Repair Leaky Pipes In Your Home Sweet Home

Once you learn to repair leaky pipes around your home, you will not only save yourself some money, but you will become a hero to your family and all of the friends that you will be able to help when they have a busted water line.

More importantly you will keep your home from suffering the extensive damages that can result from water leaks. Water damage is responsible for 85% of all money spent on repairing homes.

Identifying the type of leaking pipe is the first thing you should do.

1. Pressure leaks- water leaking from lines that carry fresh water throughout your home.

2. Drain leaks- drain pipes carry waste water from each fixture in your home to the main sewer that delivers it to a local water treatment plant.

We are going to stick with fresh water leaks and save smelly drain problems for another day.

There are several different types of pipes used in most homes. To identify which one is causing you problems follow the brief description of some of the common types.

• Galvanized-hard iron usually gray in color
• PVC-white flexible plastic pipe good for drain lines and cold water only
• CPVC-beige pipe durable enough for hot and cold water
• Copper-gold/brown colored pipe with joints that have been soldered using lead.

Each of these have their negative and positive qualities. I won't bore you by discussing them. We will focus our attention on fixing leaky pipes.

I hope you have your tool box out? The best starting point is making sure that you have the right tools for the job.

Some of the basic hand tools that you will be using to complete this job are listed for you. This is a short list of tools and supplies for making just about any plumbing repair around your home. If you don't have them I've made it easy for you to locate and purchase them. online.

Channel Locks

12” Pipe Wrench

18” pipe wrench

Sawzall

Hand held pipe cutters

Tubing cutters

Supply List

Thread sealant

Primer

CPVC glue

PVC glue

Thread tape

Pipe straps

Screws/nails

We'll discuss the parts that you will use to make the repir later. Most of them can be found in pl;umbing supplies and hardware stores.

Water can be just as destructive as fire and high wind. According to Wikipedia, water soaked wood, carpeting and wallboard can promote the growth of several allergenic and toxic molds.

1. Remove any Sheetrock, dirt or whatever obstruction that prevents you from seeing the area of the pipe that is damaged.
2. You need to have at least 3' x 3' area cleared to have enough working room for you and your hand tools.
3. Once you can clearly see the problem, you need to get the water turned off fast.

If the leak is inside your home, check near all the hose bibbs on your house for a valve that will cut off all the water that is going into the inside. Some homes have a shut off valve in the garage. If you don’t find one use the water cut off valve at the water meter.

A variety of different parts are used to repair each type of pipe, so it’s best to remove the bad section of pipe and take it with you to the local home improvement store.
Follow the specific details in the next section, that apply to the type of pipe you are repairing.


CPVC

Fresh water in some homes is distributed throughout the house using CPVC pipe. It’s the only type of rigid plastic that is durable enough for both hot and cold water.

Use ratchet handcutters and cut out 6" past the bad section on both sides of the leaking pipe.

The new section can be attached by using a coupling that slips over the pipe. You will have to apply a one step CPVC glue to each part to bond the replacement piece in place.

Galvanized Water Lines

Special iron fittings called dresser couplings can be tightened onto galvanized pipe to repair a section of pipe that is outdoors which has a leak or is busted. Make sure you apply a layer of thread sealant to threads on the fittings.

Galvanized Pipe In Attics And Wall

Remove the bad section of pipe, begin at the two closest fittings. It should be replaced by two pieces of pipe with a threaded union placed in the middle of them. It's the best way to prevent further leaking when you are making a repair in a wall or ceiling.

Copper Water Pipe

Repairing copper water lines by soldering fittings in walls and attics should only be done if you are an experienced plumber. There are compression fittings that can eliminate the need to solder.

Slip one side of the couplings over the end of each of the old copper lines.

To bring the two cut ends of the water line together, place a short piece of pipe between them.

Wrap all the threads with Teflon thread tape and tighten everything up, using two channel locks turning in opposite directions.

Leaky pipes can be repaired fast and easy using the right compression fitting for the job. They make any do-it-yourself plumbing repair a breeze.

After you have finished tightening the couplings, make sure you water test them for drips before replacing the Sheetrock or burying the pipe back underground.