framing.

How do I find a master plumber with the experience and patience to replace the Cast Iron stack Onder the house and the 2” Copper laterals in my DWV?

The Comm Plumbing Co’s won’t even come out to price residential...

What Trade Associations can I look at that’s likely to have member lists I can use to find a qualified plumber?

What questions do I ask a potential plumber to make sure I get what I’m willing to pay for!

Help appreciated!
 
PHCC is a decent organization for reputable but is corporate in style.
The biggest problem currently is that most service oriented companies are using the "Pricing book" method to extract a profitable business model, which is great for owners in order to create a business model that can be sold some day but isn't nice for homeowners.
I would look on Yelp (scroll to the not-paid lists below the featured), or join free Nextdoor for your area and search in the white search bar.
One and two person company is what I would recommend, like I was.
Not corporate.
Also, there is nothing wrong with PVC/ABS properly installed. Don't get me wrong, we did way more commercial and no hub than most residential plumbers I know, and on most multi-story residential, we use c.i. drains and ABS vents. Where are you located?
 
PHCC is a decent organization for reputable but is corporate in style.
The biggest problem currently is that most service oriented companies are using the "Pricing book" method to extract a profitable business model, which is great for owners in order to create a business model that can be sold some day but isn't nice for homeowners.
I would look on Yelp (scroll to the not-paid lists below the featured), or join free Nextdoor for your area and search in the white search bar.
One and two person company is what I would recommend, like I was.
Not corporate.
Also, there is nothing wrong with PVC/ABS properly installed. Don't get me wrong, we did way more commercial and no hub than most residential plumbers I know, and on most multi-story residential, we use c.i. drains and ABS vents. Where are you located?

Thx for the reply,

Northern CA, Marin County, San Rafael, 94901...
 
PHCC is a decent organization for reputable but is corporate in style.
The biggest problem currently is that most service oriented companies are using the "Pricing book" method to extract a profitable business model, which is great for owners in order to create a business model that can be sold some day but isn't nice for homeowners.
I would look on Yelp (scroll to the not-paid lists below the featured), or join free Nextdoor for your area and search in the white search bar.
One and two person company is what I would recommend, like I was.
Not corporate.
Also, there is nothing wrong with PVC/ABS properly installed. Don't get me wrong, we did way more commercial and no hub than most residential plumbers I know, and on most multi-story residential, we use c.i. drains and ABS vents. Where are you located?

I’d rather take my stack down to the joint at the bottom, get the lateral Lined or Burst for good measure then use a gasket instead of a no Hub. I want to retain a cast Iron toilet flange!
 
As far as I have seen, the insert gaskets are designed for the heavy duty modern hubs and not compatible with old hubs, which had various o.d.
Either cut just above the old hub, clean/cut it out and use a new piece of a heavy duty no hub coupling transition or re-pour the lead joint with a no hub pipe stubbed out.
BTW, the stainless steel ABS closet flanges are far better than cast iron and nothing to be hesitant about.
I have had old cast iron closet flanges snap more than two dozen times over 42 years.
Come on over to borrow my lead, ladle and caulking tools. 94549
 
As far as I have seen, the insert gaskets are designed for the heavy duty modern hubs and not compatible with old hubs, which had various o.d.
Either cut just above the old hub, clean/cut it out and use a new piece of a heavy duty no hub coupling transition or re-pour the lead joint with a no hub pipe stubbed out.
BTW, the stainless steel ABS closet flanges are far better than cast iron and nothing to be hesitant about.
I have had old cast iron closet flanges snap more than two dozen times over 42 years.
Come on over to borrow my lead, ladle and caulking tools. 94549

Great info on the SS Toilet Flange! I'll be researching that... How are SS Toilet Flanges joined with existing plumbing, are they only made for PVC, or are they also made for Cast Iron DWV?

I've got some preliminary demo I can do to give the Plumber a clean slat to start with. I'm also going to build a scaffold under the house against the hill so the Plumber has something to work off to rebuild the stack and laterals about 18 Ft in the Air.

I've found that sometimes if I do the dirty work, demo, and expose contractors are more confident in bidding it. I think I'll probably drill the lead out at the bottom stack flange and pull it, leave the plumber with a blank slate to work from.

I'll do some research to understand the inner flange Dia of my existing cast Iron, so I understand more about the the options avail... to tie in continue up the stack up to the laterals.

I've used No-hub connector a few times, just think I'm able and willing to pay for a more permanent repair than that.

I don't know exactly how this will go yet, hopefully I'll find an old school Master Plumber you can pick it up and go... I it doesn't turn out to be that simple, and I find a new flange will make tying in a new Stack, I may take you up on borrowing your tools.

I appreciate you having this conversation with me!

onward and upward!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top