I turned the faucet on yesterday to water my gardens, and when I came around the corner of my house, I heard a very loud spray of water coming from the middle of my daisies. Turns out one of my soaker hoses had sprung a leak. I have a string of three soakers in the back garden, and they’re covered up with a good solid layer of mulch. I have no idea how the leak sprung, but I’d like to be able to fix it in place without having to dig the whole hose out and have to replace with a new one. Is there some sort of epoxy that would be perfect for this sort of job? Duct tape seems like something that would fail after about 2 days of watering. I guess I could cut the offending section of hose out and add a couple of connectors - but that seems a giant pain as well.
I have to leave it to other Dopers to recommend a patch, but I have a question–is your soaker hose the molded rubber type, or is it one of the fabric ones? We just found fabric ones for the first time and think they’re wonderful. They pack flat to store easily, unwind easily (unlike the rubber ones), and are made of rugged nylon that looks like it would never spring a leak.
If you’ve got the rubber ones, it might be worth the hassle to replace them…
It’s molded rubber. That particular hose has lasted 3 years buried under an inch or two of mulch, and had it on good authority (my mother, the expert gardener) that that was okay. I’ll look into the fabric ones when I upgrade next.
I’d go with a hose connector. I don’t think any kind of glue, tape or epoxy is going to stick to that rubber and hold up underground with water flowing through it. You have to dig it up anyway. One snip with cutters, fit two hose clamps, jam the connector to both sides, and clamp it up. You’ll probably spend more time digging than you do fixing.
You can also choose to cut out a length of the soaker, and have a pre-assembled patch piece ready to go, so you’re not putting the whole thing together while kneeling in the dirt.
If the break is at a single point, a splice pipe of the right diameter and a couple of hose clamps (or even tie wraps) should make a good fix. Automotive stores carry plastic (and maybe also metal) splices for heater hose, which comes in inner diameters of 1/2", 5/8", and 3/4". I’m pretty sure garden hose comes in those same three sizes, and would guess that the soaker hose size is one of them.
We’ve got the same thing going on. For reasons I can’t recall at the moment, a splice/connector won’t work right there. Mr. Shoe went out last weekend with some plumber’s putty and tape, the rationale being, we’re not trying to make a perfect seal; we just want to keep water from coming out at too high pressure.
I’ll try to remember to report back in a couple of days and let you know how well, if at all, it’s holding up.
Well damn, that was far too easy. I was really hoping I’d have to do something complicated like mix up some epoxy. But one two-ended 1/2" hose repair mender purchase, two cuts with a steak knife, and a few swings of the hammer, and I’m all fixed up.
Well, it was an optimistic approach but … nope. No go. Anyone checking this thread and thinking this is a good idea may go ahead and skip my suggestion after all.
Oh, and hey, OP - glad it went so quick and easy for you!
Anyone checking this thread and thinking this is a good idea may go ahead and skip my suggestion after all.