Complete renovation of bathrrom..need to replace piping

[absrao]

Hi -
We just bought a 1960 home and have to completely replace/renovate two bathrooms and kitchen. Waste (return) pipes in basement seems like cast iron and pipes under kitchen sink seems like copper. Someone advised to have copper pipes replaced with PVC. There is evendence of previous leak in basement return pipe joints and one joint is replaced with plastic join. Couple of queries

1. Is it required to replace the copper pipes and/or cast iron plumbing
2. Usually, is it copper all over the house or cast iron/other behind walls ?
3. How difficult is it to join PVC to cast iron/copper joints in basement ? I know 'difficult' is relative :-)
4. Is this a DIY project at all ?

[Rich]

1. Not required to replace. Copper is just fine for water supply - in fact it's much more common than pvc. Cast iron waste pipes are much quieter than pvc pipes.
2. Copper is typically used all over in walls, or out, for hot and cold supply lines. Cast iron is usually only for waste piping.
3. Usually it's done with a compression fitting. This also helps with contraction / expansion differences in pvc and cast iron.
4. With some further research and maybe some specific questions to a local plumber it could be a DIY project.

[Dano]

When I did my renovation...(entire house plumbing) I just used a no hub to connect PVC to Cast..waste is not pressurized