I have a leak under lead elbow drain going into cast drain under toilet and it looks like someone has already tried patching it with mesh and whatever. Can someone help? What should I do? Thanks

Replace it faulty section with pvc.

I don't know if you can still buy cast iron fittings like that, I guess you could if you know where to look, but its not a job for do it yourselfers like us.

Cutting the cast iron is tricky. If have done it before, went through quite a few sawzall blades too. Ive read here that they make blades just for that, maybe they would work better than what I used.

Be careful when you cut it, it will break easy, (hard to cut, easy to shatter, go figure) Once you obtain a nice smooth cut, connect to pvc with a rubber coupling.

When you go to the hardware store to buy the items, explain what your doing to the sales associate, he/she should be able to get you everything you need and explain how it goes together.

Be forewarned, this job is not for the faint of heart, it will make you want to cuss. If in doubt, call a professional. Im performing a simmar job this weekend, and Im not looking forward to it. :)

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Originally Posted by sumhelp

I have a leak under lead elbow drain going into cast drain under toilet and it looks like someone has already tried patching it with mesh and whatever. Can someone help? What should I do? Thanks

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It depends on what you want to do. Repair or replace. I vote for replacement. Tell us the fitting you will have to couple to and we'll walk you through the process.

Your turn, Tom

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Originally Posted by sumhelp

I have a leak under lead elbow drain going into cast drain under toilet and it looks like someone has already tried patching it with mesh and whatever. Can someone help? What should I do? Thanks

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Your best bet when dealing with replacing a lead closet bend is to leave it to the professionals.

Lead closet bends are generally trimmed to fit the particular rough-in they are being used for. -- If you were to remove the lead bend and try to replace it with a plastic 90 and a new closet flange, 9 out of 10 times the closet flange will sit too high above the finished floor.

If you don't have at least 4-1/2" from the top of the horizontal portion of the lead bend to the bottom of the sub-floor, then changing it over to plastic is out of the question.

What I generally do is cut the closet bend and the brass insert inside of the closet bend off as close to the hub as possible with a SawzAll, and then use a 1/4" drill bit to drill the lead out -- I try to drill as many holes as possible and as close together as possible into the lead as I can, and then pry the remaining lead out with a screwdriver.

After the hub has been completely cleaned of lead and oakum, I insert a 3x4x6x18 No-Hub closet bend into the hub, and then cut off as much of the 3" portion as is necessary to center the 4" portion into the old hole in the floor, I then slip a 'Torque set closet flange' over the 4" portion of the bend, make a pencil line, remove the bend and cut off whatever sticks up above the top of the flange.

I then reassemble everything, pack oakum into and to the back of the hub, leaving at least 3/4" of space to pack in lead wool, I then pack in lead wool and caulk it with a hot caulking iron.

Look, I don't want to discourage you from taking this on yourself, but I have been doing this for over 20 years, and it would take me nearly 6 hours to do this job -- And that is because I have done it numerous times before, and already have all of the tools of the trade in the back of my van.

Cutting cast iron is always tricky, and if you haven't done it before and know all of the procedures for properly scoring the pipe with a snap cutter before making the final cut, you could end up shattering an $80.00 part in the blink of an eye.