Plumbing advice

SteveDallas · 04-18-2006, 01:09 PM

Plumbing is technology, right? Anyway, Home Base is.. well... crowded.

So my kitchen ceiling is leaking a bit. And it was happening whenever anybody took a shower. So after a bit of poking around I discovered that the source of the problem is the cold water faucet in the bathtub. The pipe connection between the water supply and the faucet assembly is letting out almost as much water as is going in the tub itself. (OK, that's an exaggeration or the whole kitchen would have been flooded....)

Now, given that this stuff shows all appearances of having been installed when the house was built (mid 1950s) the smart thing to do seems obvious... rip out the whole faucet and replace with a nice modern washerless one. And that's exactly what I'd do if I knew how, but I know I'd screw it up.

The thing is, I don't feel like calling a plumber for this. We were already planning to redo the whole bathroom in about a month or so. But we don't have our act together (in terms of organization or in terms of lining up the cash) to go ahead and start that right now. So my question is, is there any way (pipe dope? something else?) that I could just do a quick & dirty patch that I could expect to hold up for 4-5 weeks?

glatt · 04-18-2006, 01:26 PM

My advice is don't listen to me.

Our tub has a similar leak. We have acccess to the leak from the access panel on the other side of the wall. Glad we have that. Anyway, we have the washerless variety of faucet. It got clogged with a bunch of rust flakes/misc. grit on the supply side of the ceramic washerless valve. Had to remove the whole ceramic cartride to get that rust blockage out. Then reinstall teh cartridge. But then it leaked. The leak was like 1 drop every ten seconds, when the shower was running. Dripped into the wall cavity. Read somewhere you can disassemble it all and spray all around inside one of those things with silicone spray to stop leaks. Doesn't work. Need to replace the entire faucet now. But in the meantime, I taped a plastic bag under the pipe, and leading outside the access panel and onto a rag on the floor. The drips hit the bag and roll down onto the rag, which absorbs them. It's been that way for a year. My wife hated it at first, but I think she doesn't see it any more. Neither do I.

I wish I had an old fashioned faucet that uses washers. I'd much rather replace a ten cent washer every 2-3 years than replace an entire $200 faucet every ten years. Or hope that a new $20 cartridge will slide right in to the vacant faucet with all its mineral deposits with sharp edges and hope the o-rings on the outside of the cartridge don't get little nicks in them that cause drips.

To answer your question, I don't think there is anything that can patch a leak in a pressurized pipe at the joint. The epoxy putties out there just aren't strong enough. If the leak is in the middle of a straight section of pipe, there are those bolt-on patches you can use. But, basically, if the joint is leaking, you have to remove both parts on each side of the joint and replace them.

What kind of pipes do you have? If you do the remodel, you should consider PEX.

Griff · 04-18-2006, 01:41 PM

This may give you a temporary fix, assuming that your house pressure isn't really high.

Sometimes you just have to take a chance and tear things apart...

SteveDallas · 04-18-2006, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

But in the meantime, I taped a plastic bag under the pipe, and leading outside the access panel and onto a rag on the floor. The drips hit the bag and roll down onto the rag, which absorbs them.

DAMN! A man after my own heart! Ours is dripping a bit faster than that.

What kind of pipe? It's METAL. It doesn't look like copper. That's all I know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the eagle-eyed xoxoxoBruce

It only leaks when the shower is on? If it was leaking between the water supply and the faucet assembly, it would be leaking all the time. It has to be after the valve if it's only when you shower.
Look again.

You're right, of course. It's on the other side of the valve that's attached to the pipe that feeds up to the shower head & out the faucet into the tub. (I'm sure I'm not using the correct terminology for all this.)

Thanks for all the comments. It looks like we're going to get the plumber who lives down the street to take a look at it. (Or so Mrs. Dallas tells me.)

seakdivers · 04-18-2006, 01:48 PM

I used some marine epoxy putty to repair a crack on one of our hot tub's pipes. Talk about high pressure! It held up just fine until we could replace the pipe.

xoxoxoBruce · 04-18-2006, 02:47 PM

Going into the faucet;
Pipe or tubing?
Iron, brass, copper?
threaded or soldered joint?

The rubber tape Griff linked will work if the size of the two pieces are similar. If the faucet is much larger so that the effect is the same as a pipe going into a wall and the tape can't get a purchase on both sides of the leak, it won't.

If you can get it clean and dry, marine-tex or some other marine epoxy, like seakdivers suggested, will work.

Hey, wait a minute....

Quote:

And it was happening whenever anybody took a shower.

Quote:

The pipe connection between the water supply and the faucet assembly is letting out almost as much water as is going in the tub itself.

It only leaks when the shower is on? If it was leaking between the water supply and the faucet assembly, it would be leaking all the time. It has to be after the valve if it's only when you shower.
Look again.

Undertoad · 04-18-2006, 03:36 PM

Is the rust green, brown, or gray?

SteveDallas · 04-18-2006, 04:57 PM

Green.

I'm home now. Why don't I post a picture for the record?

zippyt · 04-18-2006, 05:31 PM

Ugh Steve I could be wrong but that don't look like your ONLY leak ,
My advice ,
1) bite the bullet and call a plumber and deal with this NOW ( a new celing cost WAY more !!!!!)
2) go on down to home depot and get your self a cheap replacement ( or go ahead and get the good one )

SteveDallas · 04-18-2006, 05:42 PM

Oh I got a cheap one I'm just afraid to cause more trouble by installing it myself! (It's been sitting around in a closet for about 8 months... I was going to do it instead of replacing the other parts--it's almost impossible to find the stems for this ancient thing--but I never got a round tuit. Just shows you shouldn't procrastinate this stuff.)

zippyt · 04-18-2006, 05:49 PM

Then call the plumber , tell him you have the parts and just need his services , explain thats its just a quick fix and that you are basicaly interviewing for plumbers for the future renovation .

Undertoad · 04-18-2006, 05:52 PM

I can't see where you can get a kit from Home Depot to link up with these copper pipes without knowing how to sweat the pipes with a torch.

xoxoxoBruce · 04-18-2006, 05:59 PM

He could cut the copper supply lines back a couple inches and use compression unions to join them to the new stuff.

SteveDallas · 04-18-2006, 05:57 PM

That's exactly what I discovered......

SteveDallas · 04-18-2006, 06:04 PM

Yeah but then what do I do to reattach my fingers after I slice them off during the cutting? How long will it take to rebuild the top floor of my house after I accidentally ignite the butane torch that I bought and then decided I didn't need?

You obviously have never done a "home improvement" project with me.

04-18-2006, 01:09 PM	#1
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Plumbing advice Plumbing is technology, right? Anyway, Home Base is.. well... crowded. So my kitchen ceiling is leaking a bit. And it was happening whenever anybody took a shower. So after a bit of poking around I discovered that the source of the problem is the cold water faucet in the bathtub. The pipe connection between the water supply and the faucet assembly is letting out almost as much water as is going in the tub itself. (OK, that's an exaggeration or the whole kitchen would have been flooded....) Now, given that this stuff shows all appearances of having been installed when the house was built (mid 1950s) the smart thing to do seems obvious... rip out the whole faucet and replace with a nice modern washerless one. And that's exactly what I'd do if I knew how, but I know I'd screw it up. The thing is, I don't feel like calling a plumber for this. We were already planning to redo the whole bathroom in about a month or so. But we don't have our act together (in terms of organization or in terms of lining up the cash) to go ahead and start that right now. So my question is, is there any way (pipe dope? something else?) that I could just do a quick & dirty patch that I could expect to hold up for 4-5 weeks?

04-18-2006, 01:41 PM	#3
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	This may give you a temporary fix, assuming that your house pressure isn't really high. Sometimes you just have to take a chance and tear things apart... __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

04-18-2006, 04:57 PM	#8
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Green. I'm home now. Why don't I post a picture for the record? Attached Images Last edited by SteveDallas; 04-18-2006 at 05:06 PM.

04-18-2006, 05:31 PM	#9
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	Ugh Steve I could be wrong but that don't look like your ONLY leak , My advice , 1) bite the bullet and call a plumber and deal with this NOW ( a new celing cost WAY more !!!!!) 2) go on down to home depot and get your self a cheap replacement ( or go ahead and get the good one ) __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

04-18-2006, 05:49 PM	#11
zippyt LONG LIVE KING ZIPPY! per Feetz Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Arkansas Posts: 7,661	Then call the plumber , tell him you have the parts and just need his services , explain thats its just a quick fix and that you are basicaly interviewing for plumbers for the future renovation . __________________ "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. " Brother Dave Gardner

04-18-2006, 01:26 PM	#2
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	My advice is don't listen to me. Our tub has a similar leak. We have acccess to the leak from the access panel on the other side of the wall. Glad we have that. Anyway, we have the washerless variety of faucet. It got clogged with a bunch of rust flakes/misc. grit on the supply side of the ceramic washerless valve. Had to remove the whole ceramic cartride to get that rust blockage out. Then reinstall teh cartridge. But then it leaked. The leak was like 1 drop every ten seconds, when the shower was running. Dripped into the wall cavity. Read somewhere you can disassemble it all and spray all around inside one of those things with silicone spray to stop leaks. Doesn't work. Need to replace the entire faucet now. But in the meantime, I taped a plastic bag under the pipe, and leading outside the access panel and onto a rag on the floor. The drips hit the bag and roll down onto the rag, which absorbs them. It's been that way for a year. My wife hated it at first, but I think she doesn't see it any more. Neither do I. I wish I had an old fashioned faucet that uses washers. I'd much rather replace a ten cent washer every 2-3 years than replace an entire $200 faucet every ten years. Or hope that a new $20 cartridge will slide right in to the vacant faucet with all its mineral deposits with sharp edges and hope the o-rings on the outside of the cartridge don't get little nicks in them that cause drips. To answer your question, I don't think there is anything that can patch a leak in a pressurized pipe at the joint. The epoxy putties out there just aren't strong enough. If the leak is in the middle of a straight section of pipe, there are those bolt-on patches you can use. But, basically, if the joint is leaking, you have to remove both parts on each side of the joint and replace them. What kind of pipes do you have? If you do the remodel, you should consider PEX.

04-18-2006, 01:48 PM	#5
seakdivers Icy Queen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Southeast Alaska Posts: 700	I used some marine epoxy putty to repair a crack on one of our hot tub's pipes. Talk about high pressure! It held up just fine until we could replace the pipe.

04-18-2006, 03:36 PM	#7
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Is the rust green, brown, or gray?

04-18-2006, 05:42 PM	#10
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Oh I got a cheap one I'm just afraid to cause more trouble by installing it myself! (It's been sitting around in a closet for about 8 months... I was going to do it instead of replacing the other parts--it's almost impossible to find the stems for this ancient thing--but I never got a round tuit. Just shows you shouldn't procrastinate this stuff.)

04-18-2006, 05:52 PM	#12
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I can't see where you can get a kit from Home Depot to link up with these copper pipes without knowing how to sweat the pipes with a torch.

04-18-2006, 05:59 PM	#13
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	He could cut the copper supply lines back a couple inches and use compression unions to join them to the new stuff. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

04-18-2006, 05:57 PM	#14
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	That's exactly what I discovered......

04-18-2006, 06:04 PM	#15
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Yeah but then what do I do to reattach my fingers after I slice them off during the cutting? How long will it take to rebuild the top floor of my house after I accidentally ignite the butane torch that I bought and then decided I didn't need? You obviously have never done a "home improvement" project with me.

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