Welding Tips and Tricks

Ho y’all. First post here. I’m a beginner stick welder, having only welded carbon steel no more than 1/8” thick. Have been lurking a while and gained some good knowledge.

I want to tackle a house project. Basically, I have a 4” sewer drain pipe in my basement that is made out of cast iron. It is the cleanout. Well, it sticks up from the floor at an angle, to a height of approximately 20 inches. This is preventing me from putting any type of bed or couch in that area.

I want to cut it and then reconnect the cap portion to the shorter neck.

Can this be done by a beginner welder with the right type of sticks, or is it an uphill battle?

Thanks and glad to be here.

BostonDad wrote:Ho y’all. First post here. I’m a beginner stick welder, having only welded carbon steel no more than 1/8” thick. Have been lurking a while and gained some good knowledge.

I want to tackle a house project. Basically, I have a 4” sewer drain pipe in my basement that is made out of cast iron. It is the cleanout. Well, it sticks up from the floor at an angle, to a height of approximately 20 inches. This is preventing me from putting any type of bed or couch in that area.

I want to cut it and then reconnect the cap portion to the shorter neck.

Can this be done by a beginner welder with the right type of sticks, or is it an uphill battle?

Thanks and glad to be here.

https://www.amazon.com/Cherne-270138-Cl ... lp_pl_dp_3
Grind it off flush with a thin wheel. Then put a clean out plug like this in it.

You can't easily weld cast iron, in my experience. You can braze it with brass, using an oxy-acetylene torch setup.

What I would recommend is to cut it off with an angle grinder and cut-off wheel and use a rubber fitting to connect the pipe and top of the drain. That is how most old plumbing is done. As a kid I worked as a plumber's assistant and I was the one who had to crawl under the house and cut off old drains with a hack saw and/or cold chisel, it sucks...but then we would use one of the fittings I describe and connect the cast iron pipe to a new drain at the main floor and/or toilet.

EDIT: I see Josh added a link to his reply, he first didn't have one so I wasn't sure what he was trying to tell you...but that would work if you don't need the drain to work. Do you get water in the basement?

I disagree when it comes to cast iron drain pipe.

Poland308 wrote:I disagree when it comes to cast iron drain pipe.

I disagree with your solution also, especially if it needs to drain.

He said it’s a clean out. It already is capped off.

Poland308 wrote:He said it’s a clean out. It already is capped off.

Ok, carry on.

I picture would help.

Is there any possibility of igniting sewer gas with a cutoff wheel????

Almost impossible. But it if does methane burns pretty clean so you won’t see the flame till it’s too late.
No worries I am a service pipe fitter, it’s the most common way to to it professionally. I’ll note I said cut it flush with the floor but I see it comes up at an angle, so I’ll adjust my advice to say cut it square with the pipe as close to the floor as possible. If you do need it totally below flush then you will need to cut out a little Concreat to make room for the plug.

I like Josh's idea. That wouldn't be any different than putting a cap plug into a piece of schedule 40 plastic to use for clean out or jamming a tater into some ding dong's exhaust pipe. Just make sure the cut is straight to the pipe so the plug will fit squarely. And since it's already at the angle, the water (ahem) shouldn't come back out unless ...... but that plug should hold.