 Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
So the area under my washer valves is pretty nasty. As I am putting 5 1/4 baseboard in the laundry I figure I will cut all this 40 year old stuff out. Once I do I take some 1x3 and plate behind the cut for something to screw to for the new drywall patch. Surely it will make for a more level and easy float. So what are the odds a sighted person with above room temp IQ would put a 2" drywall screw directly through a 1/2" copper pipe. Well let me tell ya, in my world it's about 100% possible.  I hate housework!
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 78
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,056 Likes: 78 |
I'll bet I coulda... without even trying.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,445 Likes: 1
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,445 Likes: 1 |
I love my old house with it's galvanized pipe plumbing. When I moved from apartment living to owning a house, my mother embroidered a plaque for me that says; "People who own homes deserve it!" Her sarcasm knows no bounds. Good luck with your new project. 
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,028 Likes: 8
New Tires
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New Tires
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,028 Likes: 8 |
Use shorter drywall screws. Usually, what penetrates the copper pipe is the trim finishing nails, there is no leak till the nails rust through months later.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H. L. Mencken
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 84
Member
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Member
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 84 |
Been there...you have our sympathies. I hate when that "two hour" job in the morning ends up eating the whole day...
2009 America
Flames w/black
Long TORs, Tach
Airbox removed, + +
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6
Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6 |
You got lucky with only hitting water pipes. Wait till you hit some electric wiring! (And no, I don't know nothing about such things!)
Fidelis et Fortis
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
I should never deal with wires. I will tell you how much I know about electric. The switch up the room gets bright, down its dark. Thats it, I have no more, thats all I know 
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,393 Likes: 1
Second Wind
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Second Wind
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,393 Likes: 1 |
Yep, thats what always happens. Ya think your doing good only to find ya broke something else.
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
Edgar Allan Poe
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
Did you know the paper on the back of batted insulation is flammable. You hit it with a torch to sweat on a coupling and poof there it goes. The excitement is when you realize the water is shut off to do the job. I know how do do all these things! I think I am a mess, my Schnauzer could do a better job so far. My son asked me if I wanted to go shooting. I said, this would be a really bad week. 
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,146
Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,146 |
A 2" drywall screw? How thick is your drywall? Sounds like it was only a matter of time before you hit something?
Twenty more years and you'll look back and laugh.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,164 Likes: 1
Should be Riding
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Should be Riding
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,164 Likes: 1 |
Home improvement tips by Tim "The Toolman" Taylor.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,669
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,669 |
I hope this same type of handiness doen't happen while wrenching on your bike.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,284
Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,284 |
Quote:
You got lucky with only hitting water pipes. Wait till you hit some electric wiring! (And no, I don't know nothing about such things!)
"Hey Moe, I found the problem, there's wires in these pipes." - C.Howard
Strangler
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
2" is all I had I bought a ton of them furring out a ceiling a year ago. Had to travel over an inch to get to the joist. Why go to the store when you can scrounge around and kinda get the right stuff. So what if you hit a pipe and start a fire. I didn't have to buy more screws!
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6
Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6 |
Quote:
2" is all I had I bought a ton of them furring out a ceiling a year ago. Had to travel over an inch to get to the joist.
Why go to the store when you can scrounge around and kinda get the right stuff. So what if you hit a pipe and start a fire.
I didn't have to buy more screws!
THAT'S the spirit! 
Fidelis et Fortis
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 988
3/4 Throttle
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3/4 Throttle
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 988 |
Quote:
So the area under my washer valves is pretty nasty. As I am putting 5 1/4 baseboard in the laundry I figure I will cut all this 40 year old stuff out. Once I do I take some 1x3 and plate behind the cut for something to screw to for the new drywall patch. Surely it will make for a more level and easy float.
So what are the odds a sighted person with above room temp IQ would put a 2" drywall screw directly through a 1/2" copper pipe. Well let me tell ya, in my world it's about 100% possible.
I hate housework!
I good friend of mine put some new wainescoat and chair rail up in his dining room about a year ago and all was good till about a month ago when he noticed water leaking in his basement. After locating the leak he pulled the wainscoat off the wall and noticed a wet spot on drywall and after cutting a hole in the drywall he found that he shot a nail thru a copper water pipe but it was sealed up until the nail rusted away and that is where he found his leak, so you aren't the only one out there!
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
Funny you say that! I seriously thought on it a bit and was calculating a few years it would hold and I could just remind myself later to fix it. When you are as old as me your idea of the future is Saturday. Would be a great joke on the widow/wife. Maybe leave a note in the wall next to it saying, Gotcha!
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 5,720
Check Pants
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Check Pants
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 5,720 |
Can't you turn off the water, pull the nail and solder the hole up? Just wondering. 
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,028 Likes: 8
New Tires
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New Tires
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,028 Likes: 8 |
No, got to cut it out and splice.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H. L. Mencken
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
I think Mac is right. The copper will be stressed around the hole. You have to have something to run over two plates. You have no way of knowing if the solder with the flux formed a key inside the pipe to hold it. + you can get flux overrun if you force flux into the hole. The flux when mixed with water if its trapped in one place forms HCL. That eventually will cause a pinhole leak or blow the solder plug out a few years later. That happens a lot with sloppy sub contractor plumbers in a hurry getting paid per house. They slop the flux into the coupling. When they charge the line the excess forms a gel in the water and sits there in the pipe eating at it. Everything holds water and the hot flushes out the flux residue but the cold can't dissolve it. 5 years later leaks within a few inches of each joint start to crop up. Technical information and statistics are made up on the spot 46% of the time.
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6
Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6 |
I wouldn't bother with solder anyway. Fix most of my pinhole leaks with coupling compression joints. A little pricy, but fast and furious!
Fidelis et Fortis
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
I have no reason to say I don't feel good about them vs. a sweated joint. I have reason because generally they don't leak and are really easy to do. + I would not have started my insulation on fire
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821
Bar Shake
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Bar Shake
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,821 |
Use Sharkbite couplers. I have and they are badass. A tad spendy, but well worth it.
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,028 Likes: 8
New Tires
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New Tires
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 7,028 Likes: 8 |
Sharkbite or similar couplings are amazing and great for emergency or quick fixes, but they cost 10x a sweat coupling and can suck in a limited spaces. But, in this case it might be the right option, there's no point in proving ones pipe sweating ability only to burn the house down. 
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H. L. Mencken
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Re: Copper Pipe issues
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16
Monkey Butt
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OP
Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,666 Likes: 16 |
I should have used a compression coupling. I just always had more faith in sweating when inside the wall. I know the technology has passed me by and the compression is so much easier.
I try to aggravate one person a day. Today may be your day.
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