Have pity on a lowly spark! Bit of a watery emergency....

[securespark]

I lifted a board in the bathroom. Unfortunately, a pipe was glued, yes glued to the underside of it....

Now the pipe is sitting at a 45 degree angle to horizontal, sporting a nasty "I'm going to leak any minute" kink.

It's the cold pipe, so I can easily isolate at the main cock. However, for a spark of 25 years, with no plumbing experience whatsoever, do you think you I could cut and cap off the pipe without flooding the place?

If so, what parts and materials am I best endowing myself with?

Could I get away with just buying a pipe cutter and a plastic push fit stop end?

The hot is OK, but would like to do away with a piece sticking up above floorboard level.

How do you isolate the hot?

Is pushfit reliable on hot pipes or do you need a compression fitting?

I am donning the helmet now, as I can see it coming as I type.......

Thanks!!

EDIT: Uh-oh, I've just had a nasty thought. What if it's tank fed cold? Is that likely, or will it be mains? It's the old feed to the basin, which is tapped off the pipe feeding the cistern & the bath too.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

As a sparky that does a bit of plumbing:

First you do need to check whether the pipe/pipes are supplied direct via rising main or by cistern.
You will need to isolate at the internal stop tap, then drain the system off.
If by cistern check for gate valve on distribution pipe, red round wheel.
This can isolate the pipes after this valve, if not you can tie up the ball valve and drain off tank.

But best know what you have in place first.

Access to the pipework may dictate the method in which you can cut in to the pipe, it may be easier with a junior hacksaw, but pipe cutter or splicer could also do.
I am not a fan of push fit nor compression joints within a location that is not easily accessible, so I would solder repair.

 

[kp115]

when you say old feed is it still used?

ie:
is it still connected to the bath, sink, & toilet, if you can't see it, try the screwdriver trick on the pipe with your ear to the handle with the tap open
slowly you should be able to hear/feel the water.

if it is still connected then the cold feed from the tank will need to be isolated, normally found in the airing cupboard, check if sucessful by turning on the cold tap in the bath, sink, toilet if these don't flow then
you should be able to cut the pipe & fit a push fit fitting either plastic or copper will be ok (i have plastic on my 2.5 bar power shower)

if the pipe is the hot then you will need to isolate the water supply to the bottom of the hot water cylinder as this is what pushes the hot water out of the top, when this is done check again by running the bath hot tap or downstairs hot tap, again if flow stops you are ok to cut & cap off or repair your pipe with a staight coupling or repair fitting.

worth having a wet vac handy if poss just to pick up water in pipe etc.

if mains fed just isolate stop cock & check flow again.

hope this helps.

kp115







hope this is of some help.

 

[ChrisR]

Got a blowlamp?
If the pipe heats up really fast and stays hot, it's empty.
If it's slower and wont get to spit-fizzing temperature, it has static water in it
If it won't heat there's flowing water.

If you can easily stop water running from a tap with your thumb, it's not mains.
15mm cold from a tank would only be for the loo or a bathroom basin, probably.
Draining cold tank-fed pipes at upper floor level can be hard because there's usually no outlet below them. SOmetimes all you can do it turn everything off, drain what you can and cut into it with a junior hacksaw with a bowl and a towel to catch a couple of pints.
Water vac is great for emptying pipes as long as there's an open end to let air in. SOmetimes you can use the blow end of your dry hoover to force water out.

Don't try soldering damp pipes - your blowlamp probably won't do it. It lowers the surface tension so you get more and more running towards you!
An an infrequent plumber, use Yorkshire/solder ring fittings.
Pushfit and compression are okay, but are bulky. Pushfit is sensitive to inexperienced handlers - it can leak with little excuse! If it's damp, I'd use compression with a little LS-X or ptfe tape on the olives as insurance. NB old mains pipes ( pre 60's) are likely to be half inch, which is tight but OK for compression or solder but strictly speaking need an adapter fro pushfit.

WHen you're all done you might well have an airlock to get rid of - that should be in one of our FAQs!

Good luck. Being the "wrong" trade means it'll take 9 times as long, just like wiring...

 

[gasbanni]

could be a cold feed, hot water or heating ........

So run hot taps does it get hot, run cold taps does it get colder, does it get hot when the heatings on ?


If its anything but heating turn the water off open all taps hot and cold, and lush the loo's if its 15mm two 15mm compression couplings/sockets bit of copper and invest in a pipe cutter.

Cut the problem bit out and replace the pipe with the two compression sockets unless your very unlucky you should be able to get enough movement on the pipes to gently squeeze in the new bit !!!

 

[FiremanT]

[quote="ChrisR SOmetimes all you can do it turn everything off, drain what you can and cut into it with a junior hacksaw with a bowl and a towel to catch a couple of pints.

Or use a battery drill and a small (2mm?) bit to drill a hole, at such an ange that it will spray up and sideways (if you know what I mean), so that you can use a container to catch it

 

[securespark]

Hi guys. Thanks all round. A thoroughly helpful bunch.

PBOD

Granted I need to find out if I have mains or gravity fed cold in the bathroom.I'm sure all the cold outlets are off the same pipe. Could the WC be gravity-fed?

Access is OK at the moment. I have the boards up and this is just a temporary repair to get rid of the star-gazing pipe.... I shall ensure that whoever I get to do the final alterations will remove any surplus pipework.


KP

Old feeds not used now, but used to be H+C feed to basin. This has been taken out so I can reinstate an old doorway.

Thanks for hints on how to isolate HW.


Chris

I don't have a b'lamp, so I'll plump for compression, as you're rightly wary of a ham-fisted burger like me using push-fit. Fair comment!

PTFE on olives?? I thought it was wrapped round the threads?

Hmmm. Not thought about the possibility of imperial fittings.

The house was built sometime between 1961 and 1966.

Airlocks - thanks for the tips!


GB

Not replacing any pipework, just capping off so I can get rid of pipework above floorboard level. The plumber was supposed to cap off below the boards but took the easy option....


FT

Already have a stressed bit of pipe where it got badly bent: if I bend that back gently when I'm ready to drain down, it should make a small hole so I can catch the water.
Perhaps.
If I'm lucky.
On a good day.
With the wind behind me.
Godspeed.
And all that.

See piccy below. The stressed bit is the lighter spot at the bottom.

 

[gasbanni]

Use copper olives, nip up dont swing on the spanners, no ptfe needed anywhere. Optional ~ make up the joints dismantle and add a smear of jet blue or similar to the mating face of the olives. refit tighten up thats it !

 

[middlesbrough]

A coupple of push fit straights would sort you out , you would need a pair of pipeslicers though which would come in handy the next time you fook a pipe up !!

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

securespark:
looking at that, you will need to cut damaged area out, they may not be enough tolerance in the pipe for a single joint as the pipe work will shorten after cut/cuts.
So you may need to repair with short length of pipe and two joints, one either side of joist. if you do manage to get a joint at the notch, you may also have to deepen the notch to allow for fitting.
Have a few towels, rags sponges, mop etc.. handy and a bucket.

You can get pushfit, compression and soldered caps.
Like I have mentioned I prefer soldered joints in areas that are not easily accessible. I am sure there is/was some requirement regarding this?
Also if you do solder and it's potable/drinking water best use lead free joints/solder.

 

[Corgigrouch]

Solder if you can, compression i you can't and pushfit to get you over the weekend..... Seriously, never fit any pushfit fitting where there will be no access in the future....

 

[Charnwood]

Compression repair coupler, if you can manage to cut out less than 4" of damaged copper. As long as it's 15 or 22mm copper.
Repair couplers are slip, so it will slide right down the pipe. (As long as you don't get a Conex one from a few years ago. They forgot to tell the Eastern European/Asian factory they
outsourced it to that it had to be a slip coupler. )

 

[securespark]

Thanks, folks.

I don't need to replace any pipe, the bent pipe you see is now redundant and I can just cap it off temporarily.

I appreciate what you say that a soldered joint is the most permanent of the options.

Eventually when the bathroom refit is complete, the pipework will be removed, and any joints will be soldered but for now, a compression stopend will suffice.

 

[securespark]

Fixed, at least for the time being!

Cheers, peeps.

Capped off the kinked pipe and managed to gently bend the other one (HW) down slightly so it was below board level.

No weeping so far, either from me, Mrs Secure or the joint!

 

[Corgigrouch]

The joint will be fine as long as you don't inhale...