OT: Epoxy question

They make "plugs" that you insert into the pipe and tighten down on to expand them. They seal quite well but may or may not be a good substitute for what you seek to do.

Your setup may not be code compliant depending on lengths, etc.

Having said that, a Fernco, a short PVC stub, and a PVC cap will work (if you're talking about how to cap off the open end)...

This is a rental house Rick, codes be damned! The landlord will be happy as long as I can do the job and he doesn't have to call a real plumber. :)

I obviously was not clear in my OP. the pipe I will be plugging is 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" galvinized pipe running horizontially into the wall. It is split on the bottom side and leaking like a sieve. My apologies for not being clearer, my OP was written in a bit of a hurry.

Thanks, Jim

Epoxy will work fine. I suggest mixing it on a sheet of paper, and waiting for it to get semi-solid. You can then just spread it on where it needs to be. This will seal out any odors, liquids, and what have you..

What you need is something I used to use in the shipyards and used to know the name of. You slip it over the pipe and tighten a nut or two and the leak stops. They're called "pipe repair clamps". See e.g. the URL:

GWE

Get a piece of 1" PVC or 1" poly pipe , the kind used on outside wells ... slide the poly inside the damaged pipe immediate after " lots of "Great Stuff " is put in the pipe.

The poly is flexible enough to push in if the space is confined. Obviously I haven't seen the job so what I'm suggesting may not be possible ... maybe it will lead to other ideas

Good Luck Tom

Reworking the drain the way you describe sounds like more trouble and effort than it's worth, and the results will look like sh*t. If I was out house-hunting and saw a cockamamie drain line heading through the floor like that under the sink, I'd be fifteen minutes gone. ;-)

Why don't you try getting the last of the galvanized pipe sink stub out of the tee in the wall (Sawzall it into barrel staves, and peel them out - clean out the threads with a wire wheel) and rebuild it with an ABS plastic male adapter, ABS stub line and P-trap? That, or open the wall behind the sink and fix it right?

Cut the drywall at the back of the sink enough to get access. Measure the pipes, go get the sanitary tee and no-hub couplings (in your choice of cast iron or ABS Plastic), and rent a cast iron pipe chain cutter.

(Use two tees stacked vertically and put in a threaded cleanout plug, and the next time the drain clogs the Roto-Rooter guy doesn't have to take the trap apart to get the snake in.)

Cut out the whole sanitary tee, assemble and slide in your replacement, tighten the no-hub collar clamps, test for leaks, Done. Patch the drywall and don't worry about it for another 25 years.

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You are shooting yourself in the foot here. Tell the landlord the trouble was worse than you thought, and it is beyond your ability to repair, and that he should get a plumber over there before the water damage from the leak gets any worse. And it's leaking worse than it was before.

Real plumbers hardly ever use epoxy to fix pipe leaks.

Jim

Not true. They (and I) use a solid stick of epoxy with a hardener to seal all kinds of pipe.....It's a real bitch to get off your hands, though....Works great......

Stop and *think* about what you are saying here. The drain is sealed up in a wall, and has deteriorated to the point where it has split open and is leaking. Do you *really* think this fix is going to last forever, and do you *really* think he would be doing his landlord a favor by doing a makeshift repair, under those circumstances?

I am positive he thinks he would be, but if I were the landlord I would want it fixed once and fixed right. And I would eject any plumber who shows up with JB weld to do the job, at considerable speed!

Jim

You may have a problem with the water being sucked out of the trap if you try that routing, and you still have to cut the cast iron stack to tie back in. Cut a larger hole in the back of the base cabinet and remove the existing drain if you can. Can't really offer much more without knowing the layout...

Well, ok, Jim, I've re-thunk the thing.............IF the landlord would spring for the parts, I'd open up the wall and replace all the pipe I could get to.......IF he was an a**hole, then I'd lay any kind of metal I could find on the split, and use epoxy. I've use some Navy grade stuff that would hold a sub prop together. It machines too....(Belzona). Standard golf club epoxy has never failed if I took the time to clean the surfaces.........But, of course, it's really not the proper way to do it.....

I am _not_ contemplating using the epoxy to fix the leak. The epoxy would be used to seal out odor only, no water.

Matter of fact, I'm beginning to reconsider my original plan, due to some great ideas from those on this group. I may attempt to open the hole around the pipe in question to see what my chances may be of unthreading it and replacing it with PVC.

{The above is from a jim rozen post}

Jim, when I moved in here the washing machine hook ups were in the hall closet,(28" deep X 40" wide, I just measured it) along with the breaker box! I moved the hook ups, admittedly without the landlords permission, to the kitchen(only place to go with it, that's where the drier is too). I asked him for $100, which would have barely covered the cost of the materials,(approx. 20' of 2" PVC and 40' of 1/2" copper piping, plus cleaner, glue, flux, etc.) and my labor would have been pretty much free. He refused to pay me, not because I didn't ask first, but because he didn't see the harm in it. ??? Why didn't I move out, because doubling my rent right now is just not possible and buying a home, while it is getting closer, is not gonna happen now. So I suck it up, pay my rent, and relish in the thought that when I move out, all of the plumbing goes and more than one inspector will be called. Petty? Maybe. I see it as a very cold dish of vengeance, best way to serve it I hear.

Jim

Why? He owns the place. If it leaks, it's his problem. Tell him there's water all over the floor and he better get a real plumber over there right away!

The only reason I'm taking such a hard line here is that I did more fixits in places I rented over the years, and I did them

*right*. Never got any credit for them other than a nice feeling for a job well done. Now that I own a house I find myself slipping back into the 'glue it back together so it lasts a while' approach to life, which is wrong.

Remember any repairs that the landlord does to the dwelling come right off the top of his profits when he goes to calculate his taxes.

Jim

jim rozen wrote: ... Tell the landlord the

And you might just *hint* that you are worried that it might be a health issue and a violation of the sanitary code, and that you are thinking that you should check with the board of health and/or building inspector. Don't threaten him and start a war, just let him know that you know that he is required to fix it.

But, if you do want to do it (it's good practice), you should do it right and take the old piece out and replace it with PVC. The joint where the galvanized pipe joins the cast iron will surely be corroded very badly. Cut the galvanized off, leaving a stub for you to grab with a wrench (1-2" long). Take a sawzall with a hacksaw blade, insert into the pipe and cut parallel to the axis of the pipe, *upwards* through the stub and *just* through the threads. This will allow you to collapse the pipe enough to break it loose. If you make the cut at the bottom, it is very likely to leak where you have cut into the threads in the cast iron.

You can buy a PVC adapter with NPT threads that will screw into the joint that you have just removed the galvanized from. The cast iron threads will have to be cleaned up first.

Good luck, Bob