JoeJeffey
Sep 16, 2008, 08:08 PM
Our house was built in 1925 -- cast iron waste pipe and stack going to roof. Last several years, we've had a problem with sewer smell. Removed sections of several walls, found almost the stack joints seem to be leaking -- smell, but no liquid, ever. The lead seal is pushed up and separated from the pipe itself. We've been caulking the joints with exterior latex caulk -- lots of it -- on top of the joints. Seems to work-- no more smells. BUT: will the stuff under the metal -- the oakum -- swell up and push the new caulk out, thus making it leak again? Or has the oakum swelled as much as it's going to, and so the slathering of caulk on top of the joints a fairly permanent solution? How does old oakum behave?