Tenant had a wall buckle in a rental unit suddenly on about a Monday.
Huge amounts of water all at once.
There was a vertical compression break from the ~120yo cast iron.
I called my three favorite plumbers. The third was scheduled for the first Friday but didn't show. They claimed they cancelled on Wednesday with a message. No message. I called a dozen others. There was no call back from the first two either which I'm on good terms with and they have secretaries. Lost all phone signal in a solid 4G area even at home and power-cycling after a night at the hospital with mom awaiting her call to pick her up. Bizarre timing.
Something screwy has been happening with the phone system recently.
After thinking about it a few times...that is my only conclusion.
Another week went by for the second plumber who thankfully went far out of his normal work zone. Using the old parts van even.
They had problems with storms and it would be more time. Whatever.
Into Week #3.
That dude was a bit off' that day, moving like a turtle, and overcharged me out the ass.
Half good and finally proving his engineering degree. Half idiot bad. Whatever.
At least he showed up.
He also cut the cast iron pipe at an extreme angle as well, which I fixed and told hm to check.
(yeah yeah I know that messing with another man's work is a serious no-no...but this one was well beyond FUBAR and would end in tears)
The shorty t-square showed over an inch variance to the pipe length when placed on the cut surface. WTF.
There was a tiny rocking 'ting' after using the angle grinder when tested with the flat side in all directions.
Enough for the rubber Fernco to take up the difference.
Plumber cut a stub to a horizontal Fernco too short. He compensated by angling it out past the drywall.
Minor mistake but again very not professional.
He pointed out the existing plumbing had a "T" instead of a "Y". Good point.
That while-you-are-in-there syndrome set me back a couple more days.
There were a few problems besides unglued joints which somehow hadn't leaked.
I also J-B welded some leaded joints, added some more strapping for the heavy cast iron stack above above, and a support brace clamp bolted to a 2x6 for the 5ft piece of cast iron which was only held in place by two rubber couplers bearing the full weight.
Some tips for PVC:
-Dry fit everything to ensure slope and full seating.
-Scuff and clean all fittings including new pipe which have casting ridges and shiny connection surfaces.
-Double-mark exact position and connection depth for all joints with a sharpy pen and unique lines.
-Draw arrows and/or or number the order of assembly. You need that 1/4 twist!!
(The gluing part actually goes very fast when you got it right.)
-Assemble from the critical places out to the adjustable joints.
-The 1/4 twist helps the glue mix and prevents a ridge inside..
-Primer inside, outside well past the line, inside. Glue outside, inside, outside. There are 5 seconds max assembly time!!!!
-You absolutely need to hold in place 40 sec + although they say 30.
-If something is off cut and add a female-female connector to adjust angle slightly but this shouldn't be needed.
-Consider total weight and add support strap on the joints of longer pipe runs, and even in the middle if necessary.
Changed it to this.
An 8hr, 10hr and then a 14hr day for this money-grubbing LL to at least seal it up by the promised time.
