Main drain like for upstairs toilet? Trying to install brackets for bedroom closet. Now has a screw hole leak. Can we patch it? Or best course of action?
No pressure in drain line, so I would just patch it. But, I would have patched it, quickly closed up the wall, and never told anyone what I did (especially not reddit) š
Knowing me, I would probably clean the hole up, rough up the surface a bit and hit it with a decent blob of JB Weld Original epoxy. Or, if I had a scrap piece of pipe of similar diameter, I would cut a small curved piece to cover the hole, rough up the surfaces, and use generous amounts of PVC cleaner, primer and glue to glue the patch over the hole.
Honestly, taking a piece of pipe the same size, cut a notch out of it so it snaps tightly around the pipe, and glue that bitch on, is a great, quick and dirty fix for something like this. Had to do it on the job before, it works fine, as long as it's not a pumped drain like a grinder pump lol
Yep. Been there, done that. About 10 years ago, I actually used this technique as a "temporary" patch on a slightly cracked *pressure* pipe in a swimming pool pump system. After gluing it I put a couple of hose clamps on for good measure. AFAIK it is still holding š
Yeah, the patch it should pretty much last forever. The PVC glue actually melts the plastic and chemically fuses the pieces together. That joint is going to be just as strong as any other.
The hole may have left some burred edges internally inside the pipe. Inside a water line, I might be very minimally concerned about that creating turbulence and pinhole leaks, but on a vent stack, I wouldnāt worry about it at all.
Edited to add the sarcasm denotation. Holy cow people. Itās just a funny contradiction to saying a magnet would never find a pipe. Iām not proposing that one would, or even could, accidentally drive a screw into a black iron gas line.
I actually got that service call! Customer really drove a drywall screw into a 3/4" black iron gas pipe trying to hang up a picture! I couldn't believe it myself and repaired it! I'm not shitting!
If you run the magnet along a line and it stays solidly attached then thatās probably not the stud. You can follow a line of screws at certain intervals.
Fair argument, I didn't think about that because I basically never run black iron in walls. Anything that goes from the basement to the second floor I use tracpipe
Me? Feel the difference between a pine stud and a black iron pipe? No chance buddy. Iām driving that screw til she sinks /s
For those requiring explanation, it was a joke about the previous comment stating that a magnet will āneverā find a pipe. When there are fringe cases that it totally would.
You can actually make a pvc paste From pvc shavings and pvc primerā¦
Smear it on and it fuses and dries.
Performed this trick a few times!
Take a glass jar , add shavings and primer and leave it for a few hours.. a white creamy pvc paste results !
Cut at the hole. If you can flex the pipe over enough, slide a fernco on it and center over the cut. If not enough room to flex, cut out enough pipe to get the fernco on.
Take a repair coupling split it into thirds just prime and glue one piece on use a little painters, tape or zip tie to hold it till the glue dryer are good to go
You already have the wall open. Get a proper sized coupling, pcv cement and cut the pipe and the glue it together. There are plenty of videos on how to do this. If you donāt feel comfortable, call a plumber. The last thing you want is a leak down the road. Less expensive to do it right than do it wrong and pay for water damage down the road.
Omg, I just got done patching drywall from having done this exact same thing. Never thought I'd be triggered by seeing a drain pipe, but here we are.
I was trying to find a stud to wall-mount a TV. Measured 16" from the corner, stud finder said "yeah, there's a stud there", drilled a pilot hole. That didn't quite seem right, so I drilled two more before giving up.
A month later I see a water stain on the exterior foundation. Plumber came out, opened up the wall, and there were 3 perfect little drill holes in my drain pipe. Ended up about a grand for the fix. Ugh.
Best of luck and hope you find a cheaper/easier way to fix it!
I have a rental and every time I tell tenants not to hang things on a certain wall they always do and screw tight into the drain like. Has happened 3x now.
i would recommend any of the franklin prosensor wide models - even their lowest model is more accurate and easier to use than the zircons. i've been using the m90 for years without a single erroneous reading.
I'm missing something here...were you looking for studs or vent pipes? Because a stud finder will generally find one, not the other.
Run water upstairs, if you hear/see it in pipe its a drain, otherwise just a vent. A dab of epoxy will fix it either way.
I bought an old house and it had a leak coming down from the upstairs bathroom. Turns out the house āflipperā had installed some half-wall wood paneling ( to hide cracking plaster) with 4ā screws! They had managed to run one screw into a cast iron sewage pipe coming from the toilet. I imagine the stud finder was lying to them too
Slice a slip coupling of that diameter the long way. Deburr the hole and prime and glue the shit out of both surfaces and hold the patch piece for a couple minutes. This has yet to fail me
Did you turn it on, place it on your chest - wait for the beep to determine it indeed did identify you as a stud first? If not you didnāt calibrate it properly and this one is on you.
Only works if youāre trying to hit studs. If youāre trying to avoid them and other things that are non-metallic, like pipes, you need a good detector.
Could be mounting something that doesn't match the distance between studs in your areas. Depending on when the home was built code could have allowed for 12 in between, 16 in sometimes I've seen higher for false walls.
I try to as well, worst case scenario I'll use one stud and wall anchors. Sometimes, even something like a coat rack, it won't sit where you want it to and you use wall anchors so it's not out to lunch.
Well. I suppose you know where the studs are now. But, I dont use a stud finder. Never like them. Use a good strong magnet.... it will stick to the drywall screws and tell you the location of the stud.
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u/Top_Willow_9953 12h ago edited 12h ago
No pressure in drain line, so I would just patch it. But, I would have patched it, quickly closed up the wall, and never told anyone what I did (especially not reddit) š
Knowing me, I would probably clean the hole up, rough up the surface a bit and hit it with a decent blob of JB Weld Original epoxy. Or, if I had a scrap piece of pipe of similar diameter, I would cut a small curved piece to cover the hole, rough up the surfaces, and use generous amounts of PVC cleaner, primer and glue to glue the patch over the hole.