Fiberglass Repair of Old Iron Soilpipe

[frank1492]

Hi- I have just finished coating an old iron soil pipe with fiberglass cloth. The pipe was badly blistered and I felt it would start to leak in several places soon. A problem has occurred because in one spot it had already started to leak. Of course the fiberglass would not set there. The toilet was of course not being used when the fiberglass was applied, but even though the ball valve seems to seal perfectly, there always seems to be a little "weeping" that allows a trickle to get into the soil pipe. I know I may have to drain the toilet completely, but that brings me to my question: Is it possible to seal a wet hole from the outside with one of the wetseal putties, such as JB Waterweld? Has anybody tried in a similar application to mine? Even with no water pressure I can't imagine an epoxy that will stick to a wet surface. It would be nice not to have to drain the toilet. Help much appreciated! Frank

[hrhofmann]

If it is leaking, the flapper valve must not be seating properly Fix that first!!!

[Evan]

@Frank1492:

You have just finished wasting your time when you should have called a plumber in to cut out the rusted section of soil stack and replace it with a new section of the same cast iron pipe using Fernco couplers...

Would have taken a lot less time to do and would fix the problem permanently rather than merely channel the leaks through a specific place you couldn't get the fiberglass to stick to...

~~ Evan

[Steve Barker]

you don't have to "drain" the toilet. Just turn the water to it off, then flush it and hold the handle down. there, no more seepy seepy. Now fix the drain and the flapper.

[frank1492]

The obvious solution as suggested was to drain the toilet which I have just done. I expected I would have to do that but just wondered if anyone had experience with the underwater epoxies. I'll grind away the failed fiberglass and drain the wet cavity under the hole, wait for the hole to dry up good, and apply new glass making sure it is firmly against the hole, maybe filling it with a little epoxy putty first. A comment: I thought the purpose of this group was to encourage the homeowner to save money by doing things him/herself?? Then why do some people persist in recommending that a professional be called ($100 to just go through the door) *especially* in a dick-simple situation like this? Nothing dangerous here, just a pipe with no pressure, not rocket science. I realize I did something stupid the first time but now it should be a piece of cake. And I reject the idea that it won't be permanent if done right. Again thanks to you all for your ideas. Frank.

[despen]

I think you got the "get a plumber" comment because you are trying to patch up something that should be replaced.

You really should cut out the section that's leaking and use those rubber Fernco couplings to put a new section in.

[hrhofmann]

If the one section is corroded through, how long before the whole pipe starts leaking? Maybe even below the floor or wall that it goes through on its way to the main sewer line.

[despen]

Agree 100%.

Expose until you no longer see damage, then connect to the good parts. Someone else suggested replacing with iron (like it is now).

I'd go with PVC. It's a much more durable material.

[frank1492]

Hi- It is true that the entire soil pipe that resides outside the house has many blisters to the point where it runs inside through cinder blocks. The part inside the house looks nowhere near as bad, and the house has a "Cape Cod cellar" (dirt) anyway. The part outside the house is subject to the weather as it is only surrounded by a lattice and the back steps.. We are only talking about 5' or so from the toilet to the point of entry. I did anticipate that this would start to leak- maybe soon- so I have already fiberglassed most of it as a precaution. I do not think I will hear from this again in my lifetime...I'm 68...:) I will address the hole tomorrow (again.) If I fail to get a good seal assuming there is no longer water dripping and using underwater epoxy just in case followed by fiberglass, I will revert to the Fernco approach. Thanks all again. Frank

[clare]

Get a plumber in and replace ALL of the cast iron with Plastic.

[Ashton Crusher]

My local pool store sells some stuff (think it's called poxy putty) that is a two part epoxy for use under water. Seems like something like that should work to make the initial repair and then cover it with your fiberglass.

[Ashton Crusher]

There are valid points on both sides, repair vs replace, but my experience is that a lot of things will last a long long time if repaired. And when you start in doing REPLACE on old stuff like this you may find that there is no end to the "bad" when you start trying to get back to a "good" area. I generally prefer to avoid messing with old stuff that's still working if a small patch will keep it going. Obviously there is a point where that's no longer possible.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "I thought the purpose of this group was to encourage the homeowner to save money by doing things him/herself? Then why do some people persist in recommending that a professional be called...?"

OK, let's split the difference:

In this case the homeowner (you) should have asked him/herself (or this group) "How would a professional deal with this situation?"

I doubt the answer from any source would have been "Wrap the leaky pipe in fiberglass."

Perhaps some folks suggested calling a plumber since it appears (and please don't take this the wrong way - after all, you did come here asking for help) that you did not know the correct solution to the problem yet moved ahead anyway. Therefore it might be safer for all involved to leave it to the professionals.

[frank1492]

Exactly what I did. I used JB Waterweld then fiberglass. Looks like this worked very well.

[frank1492]

My thoughts exactly. I believe I have saved tens of $1000s, maybe hundreds of $1000s in my lifetime by repairing, sometimes quite unconventionally. And many of these have lasted extremely well. The problem with professionals is that they always want to do a job according to some standard technique, which generally means that they will insist you replace "all of it" to prevent future problems (which may never occur.) Take my soil pipe with only 5 feet that really looked bad. I could see a professional insisting that I replace *all* the pipe in a job that might cost $1000s. In an hour or so I covered the bad 5 feet with fiberglass with no complications, except for the 1" that had a hole in it that took a little more effort. I really don't expect to hear from this pipe again in the 20 or fewer years I think I have left. My father was a genius in home repair. His favorite line was "They always want to make a big deal of everything." 'Nuff said.

[aemeijers]

As much as I admire McGyver (sp?) solutions, there is a reason codes and inspections were put in place (other than as a profit center for local governments). See

for examples. Or just Google 'home inspection horror stories' or ' there, i fixed it' for more examples.

An expert operating outside their area of expertise is often more dangerous than a layman, because the layman KNOWS that they do not know.

Hey, I do non-standard/'temporary' repairs at times, as well. But never on stuff where somebody could die, or the house could get destroyed. Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and get it fixed right.

[aemeijers]

Better search string, under Google images- 'home inspection nightmares'.

[George]

But you are doing it yourself so you can decide. Generally doing it yourself means doing what a pro would do only you supply the know how and labor.

Years of experience of not doing stuff the right way has confirmed that again and again.