I hired an electrician through one of those referral services..”Andy on Call” to fix a rough wiring problem in the basement bathroom. Turns out he was only a pretend electrician. He never did solve the problem so I opened the yellow pages and called a real electrician. He did a fine job.
Anyway, in the process of drilling through a 2 x 4 with a 1/2 inch spade bit so he could fish a piece of Romex, the fake electrician punctured the PVC drain pipe for the kitchen sink. He had the nerve to plug the hole with a wad of pipe dope and swore that it would hold. I fired him.
The spot where the hole was is on a slightly curved pipe at a complicated junction and it looked to my untrained eye like it would be a major issue to cut it all out and replace it. I went to Lowes and found some stuff that they claim is for patching holes in PVC. It’s a paste that hardens when heated. I put it in the hole, heated it up and sure enough it seemed to bond to the PVC and it did get hard. (The hole’s 1/2″ in diameter. I put small amounts in at a time so as not to plug the 2″ drain pipe)
In addition, a friend took a short straight pipe coupling, cut it in half, carved out the center ridge and glued it over top of my repair.
All this is getting drywalled over, so potential leakage/mold is kind of a concern. Does everyone think this will hold permanently and not start leaking later? We ran a couple of sinkloads of water and let it out all at once. No leaks.
The coupling is straight, the pipe is slightly curved but the coupling is short enough (2″ long) that there doesn’t seem to be too much curve inside of it.
Replies
I would say that you got it fixed.
Heck If I know....
You could also consider some backup with this product. Maybe one of your local plumbing supply houses has it in stock. Ours carry it.
http://ftp.nucalgon.com/ftp/prodlit/3-19.pdf
Great looking stuff! I'll check around to see if anyone here has it.
I can't see the junction you're talking about so I can't judge how complicated it would be to just cut it out and replace the fittings. But to tell you the truth, I would personally be pretty nervous about walling over something like that patch you described.
Can you post a photo?
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Good idea. I should have thought of posting a photo. The house is in another state and it'll be 3 - 4 weeks before we can get back there. We're rehabbing it for resale and in order to meet a deadline, we have to get the bathroom patched up and painted on our next trip down. I don't have computer access there and as much as I'd like to, I don't think there'll be time to post the photo.
I can't see it, but it sounds like a fairly ugly fix. I know it's daunting to cut out a section of the piping and replace, but it's easy to do since you just re-buy and rebuild exactly what's there.
Think of it this way... if a plumber you hired did what you did, you'd fire him too.
Good point. If you want to sleep at night, never do a half a--ed job.
Since you're rehabbing the house for sale, you'd really be better off fixing it properly. If by some chance this patch does not hold and comes loose a year or seven from now (after the new HO has added all kinds of fancy, expensive finish work to the bathroom, of course!), you could easily find yourself liable for all the damage the leak caused by virtue of what is called a 'hidden vice' law. This is a concept in real estate law recognized in most jurisdictions that protects home buyers from things done wrong that they can't see without intrusive inspection. Think about it: if you were the judge and a homeowner brought that section of patched plumbing into your courtroom as evidence, would you find the seller liable for the damage it caused when it leaked?
You're in a good position to fix this now; you have no gyprock to destroy, only a section of piping to cut out and replace. Cut well above and below the fittings in question, take the whole piece you cut out to your plumbing supply store, and get what you need plus two straight couplings. 2" fittings aren't that expensive. Then glue up the replacement section and install it with the couplings. You ought not need more than about 1" of vertical play in the lines to be able to squeeze that last coupling into place, and most plastic plumbing runs have that much play unless there's an elbow hard up against a plate or fire-stop.
If you have too much trouble squeezing in a rigid glued coupling, get one rubber coupling and slide it onto the pipe completely before you insert the replacement assembly. Then slide it down (or up as the case may be) and tighten the hose clamps. Use TWO hose clamps above and below the joint (a total of four for the coupling) and then slip a safety pin through the slot nearest the screw in each clamp so it can't loosen no matter what. Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I agree with Dinasaur.
I read this post a couple of days ago and one thing that struck me was a somewhat vague description of the plumbing layout.
If the hole is in the vented section of the pipe, a half-a$$ed fix would probably suffice. But if it's in the "dirty" area, not only do you run the risk of a partial seal, but a rough surface inside the pipe can be a catch all for hair and lint and whatever.
If it was me, I'd cut it out and do it right. It's not a difficult repair and inexpensive and you'll sleep better than if you settle for the cobbled up fix you've described.
OK Dinosaur ...I'm so freakin' risk adverse that when you said that "hidden vice" thing that made up my mind for sure.I acted as the GC on a spec home many years ago and didn't know enough to catch a foundation boo-boo until it was too late. That caused quite a number of sleepless nights later. I don't need any more. Even though it may hold and be leakproof I'm going to cut it all out and rebuild it. Or probably have a real plumber do it because I have termite eaten hardwood floor to fix.
You'll have enough sleepless nights in life over things you can't control. Might as well eliminate the ones you can....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
If you decide to cut out the damaged area, get yourself two Fernco couplings, a short piece of plastic piping, cut out the damaged area, slide the coupling on to the remaining pipe, put in your repair piece and then slide them forward. You may need a lubricant to get them to slide [they are made out of a rubber type substance], get them approx. in the center of the cut, tighten them, and you are done. My previous response to your problem was also correct. Pick one. Lots of luck.
Thanks. I'm going with the Fernco solution. Sounds safer since everything's going to be behind drywall.
Your friend applied the right fix if he was able to clean your goop off .
Anytime PVC is cleaned , glued and clamped it doesnt know the difference in a real joint and a fake joint as long as the partial joint is held with clamps.
For example ; You can saw a 3/4 coupling in half long ways and apply it over a nail hole in 3/4 PVC or CPVC . As long as its cleaned and glued properly you can clamp it on.
The pipe does not know the difference. <G>
Tim
nYour friend had the right idea. I hope he used both halves of the coupling. The way I would do it is to clean up the wound with pvc cleaner, use a good amount of glue on both sides of the hole, put split coupling on the pipe and clamp them with hose clamps. This repair will probaly last longer then you will! For your information, if you ever get in that situation again, they make what is called a slip coupling, it dosen't have a stop in it, it makes it easier. [You wouldn't believe what has been repaired with tar tape] and its still holding!. It should work like a charm.
Should be good. For a little extra security, get a worm drive hose clamp and put it around the repaired area, getting it plenty snug but not overly tight.
If you tested the pipe with a full sink of water and it did not leak, don't worry about it. Because it is a drain it is not under the same pressure as a supply line.
mike
I lightly sanded the whole area around the hole, my friend thoroughly put purple cleaner all over it and the inside of the new fitting. Then he put glue over both areas and I mean he REALLY globbed it on. Then he pushed the fitting into place and pressed on it for a minute. No clamps. New fitting on just the hole side. He claimed that any gaps due to the curve of the old joint would be filled by the glue which would harden even though it might not be sticking PVC together. I'd guess there might be a 1/16" gap here and there because of the curve.Consensus here seems to be it's OK? Dang..there goes my ulcer. I've got to stick to relatively "safe" stuff like drywall, painting, finish carp and leave the other risky areas that deal with strong electrical currents or water and mold to trained professionals.
He claimed that any gaps due to the curve of the old joint would be filled by the glue which would harden even though it might not be sticking PVC together.
I think you misunderstand the nature of plastic pipe glue. These glues do not stick two pieces of pipe together by virtue of any adhesive qualities they have; what they do is chemically melt the plastics they are designed to work with and then let the two plastic pieces meld into one piece and subsequently re-harden as the chemical reaction runs its course.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Let's get a photo of this repair for the cover of next month's issue of Fine Homebuilding.You guys telling him it's OK to hack it in can have your replies printed on the inside cover.