It’s a nightmare that most householders hope they only have to dream about and never know – a pipe suddenly springs a leak out and water begins spraying. Fortunately, even though your first idea is “Oh my Gawd, what do I do now,” there are lots of paths to deal with this condition.
The important thing is, don’t scare. First, turn off the water supply to the leaking pipe. This may be at the fixture supply valve in front of the leak or at the important water supply valve itself. Shutting off the water will stop the water flow and give you time to think. If the plumber can’t get there for a couple of days or you don’t need time to repair it yourself, you actually do need a number of options to do a fast repair until the pipe can be properly repaired.
First, figure out where the leak out is actually coming from. Is it a pinhole or has a pipe split? If it’s a run of copper, here are some fast repairs – depending on what you need available.
Temporary Repairs
Remember, none of these are permanent fixes, but they will let you to turn the water back on until you can get the pipe fixed more permanently.
§ Stick a pencil point into the hole and break it off, so wrap the pipe with electrician’s tape. Smear some plumber’s epoxy repair putty over the tape to make sure it doesn’t leak out. Let it set for half an hour and turn the water back on.
§ Wrap a part of rubber (like an old inner tube) around the pipe over the hole, and so use a C clamp and small blocks of wood to clamp the rubber wrap tightly in place. If you need them, hose clamps around the rubber covering the hole could also be used to keep water from leaking.
§ Don’t have any old rubber that can act as a repair? Cut a part of garden hose long enough to cover the hole in the pipe plus two or three inches on each side. Slice the garden hose lengthwise and position it over the hole in the pipe. Once again, use hose clamps to keep it in place and stop water from leaking.
Permanent Repairs
These fixes take a little more time and some planning, but once you’re finished, you’ve got a permanent repair for your leaky pipe.
§ set up a pipe clamp specifically designed to repair leaking pipes. These clamps have a rubber gasket attached permanently inside the clamp, which itself is designed to fit around the leaky pipe. Simply place the clamp over the hole and tighten the integral screws, holding it in place and making a permanent seal. Pipe clamps are available at home stores.
§ Another alternative is to use flexible/braided metal tube with compression couples on each end to provide a permanent fix. A significant advantage of this repair is it will allow you to not only fix a small pinhole leak out, but it can be used to repair a longer split pipe. Because the repair tubes are flexible and will bend, they can even be used to repair a leak in a pipe elbow. The metal tubes are available in number of lengths so you should be able to fix your pipe wherever it’s holed.
To install the braided metal tube, you’re going to have to cut out the broken section of pipe, so be sure to drain all the water out of your pipes. Next, center the repair coupling against the damaged part of pipe and mark the water pipe one-inch in from each end of the coupling. Cut out the broken pipe at the marks, slide the compression couplings onto each end of the water pipe, and attach the repair coupling. Tighten the compression fittings and turn the water back on to check for leaks. Read More »
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