Under Slab Waste Piping

I recently did a bath tub change out in a 35 year old single story house. The under slab waste pipe  used was bell and spigot heavy duty cast iron, the kind of pipe that uses poured lead joints, illegal today because of baseless concerns over lead content. This pipe was the best available at the time, but if not installed correctly, over time problems can arise. If it is not supported properly at the joints before back fill, sagging can happen leading to stoppages and rust outs. We had to replace a 10 inch cast iron line deep in the bowels of Caesars Palace one time, a harrowing experience I will never forget. The whole tower was still going about its business during the change out. Plenty of Fabreeze that day, don’t you know.

If you live in a home built in the seventies, or before, you will be become well acquainted with the Roto Rooter Man because your waste
line will stop up a lot. The lady at the bank told me that she lives on the bottom floor af a 40 year old apartment building and her toilets are always stopping up. It is not the toilets but the underground pipes stopping up. She said the landlord sends the man with the toilet auger but it does no good. The man tells her there is nothing they can do to fix it. I told her to move.

The remedy is to smash up the floor where  the underground pipes are and replace them with plastic. It is a horrific procedure to ponder but it must be done. Insurance will not  cover it either because insurance companies will only pay for pipe replacements if there is an incident that causes damage to the house. Then they will pay for the fix and damage. When under slab pipes stop up or rot out there is no damage above the floor, so they do not pay.

Homes built during the eighties and later were plumbed with plastic waste which will not rot out. Think long and hard before you buy that quaint, lovely, older home. The pipes may make you wish your parents never met.

Next week we will talk about water supply pipes.