How to Repair Pipes
Water pipes around our homes are something that needs eventual maintenance and even in the best of times and the best materials used time forgives no pipe. Knowing how to repair pipes and how to handle emergencies concerning them is something any homeowner should be familiar with.
Tips to Repair Pipes
Knowing how to repair pipes can help prevent the additional costs contained within taking care of plumbing work. Make sure you follow these simple directions to identify the problem and solve it:
Find the Pipe Leak
• Identify and spot the leak.
Before you begin focusing on the repair works in progress you will naturally need to find the problem first. This may not always be as easy as it seems, but for the most part you will find the leak due to the volume of water dripping from it or the area that has obvious water damage.
• Shut the water off.
Once you’ve spotted the location of the leak you need to cut the water off so you can work freely. You should only have to go down to your water main and shut it down. Alternately if the damage is in a location that prevents you from doing that you may need to shut down the water from your street. Make sure you remove the drywall at the location of the leak if its damaged by it as you may need to do some repairs there.
Patch the Pipe
• Placing a patch.
Take a look at the pipe and figure out where the crack is located, then grab a piece of an old garden hose. Cut some pieces off of it a bit longer than the crack in the pipe and place them on top of the crack after you cut them lengthwise. You will need to do a bit more than that though, so this brings us to our next tip.
• Using clamps.
Next you need to get some hose clamps, several in number and place them on the patch in even increments. Tighten them up until they are as tight as possible and you will have a good temporary solution until you have to replace the entire pipe at your convenience.
Ensuring Safety
• Testing the repairs.
Once you’ve patched the location you should turn the water back on to see how well they’re holding. Its possible you may need the help of a family member or friend to tell you whether your repairs are holding so you won’t flood your place again. If everything was done right you won’t have any leaks and drips once you’re done. You should still be careful with your water use until you’ve done whatever you can to replace the faulty pipe however.
• Call a plumber or fix it
Since this is only a temporary solution you should focus on getting things fixed completely as soon as possible. Either use the services of a plumber if you’re not good at it or do it yourself if you have some experience on that matter.
Guest post granted on behalf of: http://www.removalsmanandvan.org.uk