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-   -   Leak in PVC Drain Pipe (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=13310)

  • Oct 3, 2005, 10:03 AM
    davidbnelson
    Leak in PVC Drain Pipe
    I recently refurbished the powder room (1/2 bath) in the main hall of our house. Everything went well until I had to deal with the pedestal sink. After some struggle, I finally got the sink attached properly to the wall and the pedestal bolted to the floor. However, after I turned on the water, the drain pipe started to leak. I had had to cut the drain pipe twice to re-install a longer piece of PVC pipe each time, because I mis-estimated the length needed to get to the drain pipe on the sink from the trap coming out of wall. I am going to check to make sure all of the connections are tightened, but I have two questions:

    1) Is there a tool that would allow me to tighten the faucet fittings for incoming hot and cold water from underneath with having to take the sink off, since it is such restricted space, and

    2) I really clipped a piece of PVC pipe short (about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch) before I glued it between two PVC connectors. This left very little PVC pipe to apply glue to and I'm wondering is there some way I could "wrap" the two connectors containing the small piece of PVC pipe by gluing another piece of larger PVC pipe around them.

    Thanks for your help!
  • Oct 3, 2005, 11:44 AM
    speedball1
    Hi David,

    1) Is there a tool that would allow me to tighten the faucet fittings for incoming hot and cold water from underneath with having to take the sink off, since it is such restricted space?

    Yes, It's called a "basin wrench " and It's just made for getting under lavatories and tight spaces.

    2) I really clipped a piece of PVC pipe short (about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch) before I glued it between two PVC connectors. This left very little PVC pipe to apply glue to and I'm wondering is there some way I could "wrap" the two connectors containing the small piece of PVC pipe by gluing another piece of larger PVC pipe around them.

    That's not too good a idea. One of the drawbacks to making mistakes in PVC is that when you make one you usually have to cut it out and do it over. However since it's drainage with no pressure I would first prime the inside of the coupling and the outside of the pipe and glue the two together. Give it a few minutes to set up and then prime the outside of the joint and run PVC cement around and in the joint as a sealer. If you have a leak after that click on back and I'll let you know where to pick up some repair tape.
    Good luck, Tom
  • Oct 3, 2005, 12:01 PM
    davidbnelson
    Tom,
    Thanks so much for your help! This is my first time doing a project this big and I made a couple of rookie mistakes. Fortunately, I was able to undo the mistakes and the bathroom looks very nice. One last thing, please: I have very little incoming water pressure in either the hot or cold taps. I am using 30" flexible tubing to connect the copper pipes coming out of the floor to the Pfister-Price faucet. This leaves quite a bit of extra tubing curled around behind the pedestal of the sink. Does this affect the pressure and is there something I could do to increase pressure?
    Thanks,
    Dave
  • Oct 3, 2005, 01:28 PM
    speedball1
    Hi Dave,

    Unless the supplies are crimped I would unscrew the aerator from the spout and clean the screens. While the aerator's removed turn on the water and check the flow. If you still have a weak stream click on back and we'll go to plan "B". Regards, Tom

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