I discovered a busted 1/2" PVC pipe above my second hot water heater, which is in a closet in the downstairs bathroom. I know how to repair PVC, but I don’t have a ladder at home and I’m not certain I can reach it even with one to repair it as it’s in a confined area just under the sub-floor to the upstairs.
The leak was spraying water onto the wood of the subfloor, and the water was running down a duct, soaking the insulation there and also going under the drywall and soaking the carpet outside the bathroom door.
I can’t get a plumber to come out until tomorrow or Tuesday, so we are without water in the entire house for the most part as I’ve shut off the main valve feeding the house so the pipe would stop leaking.
My question is: Does my refrigereator need water to operate properly? I do have an ice maker in the freezer portion of the unit and I know that it has a water line, but it’s been broken since we moved in, so I’m not worried about that. I’m pretty sure the fridge just cools itself with coolant and a compressor setup, but I want to be sure. Anything else I might want to worry about would also be appreciated.
It sucks that my entire water supply is shut off due to a tiny half-inch pipe leaking.
The other thing I am concerned about is that due to the tight location of the leaking pipe that there may have to be some insulation/drywall removal in order to get to it to repair it. I hope not.
Because of where it is, I’m not certain where it goes. I mean, I know it feeds either the sink, toilet or shower in the upstairs master bath which is directly above the downstairs bathroom, but even if there’s a shutoff on that end of it it will still leak because the only other cutoff I have is the main, which is right next to the water heater in the same location downstairs. That will still leave pressurized water in the pipe.
I’d like to help you and realise you might be wrasslin’ gators, but, have you determined whether it is a hot or cold line?
Do you have any PVC/CPVC glue handy?
Do you have a hot air gun or propane torch?
It sounds like a cold line based on what he described, in the OP it indicates it runs above the hot water tank not into it which is the way I had read it. For that matter, around here we don’t have PVC hot lines but I don’t know about other areas.
It’s in an inaccessable area, well above the hot water heater and about 3 inches under the upstairs sub-floor, which it is conveniently spraying right into. I can see the water spraying, I cannot see the actual leak. I just don’t know how a plumber is going to wedge himself up there…perhaps it can be accessed through the ceiling panels in the bathroom off to the side. I don’t know!
If you are in need of water and have only the one shut off valve, and making the assumption you have CPVC pipe, I would cut the line after the valve leaving room for a coupling to re-join. Drain as much piping as you can, which either you or the plumber will have to do anyway. Open a faucet upstairs in the middle position ( or, both a hot and cold tap) before cutting, have some buckets ready.
De-energise your hot water heaters. If you want hot water, open the drain on the heater (assuming a tank) making sure to open a tap or the relief valve to prevent vacuum.
I would be spending money on shut off valves(ball valve) for every hot water heater, sink, tub and toilet, and would have a hose bibb at the lowest location.
The hot water heaters are full of water, and both water heaters have a ball valve on top of them. I actually allowed us a 30 minute time period today where I opened the main and the wife jummped in the shower, we finished a load of laundry that got stopped in the washng machine and did a quick “time saver” load of dishes. I also filled three gallon jugs with water from work and brought them home for us to use for toothbrushing, drinking, etc.
I will open it again tomorrow morning and take a quick shower before work, then shut it off. I’ve got all available towels down soaking up the mess (with a constant rotation of them going into and out of the dryer) and the plumber will come Tuesday.
I brought a small ladder home from work and used it to squirm my way into position to actually see the leak for the first time…it’s a cracked PVC union, right where the pipe goes into a cutout in the insulation.
God the insulation is soaking wet though. Will it still be OK when it dries? I have a space heater in there trying to help dry things up, too.
Have you been able to get close enough to tell if either side of the union is broken, or if it’s just loose and the connecting nut needs to be tightened?
Unless it’s really, really old, it’s strange for PVC to spontaneously break, but not impossible.
If I was doing this fix, I’d cut the union out completely and replace it with a repair coupler. It’s essentially a long union - about six inches long. One end cements to the pipe and has threads, and the other half has a long sleeve that will span the distance of the broken fitting that’s been cut out.
About the heater - keep an eye on it and don’t let it touch anything - you don’t want to add a fire to your problems.