Cast Iron

[flyingvan]

   House #1,2 and three are up in the Cuyamacas.  My plan had been to keep building there, but a few wildfires threatening the neighborhood made me rethink that plan.  10 years ago I bought a LITTLE (435 sq ft) house at the beach, an hour drive away.  It's rented solid since but now its time for my college age kids to move in.  Lots needs to be done, starting with the bathroom---the tenants said the tub was slow to drain (it was rusted out too.  House was built in 1957)
  After pulling the tub, the cast iron p trap needed to be dug out.  It was clogged with rust nodules, hair, and a shampoo cap.  An attempt to unthread it just snapped the cast iron.



which left a pretty nasty looking shard sticking out of the riser.  The riser appeared servicable so I wanted to preserve it if possible.


After lots of thought and a dirth of advice available on the internet, I bought the smallest recip saw I could find and put a short carbide blade on.  The dirt had to be dug out more to make room for it.  I got the blade inside the pipe (after cutting the shard part off) and scored the old pipe up to the threads...Guessing where that was.  I did go a little too deep.


Then tapped out the pieces and cleaned it all up with a wire brush attachment for the drill.


Extra generous with the teflon tape before the ABS went in



   This project sure re-affirms my feeling that new construction is way more fun than fixing old rotten stuff

[MountainDon]

Many decades ago when I was a young teen the next door neighbor was a plumber who immigrated from England. I recall him saying one day when he and my Dad were struggling with an old cast iron toilet drain drain and I was melting lead for them, that new work beats any old work repairs and being the city inspector beat both. He had become the city's chief plumbing inspector sometime that year.

[UK4X4]

when working with bad or cut threads, I find that the PTFE does not seal really that well, as the damage cuts and bunchs the tape rather than getting a full circular seal.

If in doubt I use a liquid seal product, as it will fill the voids and damaged sections

locktite does one called "Thread seal" for smaller OD fittings, use this on pressure fittings 10Kpsi plus

and "Plumbers mait" for the galvanised and steel larger threaded pipe NPT or line pipe threads

[flyingvan]

  Good suggestion.  I can see how it would fill the threads better, especially my perpendicular cuts.  Is there any reason not to use both?

    Speaking of cast iron---I prefer cast iron bathtubs.  They are heavy, hold on to heat, durable.  There is no way I'll be able to get one in without tearing out an exterior wall, and the single piece tub surround AnnaMarie likes only mates up to an acrylic/fiberglass tub.
    Talked to a plumber.  I told him I don't like them because they deflect when I step into them and I've seen cracking in units that were just a few years old.  He claimed that an acrylic/fiberglass tub will last as long as a cast iron tub if it's installed correctly and not cleaned with harsh abrasives, just buffed out with a quality auto wax annually.
     'Correct installation' means setting it in plaster of paris or mortar; in fact, the warranty for commercial applications requires this.

     Once again stuck at work away from the project but next week I'll have 4 days straight to get the bathroom done.  Floor's in, wirings's done, fart fan's installed, ceiling's painted, tub drain's done.  My plan is to get the tub in place and mark all the drill holes, then block it up a foot or so.  I'll mix up the plaster and mound it up underneath the base of the tub then lower it in, and get it all levelled out before screwing it to the wall.

[rick91351]

Both tubs we put in are cast.  Sort of awkward working around them during framing.  But now looked upon money well spent.  I almost tried to talk Ellen into a cheaper one for the smaller 'guest bath'.  In the end glad we did what we did.  That was another reason we were glad the 'modular house' fell through.         

[flyingvan]

I really wanted the one piece tub surround for ease of cleaning.  Setting the tub in plaster was pretty easy.  Getting a 60" wide X 30" deep surround into a 60 1/2" wide bathroom was a nightmare---you have to bend, squish insulation, lift, Ugh....I wanna just build new stuff from now on.  Worst moment--had it all in and drywall up.  Texturing the drywall when I started hearing  'drip drip drip' and puddle forming coming from under the tub.  Near panic until I realized the mixer valve just wasn't shut all the way.  All that's left is some trim work then I'll post pics