Why Replace Old Cast Iron Drain Lines?
Cast iron was used for sanitary waste in homes and commercial buildings up to 1980, PVC took over as it was cheaper, easier to install and more durable. Cast Iron was and is still in use on a lot of commercial and industrial building. The problem we have been encountering over the years is that the cast iron corrodes causing sewage and waste water to disperse in the walls or under the slab. Cast ron drain lines also create a lot of clogged lines.
Now dealing with clogged cast iron drains can be very tricky, considering most of your drain lines run under your slab or crawl space. When we snake the line we run the risk of getting the snake stuck in the line as the pipe usually corrodes out the entire bottom of the pipe. We usually recommended jetting out the system and using a sewer camera to inspect the condition.
The problems we encounter are more common today than 20 years ago due to the fact of aging. For example, if the life expectancy of the cast iron is 50 years and everything built prior to 1980 has cast iron and the metro Orlando area grew at a faster pace as the decades advanced we simply have more homes built in the 60’s than the 40’s and so forth.
What causes the cast iron to corrode is a combination of several aspects including decades of waste water running through it, grease and detergents are very corrosive, sewage creates sulfuric acid which is constantly trapped in the system and is very corrosive, and due to age and setting product can get caught up in the line creating slow moving drains which means water is constantly sitting in the line and once again being corrosive.
We strongly recommend if your home is built prior to 1980 and has cast iron drain lines that you have your system jetted and video inspected.
Prepare for the worst as the task of replacing the drain lines is not an easy one but one we have made as painless as possible but we have to saw cut through the concrete slab (crawl spaces have a different process), remove the concrete, dig out the dirt and remove the old system then we replace with PVC .We have it inspected, back filled and then we replace the concrete. We do our utmost to keep your home as clean as possible and complete the task in a timely fashion. We can provide flooring and painting companies that we highly recommend and have worked with for many years.
As we have told customers many many times over the years, we didn’t create your problems but we are here to fix them. Hopefully this has been helpful and informative.
Brittle And Leaking Drain Lines |
Clogged & Rotted Iron Drain Lines |
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Our friendly, professional and informed staff is ready to schedule your service call and assist you with any questions you may have. Give us a call at (407) 898-3538 or Send Us An Email. Serving Orlando, Winter Park, Oviedo, Maitland, Heathrow, Longwood, Belle Isle, Windermere, Lake Mary and surrounding areas.
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