Roto Who????

Well, here is the newest at "This Old House".  The kitchen sink drain is dripping in the basement....well, of course, get out my handy dandy "Super Tape".  If you haven't used it, it's wonderful....except for last Friday night.  Usually, a leaky pipe in the basement gets fixed with this tape, wrap it around a few times, and walah! fixed..no more leaks ever.  Well, got out the tape, and before it could be wrapped, a small chunk of the pipe drops off.  Hmmmm.  Guess it's time to replace this pipe, not try to "mend" it!  So, Josh and I started working on the project Sat evening after work.  Bought new PVC pipe, accessories, beer, etc and headed to the basement.  The project now involved the bathtub drain, the roof vent for that, a long run to the sewer pipe, then the bad pipe under the kitchen sink, and the roof vent for that also.   (much bigger project now!)  Josh started using the SawsAll on the long pipe from the tub to the main drain.  Alot of jiggling began.  Well all of a sudden, we heard a big crash!  Looking over at the other side of the room, this pipe just FELL on it's own down on the dryer.

Looks innocent, right?  Well, it's STEEL, and here is where it fell......

VERY GLAD IT WAS NOT ON ONE OF OUR HEADS!!!

(That dent would have killed someone for sure)

Needless, to say, now my dryer timer doesn't work.  :(

Yes, it just plain fell from the ceiling, and nobody was even doing anything, except using a SawsAll across the room.

And if you are interested in what is inside a kitchen drain, here is what it looks like:

YUK! 

Anyhow, on to the story.  After that happened, we looked all around to make sure no more pipes would fall (like on our heads!)  All Clear, so we kept working.  It was a hoot to get the steel pipe that goes from the basement-up thru the house-thru the roof....out of the holes.  We did pretty good, pulling a portion down, cutting it off with the Saws-All, pulling more, etc.  (it is sooo heavy to hold while cutting--and the saw makes it jiggle alot)  That pipe wasn't too dirty, it is just for venting, so not yukky.  Then I cut the new PVC and filed down the edges, Josh put the pieces together.  He did such a great job using his eagle eye to figure our all the turns and the sizing.  

Now it is Monday morning, still no drain for kitchen, or tub.  I do have a bathroom sink that I can use and the toilet is functional.  There is some pipe donut that can't be found to make the connection we need to the main drain.  We bought pieces at Home Depot, Ace, etc. and no one has the right one. (have to return it all)  Old Cast Iron pipes are kind of tricky in their sizes - there wasn't a form, each one is different, I guess.  Josh is at the plumbing supply place now, buying another donut piece and something called "horsehair" to pack the donut into the hole.  Oh boy...this is getting weird!  So, another night of Corona, pipe donuts, and now "horsehair" tonite!

Wish us luck...I am really wanting a shower!