Here's a question that I guess no one can answer, but I'll ask it anyway
I have this old drainpipe in the basement:
It's a bit in the way, and I would therefore like to remove it. As far as I know, all the drains in the house are connected to another pipe in the laundry room, so this is some old remnant from a bygone time. It disappears up into the ceiling and presumably continues up to the upper floor. Possibly it's also connected to some venting in the attic.
Is it safe to cut this pipe and remove it? Or is there a risk that it's "hanging" on something up in the house that could break? Impossible to answer, I understand, but it's always nice to write it off.
What a beauty! You need to be 100% sure that all other drains are connected to another stack before you cut AND how the venting you mention on the roof is also connected to the new stack. It could be that at some point they connected to this one with just the venting.
It is built from the bottom and is heavy, everything that goes upwards stands on the lower part, so if you cut it straight off, the above can fall down.
Yep, and if you're thinking of getting rid of it, you'll need to replace everything up to what is above the joists; there are no shortcuts. But why replace it? It's painted, so it may have seeped through perhaps. Then it looks like the joints/fittings are caulked. It's lead that has been hammered into the joint to seal it. The easiest way to see it is to take a screwdriver and scrape the joint; it will quickly become apparent if a lead color appears and it's a bit soft. It tends to be rock hard, and the only way to separate the pipes is to crush them.
AJ82 said: