When you crawl about 30 ft under an old house with a couple feet of clearance and you can see that someone took pride in their work doing it the hard old fashion way. It gives me chills and motivation to not slack off.
I am one of the old plumbers who made lead joints before pvc. The work was hard and heavy. I had the privalge of working with the old timers who had done it all. People u to tell me how big my arms were for a short man. Plumbing is a great trade in it self but plastic made it easier and u didnt breath the lead when we poured joints
New England Plumber here- you know you are getting old when your skills are a novelty on TH-cam. I thought I was the last guy with a ceiling iron. 😀😀Great job Roger.
Just starting "plumbing" a few years ago in a shower remodeling business. It is humbling and fascinating to see what the masters of old had to do each and every day as they built America. Thank you for doing this Roger. And thank God for PVC!
I'm a plumber is Los Angeles I sincerely appreciate you sharing your experiences and knowledge, I have a far greater appreciation for the art of plumbing watching videos like this, respect to all the ones that come before us.
I could see this process being more forgiving than PVC/Chem welding though. If the clocking is off or something doesn't line up, heat the joint and make the adjustment? I've never done a lead/oakum joint though, so I have no idea; messed up a few PVC joints though
in USSR we had these same style bell and fitting cats iron pipes, but we never used lead we used tar soaked very sticky and malleable oakum, we would smash that in as deep as possible then pour molten tar into the fitting and that would be it. Sometimes the tar was in short supply so in order to finish the job plumbers would use cement powder and would make a very thick paste from pure cement, as it would cure to be very hard, and it would be mixed with oakum and stuffed into the hub and would cure on the next day. You can still find pipes in old soviet apartment blocks with cast iron pipes joint with cement and they still go strong, very little leaks. Its the tar that was leaking. it was much faster, much cheaper and much less labor intensive.... and yes, that is the reason why now all soviet pipes laid in 70s and 80s are now leaking everywhere they were installed because tar is not a long term solution as it gets brittle, and as the pipe moves from seasons or cold/hot water it crackles the tar and starts to leak after some years.
Here in Chicago we still use cast iron all the time. It's all that's allowed in commercial plumbing. I work 99% of the time in high rises and that's all we use is cast iron. For under ground we use push gaskets and everything else is lead and oakum. That one iron you said was an offset iron that was set to 1" is actually a ceiling iron. It's used when you have a hub tight to the ceiling and can't get in there with regular irons
Why the hell doesn't the city of Chicago allow PVC? I live in NJ and my dad was a union plumber retired about 10 years now. They started allowing PVC in commercial buildings in like the 90s here. Crazy Chicago still doesn't
They say for fire rating and that cast is less noisy than pvc but I think that our union is the biggest reason. Pvc is much easier to do than cast and using pvc would take a lot less work.
@@ObservationofLimits yea unless u are a brother or cousin of a big wig in the union all they do is take ur money. Or if u know how to work ur knee pads very well for them 🤣
Last time I saw this was on a commercial high rise in Miami in 1981. Job was union, I was a carpenter's helper on the formwork crew. The plumbers were great, taught me a bunch, they really wanted to help the young guys. Thanks for the video!
I’m an apprentice from Milwaukee. I worked with a couple old plumbers from Chicago years back and they would tell me about pouring let joints in the high rises downtown. I was always jealous that they still did them as it’s a part of plumbing history. Shout out to Jeff, Dave, Jake and Marty
Love it! I have not poured a lead joint in 20 years. Thanks for the video, and remember, if it wasn't for plumbers, people would have no place to go.. LOL
That is incredible. I have worked with PVC to cast iron transitions for years and have always wondered how these oakum and lead joints were made. It's nice to see knowledge like this being passed on instead of lost.
Plumber from the UK. Lots of old houses over here. Cast iron pipes everywhere, regularly come across lead waste pipes and occasionally come across lead water mains. Surprisingly non of this old-school stuff was taught to me in collage, had to learn it all on the job or from TH-cam vids like this one. Thanks Roger 👍
Old school soldering of lead like this break's building regs in the UK. Can only use leadlok fittings to join existing lead pipework to new. Or preferably remove the lead completely.
Old school plumbers worked very hard , but man i could only imagine how long it took to actually plumb these 100 year old houses or commercial jobs back in the day
For some reason, I have found plumbing to be interesting since I was a kid making contraptions of pipe in the 60s and early 70s. I am also the weird guy who like to learn to do things "the old way". I took this to an extreme and still shave with a straight razor. I've read about and understood the principle of the lead and oakum joint but this was the first time I have ever actually seen one.THANKS!!
Thank you Roger that gave me a better understanding of the times when my Father would make such connections when I was just getting to the trade. he passed in 2007 and I wish I had more time to learn those skills before he died
Great lesson with this one, Roger!! I really enjoy learning about the history of the trade. You're not only a highly skilled plumber, but a great educator as well. Love the videos, my man 🤘
@@RogerWakefield I always enjoyed the lead and oakum joints, that was when plumbers were plumbers. I had one young plumber tell one day, if he had started back then, he would not have made it.
My dad made me learn how to do this when I was 8 years old. Haven't done it in decades, but I remember very well how to do it. Nice trip down memory lane.
Torn a lot of cast iron on remodels, new plumber of 6 years, but never once seen or had it explained how it’s done. I guess because no one knows. I Love your channel very much and I use what you teach everyday. This video was definitely necessary!
Great video. Done a fair amount of commercial renovations, and I always respected the work that the older plumbers did before me. Plumbers back then were really amazing skilled hands. I myself have never needed to do this on a actual job, but it is a skill that must be taught, to have in your back pocket if ever needed.
That's a nice piece of soil pipe work, sir. Cast iron toilet flanges are what I see a lot of newcomers struggle with in more recent days. I'd like to see you perform a cast iron offset toilet flange install on this channel. The flange that has a 2" offset is a bit of a bear. I had to do several of them over the years and struggled mightly as there was no one to properly train me on it. Had to learn from my own mistakes on call backs.
I always feel a bit of sympathy when the architect lays out the bathroom so a joist runs right through the middle of where the toilet needs to be and nobody sees what the problem is until the plumber gets there.
Great video. I helped my father place cast iron pipe in our NY home back in the 50's. All Darin pipe was cast. He didn't have a super torch like yours, he used a blow torch that had a hook on it to hold the ladle. Tool lots of work. Watching you reminded me of those memorable days. Thank you.
This brought back memories. Dad and I pouring lead in the CI plumbing, and dipping the electrical joints. I still have a couple of gasoline blowtorches and toolboxes full of obsolete tools sitting in my shop. Showing how to start a gasoline blowtorch or how to set leather anchors in holes drilled by a drilling hammer and stardrill makes people appreciate what it took to build years ago. Thanks for sharing this.
I remember my Uncle doing this in the basement on a drain repair. It was probably the late 1980s. He became a plumber in the 1950s so he was very familiar with this obviously. I always thought it was a really cool technique.
I appreciate the fact you showing this! I have been plumbing for nearly 7 years now commercial construction, commercial service, residential construction, and residential service. I am very thankful for newer material and connections.
How cool! I’m a plumber in New Zealand and have never seen this done before and always wondered how the did galv stack work in the past! Thank you so much for this video!!
Great video Roger. I really enjoy watching your videos. I am a plumber in NYC and we still do lead and oakum joints on jobs. Mainly, the underground piping in schools but sometimes it is on other jobs as well. Im currently working on one right now with lead and oakum joints. Its a great skill for all plumbers to know how to pack and pour lead and oakum joints. It shows the great craftsmanship in the work us plumbers do on the job every day.
@@RogerWakefieldHey Roger, we use lead pots heated with a gas setup connected to it. And in tight spots too far away from the pot or no clear walking path, we heat the ladle with a B tank setup.
Just what I need a reason to buy even more tools🎉😂I'm learning a lot of plumbing now and I've seen some oakum joints and it's nice to know what's going on with them. Preciate the knowledge!
I love your attitude! A part of my family emmigrated to Texas 4-5 generations ago and that part of my family here in europe still has that attitude of using a bigger torch just because you can.
Nice to see traditional drainage from back in the day when plumbers where real tradesmen. I had to drive from Sussex in England to London to show a young plumber how to do a lead caulked joint on a 8' interceptor
great video . We still have some commercial projects required some heavy duty drains to be jointed with lead & Oakum , Im glad I havent forgotten how to do that even-though its rarely used now days, last time I did that I think was 2010 .
These videos are extremely watchable and sharable. This occupies the same space where people with combat experience in the military put out videos explaining and articulating doctrine and how systems are employed; where you are doing the same thing for people in construction and service. Thank you
Nice! Every once and a while here in Baltimore we will break out and replace a cast iron closet flange and pack with lead and oakum. Better than the plastic repair flanges in some cases.
I've been waiting to see one of these videos been in this trade for almost twenty years now and my boss is old school and when I say old I mean old he has fifty plus years and packing and leading a joint is one of the skills I learned from him that I am honestly the most proud of and still use to this day if your in service and work in older homes having knowledge like this and being able to replace cast iron flange will save both you and the customer time and money no one wants to cut holes in walls or ceilings if they don't need to
2nd year apprentice from Canada here, I work in an older city so I come across a lot of this in service and it’s unfortunate I haven’t been taught to make a lead and oakum joint. Usually we slap a fernco coupling and change to ABS pipe
@@RogerWakefield mostly on st.charles which is uptown neworleans big giant houses with people who have to much money to spend. Usually they want to use cast-iron again because of the sound reduction it provides especially when the house is 3 stories!
I was taught how to do this in a horizontal Joint in water! My boss took threading oil and a copper pipe to that joint on a runner rope and poured the oil into that joint while I poured the lead...it kept it from exploding and popping. Blew my mind! So that is about as old school as you can get!
They do not teach you that in the field. The pythagorean theorem for offsets or fluid dynamics....I learned in trade school. But shit like using Windex instead of the blue leak detector or using a sharpened pencil to stop a leak temporarily on cast iron....that's learned from being around the old guys!
Brought back alot of memories with the lead pot being fired and melting old lead water lines and drain lines. it was like making some molten lead in advance before using it made it easy to do consecutive joints one after another. By the way that stuff in top of the lead in the ladle is called Dross. Doing a horizontal joint will get you tons of reviews and don't forget to add some oakum behind your little triangle to stop some lead from spilling as you pour.
I’m a plumber in Sudbury, Ontario. I’ve never used lead and plain to make a joint and probably never will do this is very nice to see. I’m 30 and I think I’m at the age where any plumbers that come after me will have only soldered in school. I prefer it over press because anyone can do press. Only a plumber can plumb a complete system and solder it.
Yay video! 🎉 Edit: This was ultra fascinating to watch, I have a new appreciation for the history of plumbing. Here’s hoping that soldering isn’t going away anytime soon.
Just like downtown.. Still do it today! Chicago LU 130 We call the “offset yarning iron” a ceiling iron. We keep our running ropes serviceable by soaking them in a cutting oil. An ingot of lead is 5# and we call it a pig of lead. A string of lead comes out with 5 pigs. Oakum comes in brown like you used, or white which is the rope type. Cool video. It’s kinda sad to see that so many plumbers in today’s industry have never learned or had the opportunity to pour and caulk a joint. If that makes me “old school” I’ll take it as a badge of honor. It’s pretty normal in my area. But so is sweating pipe. Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones…
Another tip is to add a ball of plumbers putter under the triangle where your lead runner is clamped. Prevents lead from coming out. I’m 31 plumbing for about 13 years now. I pour lead joints whenever I can I enjoy the process. Also sometimes easier if the hub of cast is at floor level.
As a young enough plumber (34)coming from New Orleans. Fell into it after Katrina. I’ve had to pack and pour a few years ago. My predecessor taught me how to de- lead and re install cast where pvc won’t fit. Lost art Roger.
30 plus years ago when I helped load coal into barges on the Monongahela River out of a coal mine tipple, we used oakum, wooden wedges, and wood blocking to temporary seal holes in rusty 40 year old barges. We had to look in the gunnel openings of each loaded barge, put a pump in if there was water. Next climb down inside to see where the leak was and to try to plug it with oakum, wedges, and blocking. If the leak was major, call the boat to take it to get unloaded. Never lost one in the 10 years I worked out there.
I’m an excavator. A lot of our work is replacing old cast iron water mains. I always wondered how the joints were actually done. I had an idea but not the full extent. Thanks for the lesson!!
great video...this and soldering should always be taught to the new guys coming up......steve lav has good videos on replacding broken closet flanges doing this..
Reminds me of the days of lead shower pans or hot mop shower pans I've seen. No one would probably mess with that but you have to appreciate how far we've come with technology that makes these hard jobs more convenient.
An old school plumber taught us how to pour lead joints in apprenticeship school. I’ve never had to pour one in the field, but I at least know the process of I’m in a jam. Better question, how do I get the lead out If I’ve got a hub at the floor, and maybe I need to put a tie seal gasket in and transition to pvc. Much appreciated. Thanks. Much love from Ohio.
If you're not trying to save the old pipe that's in the hub, just remove the old pipe out with a hammer and chisel. You have to place the wedge of the chisel between the lead and the old pipe and drive the chisel inward to get the old pipe out. Once you get a nice chunk of the old pipe out, you can start caving in the rest of it pretty easily. Don't forget to stuff a rag or something into the pipe down past your working area to keep from getting large chunks of debris into the existing waste piping! Certainly don't forget to pull the rag out when you're done either! Once you get the old pipe out, the old lead and oakum should come out pretty easily by driving the lead inward with the chisel. Clean the inside of the hub out real well if you intend on using a rubber gasket to make the new PVC transition.
You forgot to mention the maximum your lead is allowed to be underneath the lip. In NC, you have to have a 1 inch pour and it cannot be more than 1/8th inch below the top of the collar. We mostly use bands, but government work sometimes requires lead and oakum.
I have poured many a joint in my days as a plumber in San Francisco. My father was also a plumber and he used to wipe lead joints. By chance do you have a video of doing that?
My uncle and I did excavation for a bunch of plumbers when i was young. We would dig and then help with repairs, tie ins or new installs. For years it was all lead and oakum and then we were allowed to use rubber gaskets. What a game changer that was but that innovation was the end of craftsmanship and skill set. Any monkey with a digging bar could lay pipe in minutes after that. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Oakum is made from Jute and tar. I go one strand at a time first for about 4 times around. The final strands I'll twist together to force them down tight. If you twist all of them like a rope I figure it has very little space to expand. Keep your running rope in the box with oakum to soak up that oil and stay soft. You can use a little plumbers putty at the top of the rope to keep it from spilling out.
Very interesting video. Being in demo, I have seen many cast systems, but I have never known how it was done. I had no idea that many tools were needed, but it makes sense. I always try to remediate the lead, as it’s great soft lead that can be used for many things. One thing I know is that it’s easier to get out than it is to put in, lol. It’s also interesting to see the craftsmanship, and many times LACK OF when they come apart. I have also seen the difference of the lead when it’s poured all at once, verses in “layers”. I feel for the old school plumbers. One of the latest tear downs was a three story, that had all cast, including 5” vents to the roof…crazy amount of pipe…and the house had 52 window weights as well, so we all got some extra beer money when it was over, lol.
holy crap. Something just now makes sense to me from my childhood. 1988-1989ish there was a commercial and I can't even remember what for, but it showed a pipe springing a leak and I always wondered why there was some weird rope or nest of some kind involved. Today, at 37 years old, I learned of Oakum
Great video. I still have all of my lead tools. 23 years in and have done many lead joints working in older homes in the metro Detroit area. Most work was in Grosse Pointe where a 100+ year old house was common. I even have souvenir of a section of wood water main that we replaced. After moving to SWFL 2 years ago I highly doubt I’ll be using my lead box again since everything in Naples is new. I am going to melt down my lead ingots in to fishing weights
great video! lead and okum joints i meant to last a lifetime. lots of that stuff is still most homes new york city. i would love to see a Lead bend and brass farrell wiped and installed
When you crawl about 30 ft under an old house with a couple feet of clearance and you can see that someone took pride in their work doing it the hard old fashion way. It gives me chills and motivation to not slack off.
NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TODAY KNO WHAT REAL WORK TRULEY IS OR INVOLVES
They did it before the house was built and built the the house around it. No crawling 30’.
@@pjplumber2146 ya dude just cut a hole through the floor.
I am one of the old plumbers who made lead joints before pvc. The work was hard and heavy. I had the privalge of working with the old timers who had done it all. People u to tell me how big my arms were for a short man. Plumbing is a great trade in it self but plastic made it easier and u didnt breath the lead when we poured joints
New England Plumber here- you know you are getting old when your skills are a novelty on TH-cam. I thought I was the last guy with a ceiling iron. 😀😀Great job Roger.
Local 130 guy here. We do lead and oakum every day in Chicago 😂
Just starting "plumbing" a few years ago in a shower remodeling business. It is humbling and fascinating to see what the masters of old had to do each and every day as they built America. Thank you for doing this Roger. And thank God for PVC!
We still use that method some times.. Probably a lot more common than you would think. Mainly on toilet flanges..
I'm a plumber is Los Angeles I sincerely appreciate you sharing your experiences and knowledge, I have a far greater appreciation for the art of plumbing watching videos like this, respect to all the ones that come before us.
Plumbers protect the health of the nation everyday 💪🏻 and everyday that came before
I am a retired plumber. I remember that process. Real tedious. Plumbers today have it alot easier.
Very tedious! 💪🏻
I could see this process being more forgiving than PVC/Chem welding though. If the clocking is off or something doesn't line up, heat the joint and make the adjustment? I've never done a lead/oakum joint though, so I have no idea; messed up a few PVC joints though
I can’t imagine piping in an entire house in cast like this. How long would this have taken a plumber?
Yes and no .. timing on jobs is way more of a crunch now days
in USSR we had these same style bell and fitting cats iron pipes, but we never used lead we used tar soaked very sticky and malleable oakum, we would smash that in as deep as possible then pour molten tar into the fitting and that would be it. Sometimes the tar was in short supply so in order to finish the job plumbers would use cement powder and would make a very thick paste from pure cement, as it would cure to be very hard, and it would be mixed with oakum and stuffed into the hub and would cure on the next day. You can still find pipes in old soviet apartment blocks with cast iron pipes joint with cement and they still go strong, very little leaks. Its the tar that was leaking. it was much faster, much cheaper and much less labor intensive.... and yes, that is the reason why now all soviet pipes laid in 70s and 80s are now leaking everywhere they were installed because tar is not a long term solution as it gets brittle, and as the pipe moves from seasons or cold/hot water it crackles the tar and starts to leak after some years.
Suprised they didn't use lead. Lead is super cheap in the USA
Here in Chicago we still use cast iron all the time. It's all that's allowed in commercial plumbing. I work 99% of the time in high rises and that's all we use is cast iron. For under ground we use push gaskets and everything else is lead and oakum. That one iron you said was an offset iron that was set to 1" is actually a ceiling iron. It's used when you have a hub tight to the ceiling and can't get in there with regular irons
Why the hell doesn't the city of Chicago allow PVC? I live in NJ and my dad was a union plumber retired about 10 years now. They started allowing PVC in commercial buildings in like the 90s here. Crazy Chicago still doesn't
They say for fire rating and that cast is less noisy than pvc but I think that our union is the biggest reason. Pvc is much easier to do than cast and using pvc would take a lot less work.
@@gobulls372 i agree its the union. They say its to keep the trade alive
@@alexstoles1339 unions are garbage
@@ObservationofLimits yea unless u are a brother or cousin of a big wig in the union all they do is take ur money. Or if u know how to work ur knee pads very well for them 🤣
Last time I saw this was on a commercial high rise in Miami in 1981. Job was union, I was a carpenter's helper on the formwork crew. The plumbers were great, taught me a bunch, they really wanted to help the young guys. Thanks for the video!
I’m an apprentice from Milwaukee. I worked with a couple old plumbers from Chicago years back and they would tell me about pouring let joints in the high rises downtown. I was always jealous that they still did them as it’s a part of plumbing history.
Shout out to Jeff, Dave, Jake and Marty
I'm 75 years old welder, I've never seen this done, I love it !!
THANKS
Love it! I have not poured a lead joint in 20 years. Thanks for the video, and remember, if it wasn't for plumbers, people would have no place to go.. LOL
That is incredible. I have worked with PVC to cast iron transitions for years and have always wondered how these oakum and lead joints were made. It's nice to see knowledge like this being passed on instead of lost.
Plumber from the UK. Lots of old houses over here. Cast iron pipes everywhere, regularly come across lead waste pipes and occasionally come across lead water mains. Surprisingly non of this old-school stuff was taught to me in collage, had to learn it all on the job or from TH-cam vids like this one. Thanks Roger 👍
Old school soldering of lead like this break's building regs in the UK. Can only use leadlok fittings to join existing lead pipework to new. Or preferably remove the lead completely.
Old school plumbers worked very hard , but man i could only imagine how long it took to actually plumb these 100 year old houses or commercial jobs back in the day
For some reason, I have found plumbing to be interesting since I was a kid making contraptions of pipe in the 60s and early 70s. I am also the weird guy who like to learn to do things "the old way". I took this to an extreme and still shave with a straight razor. I've read about and understood the principle of the lead and oakum joint but this was the first time I have ever actually seen one.THANKS!!
Thank you Roger that gave me a better understanding of the times when my Father would make such connections when I was just getting to the trade. he passed in 2007 and I wish I had more time to learn those skills before he died
Great lesson with this one, Roger!! I really enjoy learning about the history of the trade. You're not only a highly skilled plumber, but a great educator as well. Love the videos, my man 🤘
I appreciate that, I had a lot of fun doing this
This video brings back a lot of memory. I started out this way. Love your videos.
How did you like it?
@@RogerWakefield I always enjoyed the lead and oakum joints, that was when plumbers were plumbers. I had one young plumber tell one day, if he had started back then, he would not have made it.
My dad made me learn how to do this when I was 8 years old. Haven't done it in decades, but I remember very well how to do it. Nice trip down memory lane.
Did you learn to do vertical and horizontal joints or one or the other?
Torn a lot of cast iron on remodels, new plumber of 6 years, but never once seen or had it explained how it’s done. I guess because no one knows. I Love your channel very much and I use what you teach everyday. This video was definitely necessary!
I value this information. My grandfather who was a plumber in Chicago showed me how to do this 20 years ago, good to remember
Great video. Done a fair amount of commercial renovations, and I always respected the work that the older plumbers did before me. Plumbers back then were really amazing skilled hands. I myself have never needed to do this on a actual job, but it is a skill that must be taught, to have in your back pocket if ever needed.
Great video Roger. This video gave me even more respect than i already had for the old school plumbers.
That's a nice piece of soil pipe work, sir. Cast iron toilet flanges are what I see a lot of newcomers struggle with in more recent days. I'd like to see you perform a cast iron offset toilet flange install on this channel. The flange that has a 2" offset is a bit of a bear. I had to do several of them over the years and struggled mightly as there was no one to properly train me on it. Had to learn from my own mistakes on call backs.
I always feel a bit of sympathy when the architect lays out the bathroom so a joist runs right through the middle of where the toilet needs to be and nobody sees what the problem is until the plumber gets there.
did plenty of 2"offset flanges, they do present a challenge.
Perfect video !!! Explained exactly how you should teach an upcoming plumber !! You don’t understand how many people your helping 👌👌
I appreciate that
Great video. I helped my father place cast iron pipe in our NY home back in the 50's. All Darin pipe was cast. He didn't have a super torch like yours, he used a blow torch that had a hook on it to hold the ladle. Tool lots of work. Watching you reminded me of those memorable days. Thank you.
Oh wow! Thank you for sharing the memory
I always wondered how the horizontal joint were done. Learn something every day!
This brought back memories. Dad and I pouring lead in the CI plumbing, and dipping the electrical joints. I still have a couple of gasoline blowtorches and toolboxes full of obsolete tools sitting in my shop. Showing how to start a gasoline blowtorch or how to set leather anchors in holes drilled by a drilling hammer and stardrill makes people appreciate what it took to build years ago. Thanks for sharing this.
I remember my Uncle doing this in the basement on a drain repair. It was probably the late 1980s. He became a plumber in the 1950s so he was very familiar with this obviously. I always thought it was a really cool technique.
Thank you Roger for sharing this with us. Been plumbing for just over 30 yrs and have never done a lead and oakum joint.
You don't know how much I love the old plumbing I love my cast iron and copper pipe
I'm definitely old school when it comes to plumbing
I appreciate the fact you showing this! I have been plumbing for nearly 7 years now commercial construction, commercial service, residential construction, and residential service. I am very thankful for newer material and connections.
Solid knowledge, solid joint.
Grandfather described these to me years ago.
Thank you for sharing .
Glad you enjoyed it
Alot of Lead & Oakum is still used in cast iron of New York & other East Coast old cities. A skill definitely still needed.
How cool! I’m a plumber in New Zealand and have never seen this done before and always wondered how the did galv stack work in the past! Thank you so much for this video!!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the memories, I helped my grand father do that 54 years
Great video Roger. I really enjoy watching your videos. I am a plumber in NYC and we still do lead and oakum joints on jobs. Mainly, the underground piping in schools but sometimes it is on other jobs as well. Im currently working on one right now with lead and oakum joints. Its a great skill for all plumbers to know how to pack and pour lead and oakum joints. It shows the great craftsmanship in the work us plumbers do on the job every day.
Thanks for sharing! How do you melt the lead?
@@RogerWakefieldHey Roger, we use lead pots heated with a gas setup connected to it. And in tight spots too far away from the pot or no clear walking path, we heat the ladle with a B tank setup.
Using cast iron underground should be illegal
Plumbers back in the day were hardcore man. The tech that I use on a daily basis just makes my job so much easier.
I really like the sign in the background. "Education is important, plumbing is importanter." Couldn't help but get a chuckle out of that.
Just what I need a reason to buy even more tools🎉😂I'm learning a lot of plumbing now and I've seen some oakum joints and it's nice to know what's going on with them. Preciate the knowledge!
Love the video Roger!! Those old timers sure didn't make excuses that's a lot of work for a single joint!
I think knowing how everything works is a good idea, knowledge is power!!
Old school plumbers are worth every penny.
I love your attitude! A part of my family emmigrated to Texas 4-5 generations ago and that part of my family here in europe still has that attitude of using a bigger torch just because you can.
Nice to see traditional drainage from back in the day when plumbers where real tradesmen. I had to drive from Sussex in England to London to show a young plumber how to do a lead caulked joint on a 8' interceptor
Fascinating. I often helped commercial plumbers when my HVAC department was slow and I never even heard of this before.
Love this! Been waiting for a solid tutorial on how this is done. Thank you
Glad I could deliver this for you
nice tutorial, i usually unwrap the oakum and use the thinner strands. retired after 49 yrs in the trade.
great video . We still have some commercial projects required some heavy duty drains to be jointed with lead & Oakum , Im glad I havent forgotten how to do that even-though its rarely used now days, last time I did that I think was 2010 .
These videos are extremely watchable and sharable. This occupies the same space where people with combat experience in the military put out videos explaining and articulating doctrine and how systems are employed; where you are doing the same thing for people in construction and service. Thank you
So Cool! I really like these plumbing history videos, it's very engaging because it gives a sense of belonging /identity.
Nice! Every once and a while here in Baltimore we will break out and replace a cast iron closet flange and pack with lead and oakum. Better than the plastic repair flanges in some cases.
Great good old times of plumbing and it's still useful for retrofits.
I've been waiting to see one of these videos been in this trade for almost twenty years now and my boss is old school and when I say old I mean old he has fifty plus years and packing and leading a joint is one of the skills I learned from him that I am honestly the most proud of and still use to this day if your in service and work in older homes having knowledge like this and being able to replace cast iron flange will save both you and the customer time and money no one wants to cut holes in walls or ceilings if they don't need to
2nd year apprentice from Canada here, I work in an older city so I come across a lot of this in service and it’s unfortunate I haven’t been taught to make a lead and oakum joint. Usually we slap a fernco coupling and change to ABS pipe
Lol im a 24 year old plumber and work in the big easy, already ahead of the game as I've poured and undone many lead joints! Great video!
That’s awesome! Where do you mainly install them?
@@RogerWakefield mostly on st.charles which is uptown neworleans big giant houses with people who have to much money to spend. Usually they want to use cast-iron again because of the sound reduction it provides especially when the house is 3 stories!
I was taught how to do this in a horizontal Joint in water!
My boss took threading oil and a copper pipe to that joint on a runner rope and poured the oil into that joint while I poured the lead...it kept it from exploding and popping. Blew my mind! So that is about as old school as you can get!
They do not teach you that in the field. The pythagorean theorem for offsets or fluid dynamics....I learned in trade school. But shit like using Windex instead of the blue leak detector or using a sharpened pencil to stop a leak temporarily on cast iron....that's learned from being around the old guys!
Thank you very much for posting this letting open video. It was very helpful and much appreciated.
Brought back alot of memories with the lead pot being fired and melting old lead water lines and drain lines. it was like making some molten lead in advance before using it made it easy to do consecutive joints one after another. By the way that stuff in top of the lead in the ladle is called Dross. Doing a horizontal joint will get you tons of reviews and don't forget to add some oakum behind your little triangle to stop some lead from spilling as you pour.
I’m a plumber in Sudbury, Ontario. I’ve never used lead and plain to make a joint and probably never will do this is very nice to see. I’m 30 and I think I’m at the age where any plumbers that come after me will have only soldered in school. I prefer it over press because anyone can do press. Only a plumber can plumb a complete system and solder it.
Yay video! 🎉
Edit: This was ultra fascinating to watch, I have a new appreciation for the history of plumbing. Here’s hoping that soldering isn’t going away anytime soon.
Just like downtown..
Still do it today!
Chicago LU 130
We call the “offset yarning iron” a ceiling iron.
We keep our running ropes serviceable by soaking them in a cutting oil.
An ingot of lead is 5# and we call it a pig of lead.
A string of lead comes out with 5 pigs.
Oakum comes in brown like you used, or white which is the rope type.
Cool video. It’s kinda sad to see that so many plumbers in today’s industry have never learned or had the opportunity to pour and caulk a joint.
If that makes me “old school” I’ll take it as a badge of honor. It’s pretty normal in my area. But so is sweating pipe. Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones…
Man that’s badass I’ve been wanting to know how that was done from day one going on about 9 years of plumbing and man that’s cool
Another tip is to add a ball of plumbers putter under the triangle where your lead runner is clamped. Prevents lead from coming out. I’m 31 plumbing for about 13 years now. I pour lead joints whenever I can I enjoy the process. Also sometimes easier if the hub of cast is at floor level.
Another tip is to take a piece of oakum and pull it apart and put it under the triangle and it helped from leaking.
As a young enough plumber (34)coming from New Orleans. Fell into it after Katrina. I’ve had to pack and pour a few years ago. My predecessor taught me how to de- lead and re install cast where pvc won’t fit. Lost art Roger.
It is a lost art. Do you enjoy it?
I've always wondered how horizontal joints were done. I've only done a few cast iron flange installations with lead and oakum. Neat video!
What a work of art.
Well, I for one am thankful and glad this is now a historical technique.
Great video, Roger! I remember as a boy, in Philadelphia (South Philly), I’d see the lateral/street trap done this way… It is a legacy, hands-down!
Hardly ever hear the old timers talk about that anymore. Video was badassness, love you bro. ‘Hook em’.
🤘🏽
I happened to be in the right place at the right time and got to see how oakum is made at the factory.
Super interesting - I'm not in the trade (controls engineer) but love seeing how they used to do things back in the day :)
30 plus years ago when I helped load coal into barges on the Monongahela River out of a coal mine tipple, we used oakum, wooden wedges, and wood blocking to temporary seal holes in rusty 40 year old barges. We had to look in the gunnel openings of each loaded barge, put a pump in if there was water. Next climb down inside to see where the leak was and to try to plug it with oakum, wedges, and blocking. If the leak was major, call the boat to take it to get unloaded. Never lost one in the 10 years I worked out there.
The last 3 minutes.. u rock sir!!!
I’m an excavator. A lot of our work is replacing old cast iron water mains. I always wondered how the joints were actually done. I had an idea but not the full extent. Thanks for the lesson!!
great video...this and soldering should always be taught to the new guys coming up......steve lav has good videos on replacding broken closet flanges doing this..
I have some of these tools that came from my grandfather, had no idea they were for lead pluming joints.
Reminds me of the days of lead shower pans or hot mop shower pans I've seen. No one would probably mess with that but you have to appreciate how far we've come with technology that makes these hard jobs more convenient.
That’s great knowledge man! Thank you for sharing your experience with us new plumber! Really appreciate the craft.
We still pour joints in and around Philly!! Not a lot but fun to take it old school
Crazy! I was in Pittsburgh and Erie this week! Love PA
@@RogerWakefield Pa. Plumbers love what you do, brother. Keep up the content.
An old school plumber taught us how to pour lead joints in apprenticeship school. I’ve never had to pour one in the field, but I at least know the process of I’m in a jam.
Better question, how do I get the lead out If I’ve got a hub at the floor, and maybe I need to put a tie seal gasket in and transition to pvc. Much appreciated. Thanks. Much love from Ohio.
If you're not trying to save the old pipe that's in the hub, just remove the old pipe out with a hammer and chisel. You have to place the wedge of the chisel between the lead and the old pipe and drive the chisel inward to get the old pipe out. Once you get a nice chunk of the old pipe out, you can start caving in the rest of it pretty easily. Don't forget to stuff a rag or something into the pipe down past your working area to keep from getting large chunks of debris into the existing waste piping! Certainly don't forget to pull the rag out when you're done either! Once you get the old pipe out, the old lead and oakum should come out pretty easily by driving the lead inward with the chisel. Clean the inside of the hub out real well if you intend on using a rubber gasket to make the new PVC transition.
You forgot to mention the maximum your lead is allowed to be underneath the lip. In NC, you have to have a 1 inch pour and it cannot be more than 1/8th inch below the top of the collar. We mostly use bands, but government work sometimes requires lead and oakum.
I have poured many a joint in my days as a plumber in San Francisco. My father was also a plumber and he used to wipe lead joints. By chance do you have a video of doing that?
I do not have a video on that yet, good idea.
My uncle and I did excavation for a bunch of plumbers when i was young. We would dig and then help with repairs, tie ins or new installs. For years it was all lead and oakum and then we were allowed to use rubber gaskets. What a game changer that was but that innovation was the end of craftsmanship and skill set. Any monkey with a digging bar could lay pipe in minutes after that. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Thanks man! Mr Fernco needs to be sainted!
Oakum is made from Jute and tar.
I go one strand at a time first for about 4 times around. The final strands I'll twist together to force them down tight. If you twist all of them like a rope I figure it has very little space to expand. Keep your running rope in the box with oakum to soak up that oil and stay soft. You can use a little plumbers putty at the top of the rope to keep it from spilling out.
Very interesting video thanks for the blast from the past very robust
Thank you for sharing I always wondered how they did the drain pipes in old houses
Thanks for doing this.. never seen it done before kind sir.
Very interesting video. Being in demo, I have seen many cast systems, but I have never known how it was done. I had no idea that many tools were needed, but it makes sense. I always try to remediate the lead, as it’s great soft lead that can be used for many things. One thing I know is that it’s easier to get out than it is to put in, lol. It’s also interesting to see the craftsmanship, and many times LACK OF when they come apart. I have also seen the difference of the lead when it’s poured all at once, verses in “layers”.
I feel for the old school plumbers. One of the latest tear downs was a three story, that had all cast, including 5” vents to the roof…crazy amount of pipe…and the house had 52 window weights as well, so we all got some extra beer money when it was over, lol.
Great demo! I've wondered how this was done exactly.
holy crap. Something just now makes sense to me from my childhood. 1988-1989ish there was a commercial and I can't even remember what for, but it showed a pipe springing a leak and I always wondered why there was some weird rope or nest of some kind involved. Today, at 37 years old, I learned of Oakum
Haha cool memory.
Thank you that was very nice. God bless you and your family amen and aloha
Thank you too
This was refreshing thank you! ❤
You're so welcome!
Greetings. Well done. How do you set up and pour a vertical joint for a fresh air vent? The vent is flush with a stone wall.
Roger could you explain the difference between inside and outside irons, and show section view of the final shape of the lead.
Great stuff!!! Definitely informative and useful!
Glad you think so! Have you ever made an old school joint like this?
Great video. I still have all of my lead tools. 23 years in and have done many lead joints working in older homes in the metro Detroit area. Most work was in Grosse Pointe where a 100+ year old house was common. I even have souvenir of a section of wood water main that we replaced. After moving to SWFL 2 years ago I highly doubt I’ll be using my lead box again since everything in Naples is new. I am going to melt down my lead ingots in to fishing weights
How many tools do you have?
@@RogerWakefield Enough to be sponsored by Milwaukee
great video! lead and okum joints i meant to last a lifetime. lots of that stuff is still most homes new york city. i would love to see a Lead bend and brass farrell wiped and installed
What is the advantage of lead and oakum compared to those plastic lead substitutes like Hercules Plastic Seal?