“Three tenants, one stack. They sent a notice for each flat with the day the water would be off, and not one tenant called me angry.”
Bassem T.Landlord, Vernon Hill
Stack and drain replacement, Worcester
The old iron stack inside your triple-decker, replaced floor by floor
Third-generation plumbers. We open the chase, take out the cast iron that has thinned from the inside, and run new pipe from the roof vent to the cellar, with a notice for each flat before we start.
- Licensed and insured, number in the footer
- Written price before work starts
- A notice letter for each flat
- Weekdays, 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.Nights and weekends: leave a message, we call at 7.
- Permit pulled for the jobThe city's plumbing inspector signs off before the wall closes.
- Three-deckers and old flatsTwo to six flats, owner-occupied or rented.
The stack map
One pipe, three flats: the stack map of a triple-decker
From the roof vent to the street, one run carries the waste of every flat. Here is each stop on it, top to bottom, and what we check there.
- 01Roof
Step 1: The vent: where the stack breathes
The stack runs up through the roof so air can follow the water down. A vent stopped by a nest or by ice makes every drain below it gurgle.
Look for: gurgling when a neighbor flushes
Fix: clear or replace the vent run
- 02Third floor
Step 2: Top flat: few fixtures, slow scale
Little water passes here, so cast iron can look sound outside while it flakes inside. Sewer gas that reaches this flat usually means a vent or a cracked joint above the last fixture.
Look for: a sewer smell near the chase
Fix: replace the run from the roof down
- 03Second floor
Step 3: Middle flat: the laterals and the offset
The laterals are the sideways runs from each bath and kitchen into the stack. Where the stack steps over to clear the floor plan, that offset and its joints are where stains show up first.
Look for: a brown ceiling stain below a bath
Fix: new laterals and a straight run where we can
- 04First floor
Step 4: Ground flat: the heaviest traffic
Every flat above drains past this floor. A leaking hub joint in the wall shows as damp plaster, a stain in the ceiling or a smell that comes and goes.
Look for: plaster lifting beside the chase
Fix: open the chase, replace the run
- 05Cellar
Step 5: Cellar: the foot of the stack
The stack turns here and runs under the floor as the building drain. Scale, a crack or a sag shows on a camera put in through the cleanout, and shows at the house trap.
Look for: rust at joints, crust where it meets the floor
Fix: new foot, building drain and trap
- 06Street
Step 6: Street: where your pipe ends
The connection to the city's sewer is the city's. We replace your side only, and tell you in writing where ours stops.
Look for: backups after the cellar is clear
Fix: your side of the lateral, camera first
The signs
What a failing cast-iron stack looks like
Most signs appear in the flat beside or below the stack, not at the pipe. One sign is a reason to look. Two or three together are a reason to call.
A brown stain on the ceiling
Often a leaking joint or a crack in a stack, a lateral or a drain above it. We trace it before anyone repaints.
Look at: the flat below a bath or kitchen
Plaster lifting beside the chase
Damp that has been there a while lifts paint and plaster. Where it sits against the stack, it is worth opening.
Look at: the wall the pipes run behind
Peeling paint in a ceiling corner
A corner that stains again after it is painted is telling you water is still arriving.
Look at: corners nearest the stack
Streaks and crust in the cellar
Rust-colored weeping at a joint, or a crust where the stack meets the floor. A dry crust still shows where water has been.
Look at: joints and the foot of the stack
Gurgling, a sewer smell, or drains that slow down on more than one floor at once are signs too, and they leave nothing to photograph.
Why it fails
Oakum, lead and iron: a joint built to last decades
Old stacks were put together in hubs. Tarred hemp called oakum was packed into each joint, then sealed with poured lead.
Those joints held for a long time. Over the years the iron scales and thins from the inside, and the lead and oakum dry and shrink. Sometimes one section is all that is bad, and the camera and the opened chase show which. If the iron is thin all the way, patching one joint only moves the leak.
What we look at before we recommend
Scale and pitting inside the pipe, by camera where there is a cleanout
Each joint on the run we can reach
The offsets, where the flow changes direction
What the other drains in the building are made of
What we do
Stacks and drains, and nothing else
We do not do bathrooms, kitchens or boilers. We replace what is inside the walls and under the cellar floor.
Stack replacement
The full run, roof to cellar, with cast iron out and new pipe in. We plan it a flat at a time.
Section repairs
When the camera and the opened chase show one bad section, we replace it and tell you what we saw in the rest.
Building drain and house trap
The run under the cellar floor to the street, and the trap where it leaves.
Laterals and branch lines
The sideways runs from each bath and kitchen to the stack, replaced while the wall is open.
Vents and roof penetrations
New vent runs through the roof, sealed with the roofer's flashing or ours.
Camera inspections
Through the cellar cleanout, with the findings written up and sent to you.
Sample comments
What owners say after the wall closes
“I live on the first floor. They covered the hall, opened the chase and showed me the old pipe before it went in the truck. It had a crack along one side I would never have seen.”
Kinga W.Owner-occupant, Main South
“The price came in writing and listed what it left out: plaster and paint. When the wall opened they sent a photo before doing anything extra.”
Jonel R.Owner of a three-decker, Grafton Hill
Sample reviews.
Service area
Worcester and the towns around it
Most of our work is in buildings of two to six flats, in the city and the towns that grew around its mills.
Worcester County
- Worcester
- Sterling
- Holden
- Leicester
- Millbury
- Shrewsbury
- West Boylston
- Boylston
- Grafton
- Paxton
- Oxford
- Charlton
- Northborough
- Westborough
We don't go east of Interstate 495, or south into Rhode Island. For those, call a plumber who works near you.
ZIP codes: 01602, 01603, 01604, 01605, 01606, 01607, 01608, 01609, 01610, 01564, 01507, 01520, 01524, 01527, 01545, 01583
Before you call
Questions owners ask first
Do you replace the whole stack every time?
No. If the camera and the opened chase show one bad section, we replace that section and say what the rest looks like. If the iron is thin throughout, we recommend the whole run and show you why.
What will my tenants be told?
We send a notice letter for each flat with the day and the hours the water will be off. The letter has our office number on it, so tenants call us, not you.
Will I know the price before you start?
Yes, in writing. If the wall opens and the job changes, we stop, send you a photo and you decide.
Do you pull the permit?
Yes. The permit and the city's plumbing inspection are part of the job, and the permit fee is its own line on the estimate.
Do you work on the weekend?
The office is open weekdays. For a stack replaced in an occupied building we plan the work around when each flat can be without water.
Ask for a look
Tell us what you have noticed
A person in the office reads this. We call on the next business morning to set up a look.
Phone(508) 555-0100
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Saturday and SundayToday
- Closed