So for about a month we dealt with a finicky kitchen drain. One day we noticed noticed it started draining ever so slowly and it seemed to get worse with each passing day. We did the usual plunger and liquid plumber in an effort to bust out some type of clog. We plan to move the kitchen sink in the kitchen remodel so we didn't want to spend a lot of time or money fixing something that was destined to be torn out. Still, it was frustrating waiting for the sink to drain or having it back-up while doing dishes and coating things with a greasy slime.
We brought a plumber out to have them install a utility sink so we got a quote on what it would cost to have the drain pipe roto-rootered. I also choked when he came back with a quote of $550. This was almost half the cost of putting in the new utility sink which would take the better part of a day. Pass we said...we'll deal with it even if it means washing dishes in the utility sink.
So we gimped along until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. That evening the sink wouldn't drain and as we packed for a trip over to Mazama to hang with our friends KP and Julie I found myself in an irritated mood. Elizabeth was rather positive it would drain by the time we got home in 2 days. Luckily we had decided to come back home Sunday so we could spend at least one day on house projects. Well, you can imagine how frustrated I was to find the sink still completely full of oily water.
Not
one to be beat down I decided to do some research and take things into
my own hands. I mean hey, doing plumbing is like piecing together an
erector set, except that it might leak if you don't get it right. I did
some reading and watched a few videos online and then headed off to the
store for supplies.
If
the outside appearance of the pipe was any indication of what I would
find inside, well, then...With a metal blade and sawzall I was able to
quickly remove the sections I of pipe I was most concerned with. What I
found inside the pipe certainly wasn't surprising though it was a messy,
stinky job cutting through the pipe. You definitely want to wear gloves, a mask and eye protection for this one.
Once
the cast iron was cut away it was as simple as bringing in the ABS pipe
joining it to the cast iron with what are called No-Hub Couplings. The
only tricky part is making sure you measure the distance correctly so
that you end up with a nice snug fit the couplings. Once the couplings
join the pipe it is as simple as tightening the hose clamps.
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| Cast iron pie on the left and ABS plastic on the right. |
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Here
is a rough before and after photo of a section I swapped out. The best
part about the whole job is that it cost us less than $80 for all the
materials including metal blade to complete the task. A far cry from
the $550 we were originally quoted.
In
case you were wondering, there is a new clean out valve that I
installed that sits just outside of the view of this picture. After I
got everything installed and tested it out, it was the one spot that
leaked, but that was quickly remedied by tightening the plug. TS
