Hello,

I am in the middle of adding a bathroom in part of my garage. What is the best way to separate lead joints in cast iron pipe? My home was built in 1957 so I don't know if they were using the hemp type stuff to seal the joints then. The pipe sort of looks galvanized to me (It cut pretty easy with a sawzall). Some of it is screwed together but it also has some lead joints. I have two spots where I really can't cut the pipe and add plastic pipe.

How can I dig out the lead and tie into the existing pipe?

Any advice is appreciated!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reweb

Hello,

I am in the middle of adding a bathroom in part of my garage. What is the best way to separate lead joints in cast iron pipe? My home was built in 1957 so I don't know if they were using the hemp type stuff to seal the joints then. The pipe sort of looks galvanized to me (It cut pretty easy with a sawzall). Some of it is screwed together but it also has some lead joints. I have two spots where I really can't cut the pipe and add plastic pipe.

How can I dig out the lead and tie into the existing pipe?

Any advice is appreciated!

---

Back in the cast iron/lead and okum days we used a "lead pick" to remove lead joints. A lead pick is simply a skinny curved chisel with a sharpened end but you can use a screwdriver. Here's how it goes. We drive the chisel/screwdriver down under the lead or take the easy way and use a torch to melt the lead down to where we can get underneath the lead and into the okum. We then began to pry the lead ring up and out of the bell. After the lead has been removed it's a easy job to pick out the okum. Once you open up the joint it's a easy task to convert to PVC using a Fernco Donut insert.
Good luck, Tom

Thanks Tom,

I could avoid digging out one of the joints if I cheat a little bit. I am adding a 2" shower drain to an area where a 1.5" vent comes of a 2" drain line. The floor is concrete so my options are limited. I could just cut the pipe above the lead joint and tie in there. It would be all 2" for the shower except for that junction where it all ties together would have part of it only be 1.5" (Only a couple of inches). I hope this makes sense? How bad would this be? It would sure be a hell of a lot easier!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reweb

Thanks Tom,

I could avoid digging out one of the joints if I cheat a little bit. I am adding a 2" shower drain to an area where a 1.5" vent comes of a 2" drain line. The floor is concrete so my options are limited. I could just cut the pipe above the lead joint and tie in there. It would be all 2" for the shower except for that junction where it all ties together would have part of it only be 1.5" (Only a couple of inches). I hope this makes sense? How bad would this be? It would sure be a hell of a lot easier!

---

Cool by me if it works for you. Just use a Fernco Neoprene Coupling instead of a donut to couple the {VC to the cast iron stub. How do you plan to cut the cast iron pipe? Because cast iron is very hard it's extremely difficult to cut with a saw, even a power saw. I suggest renting a set of ratchet chain cutters to make the cut. Cheers, Tom