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My family is short on extra cash these days, so finding a small drip coming from a small rusty spot on
pipe threads concerns me.
This is in the ceiling of our basement level, up under a bathroom. It's a sideways pipe with a drop of water forming periodically close to wear the pipe turns to threads.
My question is, how many different ways might I combat this without calling a plumber just yet?
Once we get some cash flowing, I am willing to have it fixed correctly.
Take an aluminum turkey roasting pan, and hang it on the pipe under the drip. Line with a paper towel if the drip makes too loud a sound. Empty/change as needed.
Put a pan under it. Check it and empty it frequently.
If it were possible to isolate and shut off water to that bathroom, that would be a surer preventative, but I might guess that isn't an uption.
If you leave the house for long periods, you may want to shut the water off and drain the pressure out so it doesn't decide to get suddenly worse while you're gone.
Your issue is less fixing the drip, but the fact that the corrosion on that old pipe was enough to erode the inside of the pipe and create it. That whole joint is now fragile. A couple clamps and sheet rubber might last for a while, or you might stress the joint to failure trying to stop the leak. Bite the bullet and get it fixed properly now, if you don't want to play Russian roulette. If it does blow, your home insurance will skyrocket, above and beyond and losses in the basement.
reed 303's 2nd idea is the best answer, only instead of an inner tube , I use a piece of garden hose and clamp that. Just slit a piece of hose, say about an inch long, wrap it around the pipe (slit side up) and clamp it.
If it's practical to depressurize the pipe, you can make a pretty good temporary repair with epoxy. Get the kind that comes in a stick that you break off a piece, knead it to mix the two ingredients, then apply to the properly cleaned leaking area. You want to use something like brake cleaner to remove any contaminants from the surface, and you want to at least wire brush the area to remove any loose corrosion. Needless to say but I will say it, you need to do your cleaning well before you knead the epoxy. The difference between getting the surface really clean and a half-hearted effort will be huge, so get that surface CLEAN.
Harry is right though, you have serious corrosion and it could let go suddenly. If you try my little trick, remember, it's a *temporary* repair. You need to keep an eye on it until you can do or have done a comprehensive repair. Because of this, I would avoid any sort of rubber and compression type repair. This can be fine if the pipe is in good shape but you don't know how much corrosion has weakened the pipes here. Last thing you want to do is be reefing down on a hose clamp and break what's left of the pipe.
If you can't figure out how to depressurize this pipe, you won't know how to stop the leak if it gets worse, so you really need to figure that out.
Last edited by M3 Mitch; 07-28-2023 at 05:19 PM..
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