My neighbor swears by duct tape for plumbing fixes. I told him he's crazy.

I was patching a leaky PVC pipe under my sink last week when the guy next door came over and said he fixes all his plumbing with duct tape and zip ties. He claims it holds for months if you wrap it tight. I think that's a disaster waiting to happen. What do you do when a quick fix could turn into a flood in your walls?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_mary26d agoTop Commenter

Have you tried telling him about the time I thought duct tape was a good enough fix for a leaky hose bib out back? I learned my lesson when the whole thing gave way at 2 AM and flooded half my yard. The problem is duct tape is made for air ducts, not water pressure. You wrap it tight and it might hold for a little while but the water wins every time once that adhesive gets soft. I'd rather spend the 15 bucks on a proper coupling and primer.

rodriguez.felix26d ago

The guy's out of his mind if he thinks duct tape is gonna hold back water pressure day after day. Mary's dead right about that adhesive getting soft - I've seen it turn into a gooey mess inside an hour once hot water hits it. Zip ties won't do squat either, they just snap or loosen up when the pipe expands from warm water running through. A proper PVC coupling with primer and cement costs like ten bucks and takes ten minutes, no reason to gamble your whole floor on a roll of tape.

jamesm3826d ago

Man, this is just how some people treat every problem like it's a loose screw on a cabinet door. Tape and zip ties are fine for bundling cables, not for things under pressure. It's like folks who use superglue to fix a broken chair leg and act surprised when it gives out under their weight.