It does not matter what th eiron pipe is being used for. You do need to be sure it is iron pipe and not galvanized steel pipe. Iron pipe was not used all that much in size below 3 inches. Old iron pipe has belled ends (AKA 'hubs') with joints caulked (oakum) and topped with lead (the lead is poured over the caulk and then used to compress the caulk to create the seal). Some newer iron pipe has no hubs and uses metal jacketed elastomeric clamps to join section (called 'no hub'). Galvanized steel can be cut wit a typical 'pipe cutter' with a hardened wheel.

Looks like a bit of a mess. Put aside your other ideas for a moment. Do the other drains work in the house? If so, then you should try to repair that original one for the laundry. How far can you snake before you hit the blockage? That would give you an idea of how far you would need to break the slab...if you even need to do that. What kind of snaking did you do? Try power snaking? Is there a tree out front that may have compromised the drain? You might want to get a plumbing quote to find out what needs to be done. Then maybe work out a deal to do a portion of the work yourself - like the concrete breaking if it's inside (rent electric jackhammer & some digging. And let someone who knows concrete do the pour & surfacing. (small job if the repair is local to the laundry area). And if it requires digging in your front yard, you can do that part, too. (Or hire it to someone that's already in the neighborhood doing excavation with the right equipment.) First talk to a plumber.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't replace the valves, just turned them off. I ran over at lunch and monkeyed around a bit. I shut everything off, drained, turned it on, ran water, shut off, drained - repeated a couple of times. It spit out some orange/brown water, and now the flow looks to be back to normal levels. Unfortunately, I think it is safe to assume there is more crude where that came from??? For the joint from copper to old galvanized - how is that supposed to be addressed? Do they just sell a special fitting with PVC or something in the middle so the 2 metals don't touch? The area near the current joint is clearly rusty from the outside and the 2 shutoff valves on that end are pretty rusty too. The rest of the pipe (upstream) has no outward signs of rust, so something bad is going on at the joints. For a permanent fix, should I just get rid of the galvanized after the main water shutoff, use a special joint between the shutoff and the copper, replace the downsteam shutoff valves, and install a filter in the run between the main shutoff and the split for hot/cold? I'm not really itching to rip everything out, but rust on the outside of the pipe and corrosion on the inside makes me pretty nervous about the thing bursting and flooding the basement.

Code requires that when any pipe is passed through a masonry material,I.E. cement, concrete, brick, block or mortar joined stone the pipe MUST BE sleeved. The rationale for the requirement is two fold. 1.The rates of thermal expansion between pipe and masonry materials is significantly different, therefore as the pipe would attempt to move from thermal expansion it would rub against the masonry material causing excessive wear on the outer surface of the pipe which would ultimately lead to severe corrosion and/or pipe wall failure. 2.In the case of metal pipes, such as, but not limited to cast iron, steel, brass or copper pipes, the lime and other chemicals in the mortar adversely react with the metal pipe causing excessive corrosion. To make a sleeve a pipe at least two nominal trade sizes larger than the desired pipe and long enough to pass through the masonry material and extend out at least 1" on either side is first passed through the wall or slab. (you may use any type of pipe to make the sleeve.) The sleeve may be sealed by any available means, such as being cast into the concrete during the pour, cemented in place or the space between the outside of the sleeve and the masonry material can be filled with tar, pitch or expansion foam. The desired pipe is then passed through the sleeve and the space between the exterior of the desired pipe and the interior of the sleeve is to be filled with expansion foam. There are two variations of the sleeve rule which may be accepted by your local code. The sleeve pipe may not be required if there is a hole through the masonry material which is equal to or greater than the inside diameter of a pipe which is two nominal trade sizes larger than the desired pipe. In this case, once the desired pipe is passed through the hole, the remaining space in the hole is to be filled with expansion foam. When stubbing small diameter pipes up through a slab some codes will permit the use of a vinyl or pvc tubular sleeving material which is available at all plumbing supply houses. In some regions where they have high acid or alkali conditions in the soil the local codes require all lines under slab to be sleeved with the vinyl membrane material. All gas lines running under a slab are required to be sleved in shed,40 PVC pipe for the full length of the run and the sleeve must extend outside the structure at least 3'. All interior openings of the sleeve are required to be sealed with expansion foam and the outside end of the line is required to be stubbed up above grade. The top of the riser is required to be fitted with a 180deg bend on top so that the opening is pointing downward to prevent rain water from entering the pipe and the end of the bend is to be left open to serve as a vent. If copper pipe is used to make the gas line, all copper joints under the slab MUST BE brazed rather than soldered.