I have been renovating my daughter's house, preparing it for sale.
Yesterday I found that a section of the 4" cast drain pipe was spewing water on the basement floor.
The whole bottom seam has somehow opened up!
As we are already over budget, I can't just call in a plumber, so need to solve this problem myself.
I have used 2 part epoxy to deal with a small leak on the side of a cast pipe in the past, but this is a 5' pipe with the leak running the full length of the bottom somehow.
I'm looking for any and all suggestions on how I can go about fixing this mess.
Can I cut the pipe with my angle grinder, so that I have room to disconnect it at the male and female ends, then replace with ABS? Are there adaptors available that would be needed?
Any other options? All suggestions most appreciated.
Thanks.

 

It is very hard to comment on something we can't see.
Can you post a picture or two for us....... How-to-insert-pictures.

 

Yup... when old cast iron finally goes bad, it tends to split. Not much to do other than replace.

Support both ends well as you don't want to cause other problems when you cut the pipe. I find an angle grinder with a metal cutting blade works best. Others have luck with a sawzall.
Then use a no-hub coupling to join the CI with the new PVC or ABS. (Make sure you get the rubber coupling with the metal shield on it for code-compliance and no future leaks).

Biggest recommendation I have is to make sure you support the cast iron before you cut it. If it sags, it can cause leaks at the next fitting.

 

I'll get some photos this afternoon and post them. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info, re: cutting and the no-hub fitting. This would mean cutting the pipe past the hubs on either end - correct? So it's straight ABS to straight CI?
Sounds relatively straight forward.

 

I think you will find the OD of cast iron and ABS pipe to be different. Why not just replace the piece you cut out with a new piece of cast iron with the no-hub connectors? It would probably be cheaper at a supply house.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Charlotte-P...n-Pipe/3407076

 

Yes! There are ways to keep the hub, but it's usually easier to just go pipe-to-pipe connections.

. I believe the pipe sizes are less than 1/4" difference on a 4" pipe (CI is 4.3" PVC is 4.5" OD). Most no hub couplings I've run across don't have different sizing for CI and PVC. I do see (and use) different couplings when converting to/from copper drain pipes though

 

You can use a transition coupling, like a Mission coupling:
https://missionrubber.com/products/
And remember to grind off any raised lettering.