Misadventures in Plumbing - 101

Plumbing can be scary if you dont know what youre doing.. but it doesnt have to be. Sometimes it just takes patience and determination. Join me as I have a crazy adventure through replacing the drain pipe under my bathroom sink.

So I should preface things by saying I know absolutely nothing about plumbing or really how to do much of anything when it comes to home repair. I usually turn to instructables or youtube or something when I need to get somehting done, but sometimes the problem is even beyond my internet comrades and their well laid "how to" guides... thus was the case of my leak.

I had noticed a drip coming through the floor into the basement. a very slow... methodical... drip. it was intermittent. This caused me to believe it was just condensation on the pipe from some hot days but what I eventually encountered turned out much worse.

Anyways, I put a bucket in place.. let it go a few days.. and eventually it of course became worse when I noticed my drip had turned to wetness coming through the floor. It was then that I knew there was a problem.

So i did what anyone would do when he doesnt know what to do. I called a plumber.

He came out and told me it would be a thousand dollars. I said thanks and let him go on his way. Then I called another plumber, whose company begins with an R and ends with an R and has the word "ripoff" secretly wedged in between. He said 220 an hour.

Both wanted to completely disassemble my bathroom, rip out the vanity and destroy the walls on both sides.

It was then that I decided to chip away at the concrete wall under the bathroom sink and see if I could get a better view at things, or at the least do some dirty work to cut down my eventual costs.

So... I got a hammer and an old screwdriver that was made in the 50s and is virtually indestructible, and I went to town.

Surprisingly.. I did not discover a leak coming from the water supply on the pipe containing the drip. So, I kept chipping a bit.. and kept chipping.. until I started seeing corrosion on the drain pipe. Lots of it.. and it was gross. Evetually I discovered that the part of the pipe running through the 2x4 support in the wall had a hole in it big enough to stick my finger into. It was only holding water back with the decades of sludge buildup in the pipe.. which had begun to finally wash out through the hole and started making water drizzle down the inside of the wall and build up until it came through the floor.

Thats when it became decision time.

I like both my hands and arms. I like the stuff I own.. I like not spending money for things if I don't have to.

And after unsuccessfully trying to convince my brother, the master plumber, to catch an emergency flight from across the US to come fix my drain pipe I felt like I didnt have any options but to try and tackle it myself.

After some more chipping... and examining the situation. I felt like I might just be able to replace the pipe, and with his encouragement through texting. I did just that.

Thats when I made a trip to the big orange box for the supplies I would need.

WORD TO THE WISE: Do not trust the first guy that comes along in an orange smock. He will most defintely steer you in the wrong direction. "John" we'll call him... gave me the wrong pipe, the wrong fittings, and the wrong advice... but thank the maker that Felix showed up when I stumped John on a question. He was gracious enough to let John walk away before calmly taking everything out of my cart and putting it back, assessing my needs, and then giving me the correct items.

Felix was a former master plumber who also worked in the Marines, and now disabled, was working part time at the orange box. He was a godsend.. and was incredibly paitent. So, an hour later... I arrived home with everything I needed to make my adventure a success.

In addition to what you see here I also had ten foot of PVC... safety glasses, a ham sandwich, and determination.

I also bought a socket to replace one in the kitchen.

It was about the point that I was grateful I had decided to wear safety glasses. All those years of sludge came spattering out everywhere.. including on me, the wall behind me, and all over the interior of the vanity.

It also caused a very curious and freshly rescued pit bull to come and inspect my work.. she clearly knew more about plumbing than I did. I mean, just look at that face.

I had now made a clean cut.. and I felt good, but skepticism quickly set in. I thought: "Cant be this easy.. something is wrong here"

And something was wrong.. I decided to chip away more and inspect the pipe further and I am glad I did.

I would come to discover the entire drain pipe was rotted and not just the small section I had cut. In fact there was rot all the way up to the T connection that sends the drain into the floor and down into the basement. It left me pondering...

"I am going to need to cut out the whole pipe arent I?"

"The downspout pipe cant be rotted.. everything goes straight down and doesnt sit there"

"Where is that pipe going to thats leading up?!"

"Why didnt I put mustard on that sandwich?"

So I made the decision.. and I cut the pipe at the T. I'm glad I did because the entire bottom of the pipe shredded up when the blade hit it. If I hadnt taken the extra time and effort to investigate further, I would have been right back here again probably within days.

So then all that was left was replacing the rotted section with new PVC. I thought the easiest way to do it would be just to measure the existing crappy pipes, which it was. I measured every single section out to match the new components size with the old and from there it was simply assembling it all up and doing what Felix had instructed.

After measuring it all, I put the elements into place without the glue to see how it would look and match up. It all seemed perfect, so I applied the glue (primer and cement) following the instructions on the package. I then tightened the rubber boot between the PVC and the T connection, screwed everything that needed screwed, and the entire assembly was together and ready for action.

It only took me about 9 hours or so... but I had successfully replaced a drain pipe with zero idea on how to do it in the first place.

I cranked the water and let it run a good ten minutes... everything was bone dry, there were no leaks, and I could finally wash my hands again.

I felt super accomplished. I had never done anything like this before and though it wasnt easy for me, I kept my determination and finished the job. Now a week later and everything is still going strong.

Oh and as far as cost....

I only chipped out as much as you see in the pictures, replacing it with a section of OSB plywood and I spent 112 dollars. Most of which was in the price of the saw. That sure beat a thousand dollars, along with having to replace two walls and my vanity.

If I can do it... you can do it. Good luck.