# No shop time for me...



## Herb G. (Oct 18, 2018)

The house we own is around 80 years old. Everything in it is original to the house.
So, our plumbing took a time out on us & we've been making do with what we can.
We haven't been able to do laundry for a month, and the dishes are a daily challenge.
So, I called a guy I know. Last week, he came out to see what's going on with the plumbing.

It's not good. So, the crew is coming out today to start ripping out all the old cast iron & replacing it with PVC pipe. Not my first choice, but it's so old it can't be saved. The oakum is rotted away & it leaks in about 10 places.

Let's just say my shop stinks, literally. So I haven't been able to get any shop time because everything like the washer & dryer had to be moved to access the drain pipe. The plumbing really is a mess here.
You never know what you have until you don't have it. It's definitely messed up that I can't get any shop time.
Oh well, at least I have a roof over my head.

Reactions: Sincere 8


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## Tony (Oct 18, 2018)

Hope it gets done quickly Herb, that sucks!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## sprucegum (Oct 18, 2018)

Don't feel bad about ripping out the old cast iron. PVC drains and pex plastic water lines are much cheaper to purchase and install and will last almost forever. I can't imagine paying a plumber to set up a lead pot and pour lead at todays rates, provided you could find a plumber with the tools and knowledge to do the work.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## Herb G. (Oct 18, 2018)

You know, honestly, I'll be glad when it's done just so I don't have to hear my wife natter on about it any longer than she already has.
She has ZERO patience when it comes to stuff like this. I told her I can't make the guys work any faster than they can.
It takes time to plan out a job like this, get the materials, and get a crew together to do the work.

The good part is since I grew up with the guy, he's not going to rip me off or make me pay thru the nose to get the work done.
Matter of fact, he's given me a fair & decent price to do the work.
It's hard to even find anyone who is willing to tear out 80 year old cast iron pipe.
It's nasty stuff to deal with to begin with, let alone after 80 years of daily use.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1 | Sincere 3


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## sprucegum (Oct 18, 2018)

Herb G. said:


> It's hard to even find anyone who is willing to tear out 80 year old cast iron pipe.
> It's nasty stuff to deal with to begin with, let alone after 80 years of daily use.



I believe people who do that work are called apprentice plumbers. What's so hard about plumbing "hot is on the left cold is on the right, poop runs down hill and payday is on Friday" ?

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 7


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## Herb G. (Nov 3, 2018)

@sprucegum , @Tony , and others... Problem is finally solved.
The guy came back the other day & literally tore the pipes apart to find out what was blocking them.
The vent lines themselves were clogged with all kinds of nasty stuff. He had to use a cutter head to get the crap out of the vent lines so air could flow in them again. There was literally 2- 5 gallon buckets full of crap that came out of those pipes.
The main drain lines were clogged with carbonized grease. The grease was so old, it turned to charcoal.
The plumber had to cut out about 20' of old CI pipe, and it was solid inside.
It looked like coal you burn in an old stove or something.
Hard as a rock, literally.

It was pretty disgusting, all in all.
I asked him what he thought caused the pipe to stop working all of a sudden & he said it was probably a chunk of that solid rock hard grease broke off & blocked the pipe from draining.
He said he's never seen old grease so bad in any pipe & he's been doing it for 35 years.

Good part of all this is I only got hit for $800 for all the work he did. He spent a total of 30 man hours figuring it out. He came back 5 times over a period of 3 weeks.
Thank God it's over with now. My wife was driving me crazy bugging me about not using the dishwasher or sink or anything else.
Everything works better than it ever did since we bought this old dump 15 years ago.

Reactions: Way Cool 1 | +Karma 1 | Sincere 1


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## Bill Ragosta (Nov 4, 2018)

Wow, that guy/friend treated you right. Glad you're back in business, stuff like that stinks (figuratively and apparently literally in this case).

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mike1950 (Nov 4, 2018)

You are lucky, if our plumbing got in that state for days, Kathie would have zero patieance. Laundry, dish cleaning and sink usage is pretty neccessary to keep house going....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## TimR (Nov 4, 2018)

Glad to hear all is resolved .

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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