I have an old house. There is a 4" cast iron waste pipe that services the bathroom in the middle of the house. It has cracked across the top of the horizontal pipe in the basement right past the joint that connects the vertical to the horizontal. The length of pipe between the collars is about 15 inches. The pipe is good on both sides of this. From this point it is headed straight out to the sewer connection.
The crack is in a section of pipe that is between two of the floor rafters. The next collar on the pipe is immediately over the main support beam. It couldn't be in a more inconvenient spot.
I've had someone in to look at it and his approach is to enter the walls on the first floor to access the vertical pipe so that he can cut the cast iron; then remove sections of pipe down and through the basement and replace it all with pvc.
Does anyone have an idea for a temporary fix until I can schedule this work? The pipe is not under pressure, but when the waste water comes down from the second floor it has enough force that it erupts out the crack in the top of the pipe. I've tried taping it but even with close overlap the water still leaks out.
I was thinking of some sort of rubber(?) wrapping that I could put around the whole length of pipe and tighten down with a series of bands similar to what you use to attach a radiator hose.

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Originally Posted by conroy

I have an old house. There is a 4" cast iron waste pipe that services the bathroom in the middle of the house. It has cracked across the top of the horizontal pipe in the basement right past the joint that connects the vertical to the horizontal. The length of pipe between the collars is about 15 inches. The pipe is good on both sides of this. From this point it is headed straight out to the sewer connection.
The crack is in a section of pipe that is between two of the floor rafters. The next collar on the pipe is immediately over the main support beam. It couldn't be in a more inconvenient spot.
I've had someone in to look at it and his approach is to enter the walls on the first floor to access the vertical pipe so that he can cut the cast iron; then remove sections of pipe down and through the basement and replace it all with pvc.
Does anyone have an idea for a temporary fix until I can schedule this work? The pipe is not under pressure, but when the waste water comes down from the second floor it has enough force that it erupts out the crack in the top of the pipe. I've tried taping it but even with close overlap the water still leaks out.
I was thinking of some sort of rubber(?) wrapping that I could put around the whole length of pipe and tighten down with a series of bands similar to what you use to attach a radiator hose.

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You could try coating it with the mastic used to seal roof vent flashings.

Use a stiff painting brush and fill in the crack the best you can.

Just me, but that seems like more trouble than fixing the problem

You might click on: PlumbingSupply.com - Leak Repair Kit
And check out their pipe repair kit. Good luck, Tom,

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Originally Posted by stacytodd

Just me, but that seems like more trouble than fixing the problem

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Did you read where he mentioned looking for a stop-gap repair until he could schedule a Plumber to come in and fix the problem?

As I say every time I post, I'm NOT a plumber, and therefore have no actual experience with this stuff..

But in looking around the 'net, I've found this to be about the slickest thing for fixing cast iron (and other? I don't know) pipes underground, from the inside of the pipe.

This could probably be done through the closet flange (ie, pull the toilet, and go in that hole) without any problems at all. Of course, you would want to know why the CI pipe cracked, and be sure that it won't get worse.

These patches are essentially fiberglas/mesh interior sleeves glued in with a special epoxy.. . picture winding some duct tape sticky-side out around a long skinny balloon, sliding it into the pipe and then inflating it so it gets pressed onto the interior. This stuff is obviously a lot stronger and more sophisticated.

Anyhow, here's a neat video of it in action:

YouTube - 3" Sewer Repair in Colorado

Here's another one, where a very large pipe that has a HUGE leak where a stream is rushing INTO the pipe is patched... very impressive~!

YouTube - Sewer Repair in Beaverton, OR

((OOPS! Wrong vid, but that one is interesting too. Here's the one with the creek flowing into it:

YouTube - Pipe Patch fixes Sewer Main under Creek in Cromwell, CT

Anyhow, it will certainly take a licensed/experienced guy yo do this for you, but it would probably be a lot less than ripping everything out.. certainly faster and cleaner.

Here's the stuff:
Fernco, Inc.