I discovered water in my basement last night and determined it was coming from a hole in the cast iron drain... the hole is right at the floor level where the drain goes into the basement slab. As a temporary fix, I used some epoxy putty, but water is still seeping out from under the patch. This is a 2" drain that only connects to the kitchen sink and ties into the other drainage on the other side of the house. I have attached a simple diagram. The last thing I want to do is tear up the entire basement floor... I'm hoping to just break the floor up around the elbow and replace with PVC up to the kitchen... my fear is that this pipe is shot and the entire run will have to be replaced. Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations are welcome and appreciated.

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If that cast iron drain has a small hole it is very likely the entire pipe or bend is very thin all over. It isn't rocket science but its not easy. I'd break up the floor right at the bend and replace the pipe at least up to the hub. There is much less rust and corrosian above this point but check it with a hammer, give it several sharp smacks. Start removing the pipe in the floor until you reach an area where it appears the pipe is still full thickness and install a OVC transition hub at that point.

Have you considered removing the epoxy and caulk the hole with steel-reinforced epoxy putty? This would give you a temporary patch until you can follow Bobs advice. Fast Steel or JB Weld comes to mind. Good luck, Tom

Guys, thanks for the quick responses. In your experience is it common for the bend section to corrode or rust through like this? My thought would be that the vertical and elbow sections would be less succeptable to corrode than the horizontal section where water tends to lay around. Again my fear is that when I start digging, I may get to the other side of the house before I find a 'good' section of pipe.
Should I expect to find a hub at the other end of the bend?
Thanks again for your insights.

Tom has just a few decades more experience than I have but I do see more pipes rot out where they reach the concrete. The waste does sit around more at that point and the concrete doesn't help. Yes you should find another connection just under the concret, they do not make cast iron sweeps like you pictured in your nice drawing. Tom, what about tminderl's fears? The plumbers expoxy Tom talks about will probably seal and last longer than what you first tried. I did such a patch for a friend back when we had hair and it was still holding fine 5 years later when he moved.

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my fear is that when I start digging, I may get to the other side of the house before I find a 'good' section of pipe.
Should I expect to find a hub at the other end of the bend?

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Tap aroumd the hole. Is it rotten? Does it break out under the floor line? While we can't guarantee that all your cast iron is healthy the bend with the hole does not necessary indicate that all your cast iron's bad. If the pipe's not completely rotten around the hole you might consider the steel epoxy patch I recommended in my earlier post. If it holds this could become a permanent solution. Cutting into a vertical cast iron stack should not be taken lightly. It has a lot of weight, if things go bad you could be injured badly . And if it should fall you could lose all the drainage over head that's connected to it plus the hassle and expense of repairing what broke. We can walk you through replacing the bend, (and yes, the bend has a bell,(hub) on one end and a spigot,( plain end) on the other). The joints are caulked lead and oakum joints. Let us know your decision. Good luck, Tom

Well guys, I went home last night and started tapping the elbow and the hole has gone from a pea size hole to an oblong hole larger than a quarter... and now it does extend below the floor line. I guess its time to start chipping away at the concrete around the pipe... not sure if a steel epoxy patch is still a possible solution for a hole this size.

As far as the vertical stack, I did some work a few years ago to replace most of the plumbing above with PVC(this drain only goes to 1st floor kitchen sink + a vent). When I tear into this, I plan to replace this vertical section in the basement with PVC while my hands are dirty.

One other question, assuming I have to replace this elbow, what is the recommended method of cutting the existing drain?. I assume I need to rent some sort of tool to do this...

Thanks again for you insight and help.