Hi All!
I live in a home built in 1922. I think it has seen a lot of tender loving DIY projects over the years, including a cement patch job to the base of the cast iron waste stack. I know the patch has worked well for at least 6 years, as I have had no problem until a few days ago, when the water from the toilet (all of it from the bowl) came up from the bottom of the stack. I thought I had a clog, called the roto rooter guy, but everything was clear from front to back in my house, all the way to the manhole cover in the street. Upon further inspection, the roto rooter guy told me that there was a crack in the flange that is just above the floor and to repair it would include jackhammering the floor, digging down about a foot, and cutting off the stack above and below the basement floor. It's an unfinished basement and you can see the pipe easily, so I did some testing on my own. I can run water from any sink in the house, run the dishwasher, take a shower, anything, EXCEPT flush the toilet. When flushing the toilet, there is no water on the outside of the pipe, just from the base. I needed a quick fix, so (don't shoot me) I bought some Quickrete Hydraulic Water Stop Cement and mounded it up around the flange and the base of the pipe. This did the trick (for now). Did I create more problems for myself in doing so?

Thanks!
Lisa

Did he give you a CD with the video? He should.
Did you take a picture of the flange before you covered it?

I'm not a plumber and am a woman and I have been yelled at before by the plumbers here, so all I'll say is that I think you'll be OK until the quickcrete shrinks away and the crack expands from rust, both of which are inevitable!

I would get the video and get some estimates and plan it for next summer. Just shoot me too.

Hello Lisa,

Your temporary patch will not last for too long. Eventually, you will have to do what was suggested to you by the attending plumber. House is over 90 years old and so is the cast iron pipe. Get few estimates, ask lots of questions. Select the middle one and have the pipe replaced. It is less expensive to plan the replacement than to deal with with it when it becomes an emergency.

Hope that helps

Milo

First, nobody here yells at Joy. We may correct her at times by nobody yells at her. She is a lady and we love her.

Joy,
fosconlk1 said the roto rooter man ran a snake down the line, didn't say he ran a camera down it. As I understand it he saw the crack at the floor line.

fosconlk1
I agree with Milo that you will have to replace the pipe eventually but your fix didn't make anything worse and may work for a while.

I did the same thing for a friend, 10 years later he still isn't complaining. The pipe will fail eventually and not at a god time. Get some estimates to replace with PVC, it will last your lifetime