NEEDED porc plumber

[sandm000]

We just had a pipe burst in our basement, old iron pipe had rusted through.
We'll give the business to anyone who has legitimate plumbing experience.

[MaineShark]

We just had a pipe burst in our basement, old iron pipe had rusted through.
We'll give the business to anyone who has legitimate plumbing experience.

Is it a heating or domestic water pipe?

Where are you located?

Joe

[sandm000]

Joe,
We are in Manchester.
It's a sewage pipe from the 1940s.
Do you know someone?
Brian

[MaineShark]

We are in Manchester.
It's a sewage pipe from the 1940s.
Do you know someone?

Not off the top of my head, for that kind of work.  Replacing cast iron sewer pipes tends to get expensive, if done professionally.

If it's just a hole, you can get a rubber coupling ("no hub" or "Fernco" are common terms) from Home Depot.  Slit the rubber and place it on the pipe (with the slit opposite the hole, obviously) then clamp it on with the included clamps.

Joe

[sandm000]

We knew we'd have to replace it when we bought the house. Today was my attempt to fix it for $10, which the wife agreed, we could try before calling a plumber. So I had some paper towels to wipe off the pipe, sandpaper to open the hole a bit and some Mighty Putty to put in the hole, I thought it would be a nice trial of my plumbing skills. As soon as I  literally touched the pipe, it broke open, a 1 inch wide hole. No pressure, no scraping, no sanding, I didn't even get that far, it must have been pretty bad, I just didn't think it was as bad as that. And we're willing to replace the iron pipe with PVC, it isn't the aesthetic we're trying to preserve in our basement, it's the feces we're trying to keep out.

[MaineShark]

Unfortunately, we have no Porc plumbers, to the best of my knowledge (at least, none who are licensed by the State of NH).  I'm sure there are folks who have the skills to do that, although I don't know if they want to risk it.

Joe

[sandm000]

I wasn't concerned about a license.
Just someone who has plumbed professionally. They could be a retiree.

[John Edward Mercier]

Depending on how much of the stack you wish to replace... two rubber couplings and the length of PVC should do it.
HD will have professional plumbers as associates within the plumbing aisles who should be able to advise.

[Russell Kanning]

I have already replaced one of those at the  hoyt farm.
I am sure someone near you can do it. I didn't even have the right tools.
it is possible you could replace a big chunk of it and interface with the rest of the pipes ... it is not that easy, so it will cost some time/money
maybe you can pay for parts and successful completion instead of by plumbing professionalism

if I lived closer i could fix it ... it would go faster if I rented the chain cutting tool

[sandm000]

The problem with paying for parts up front and then paying for time upon successful completion is that if I got an amateur in here and he screwed it up worse than I did, I would be in a lot of trouble with the wife.

Since I'm not 100% certain I could do it on my own, I am forced to seek professional assistance. I tried to fix the sink in our bathroom and the leak got worse after I was done, since that time I have been unable to convince my wife of my plumbing competence and rightly so, I never trained to be a plumber.

[MaineShark]

I wasn't concerned about a license.
Just someone who has plumbed professionally. They could be a retiree.

I didn't figure many folks would be concerned.

I'd be happy to give advice, having done that work in the past, but one of the reasons I got out of it was because I didn't want to deal with other folks' sewer pipes...

It's an unpleasant job, but fairly simple.  Make sure to maintain a proper (downward) pitch on the pipe, and most of the rest is child's play.

Joe

[Russell Kanning]

The problem with paying for parts up front and then paying for time upon successful completion is that if I got an amateur in here and he screwed it up worse than I did, I would be in a lot of trouble with the wife.

Since I'm not 100% certain I could do it on my own, I am forced to seek professional assistance.

You won't get an unpaid amateur to fix your dirty pipes.
"Quick right me a check for $5,000 before I come to my senses." The Money Pit

I can start working on it Monday morning if you beg. plus $100 for the drive, $50/hour, plus parts.

I am not certified or licensed by "the man", or insured by a recently bailed out or bankrupt corporation and I do not pay attention to any government building codes or codes of conduct. But "I'm bona fide" (O Brother Where Art Thou) and I do not reveal my sources or drop a dime on my valued clientele. I will fix your dirty pipes. It will not be pretty, but we will "get er dun".

[Lloyd Danforth]

He's right about the pretty part.

[sandm000]

I haven't ever had to pay a professional to fix anything up front. It comes with the territory. They get paid when the job is done.

How much experience do you have Russell?

[MaineShark]

I haven't ever had to pay a professional to fix anything up front. It comes with the territory. They get paid when the job is done.

Re-piping a drain system is construction, not service.  There's a substantial amount of material involved.  When I was doing plumbing, I would have charged 50% down, and 50% on completion, but only because the State of Maine prohibited us from charging more than 50% down - if that were not the case, I would have asked for two-thirds down.  There are substantial costs involved in running a business, and it only takes a couple customers refusing to pay, to severely impact cashflow.  Sure, you can sue them, but it can take months or years, and your suppliers expect to be paid for that material you used for the job, within a month.  If you can get enough down to cover the material and a chunk of your other costs, at least you don't run into that issue.

When you're talking service, and there is little cash tied up in parts (a few washers or other bits and pieces), the situation is quite different.

Joe