What Kind of Pipe is This?

Specific Inspection Topics Plumbing Inspections
1

1960 house. Main plumbing vent in the attic. From a distance it looks like cast iron, However it is joined with a coupling and on close examination the black is some sort of coating.Looking closely at the coupling, it looks like the pipe material itself is white.

I’m wondering if this is Transite. I’ve seen Transite pipe many times, but never with any coating like this. If it is, it appears to be pretty well encapsulated.

Can anyone confirm whether this is Transite (ACM) or some other material?

Thanks

2

Chuck,

This is a strange looking material. I’ve seen cast iron, PVC and galvanized stacks, but never ran into that type of material.

Did you attempt to scratch it with a tool?
Is it solid or is it able to be etched into?

A lot of transite piping that I’ve encountered is gray. If you say it’s coated with a material, them maybe the homeowner had it encapsulated due to it being transite.

Even if it is transite (asbestos) it doesn’t have to be removed if it’s not friable. Simply note it as “plumbing stack appears to be an asbestos looking material”.

3

orangeburg ?

4

It don’t look like orangeburg (fiber) to me.

5

I did attempt to scratch on the surface, but not too aggressively. The outer surface was pretty hard and would not readily scratch

6

Looks like cast iron to me.

7

This may be a possibility. If you look closely at the joint, you can see that the pipe has been turned so that it fits the coupling. It also doesn’t look like the coupling has been cemented in any way ( I get the impression that this would be typical with Orangeburg). Also, though it doesn’t show well in the photos, the upper section is not quite square in the coupling, which also tends support the non-cemented joint theory.

I did recommend that my client have a hydrostatic test performed on the system. The plumbers were just starting as I wrapped up my walkthrough. I’ll find out how the test went. I’ll also find out if they identified the type of pipe.

Thanks

8

Yes from a distance. But it was definitely not metallic. Cast iron would have used a hub with an oakum/poured lead seal for the joint.

9

file:///C:/Users/ETHI/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg

10

Orangeburg pipe

11

Here some more on orange burg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu_lktP_O4Q

12

Nice video.

Imagine being the guy on the other end of that camera pulling it back in from the waste pipe. The smell alone would make me want to blow chunks.

And then, how the hell do they sanitize that shi++y camera snake after use?

13

When i got out of high school i worked for a company called underwater tel eye. Main job was running a camera threw sewers . it was different for sure . Best fun was when the camera got stuck and i had to crawl the pipe to get it back. good money though and all you could eat lolol

14

Everything you never wanted to know about Orangeburg piping including where it started and what it was originally used for. Took me a while to find it in my files.

http://www.sewerhistory.org/articles/compon/orangeburg/orangeburg.htm

15

http://www.tempe.gov/bsafety/Orangeburg/Orangeburg.htm

http://www.aboutannarbor.info/Home+Care/227.aspx