Cast Iron Drain Repair in the Heart of Barberton

Anything near Lake Anna can turn into a real project, and this one was no exception. A Barberton homeowner had water coming out of the wall near the floor, the classic sign of a drain leak. Our diagnosis traced it to the cast iron drain stack buried in the wall, original to a building more than a hundred years old.

The challenge with older Barberton buildings

In the older parts of Barberton, homes and businesses were basically built around their 4-inch cast iron drain stacks. On this job, the red brick was laid right around the stack, which left us tight working quarters from the start. That is common in the Magic City, where a lot of the building stock predates modern plumbing by decades.

Cast iron worn thin as paper

When we got to the pipe, the cast iron was thin as paper and pitted all along its length. Cast iron does not fail all at once. It corrodes slowly, from the inside and the outside at the same time, until the wall of the pipe is barely there. Where this stack was leaking, the metal had worn so thin it was flaking apart.

The challenge was two-fold. First, we had to find a solid section of pipe to tie our new piping into. A full drain stack replacement was not something the owner wanted, so we made our cuts carefully, working along the pipe until we reached cast iron thick enough to hold a connection. Second, there was the brick. Out came the hammer and chisels, because the only way to get our cutting tools and new fittings into place was to open up the masonry around the pipe.

Yes, there could be a cheaper option, and a pricier one

This was a tough job, and we were honest with the owner about all of it. Our plumber walked through the option of replacing the entire cast iron stack, but for this home that did not make sense. So we repaired the failed section instead.

We get a lot of second opinion calls, and we hear the same story too often. Another company came out, said the only option was a full replacement for thousands of dollars, and pushed to have it done immediately to avoid some future disaster. Sometimes a full replacement really is the right call. Often it is not. Our goal is to lay out every option so you can make the decision that fits your home and your budget, with a flat price in writing before any work starts.

So if you live in the Magic City and your plumbing is as old as your house, yes, it can be a real challenge. But nine times out of ten there is more than one way to fix it. We handle jobs like this one through our drain cleaning and repair team, and when the pipe damage runs further than a single section, our repiping page covers the bigger work.

Got water showing up at the base of a wall in Barberton or anywhere nearby? Call 330-825-3686. We find the root cause first, you get a flat price in writing before we touch anything, and the dispatch fee rolls into the job if you approve the work. Common job ranges are on our pricing page.