I just dug a trench to reviel an old galvanized water line that is broken. I want to shorten the line and would like to do it myself by cutting the line, filing off some rust and corrosion and using a larger pvc pipe and some glule to fix…will work or am I over my head?
USA You did not provide enough information. How many feet of line is there? Are you on a well or utility supplied water? The only way to permanently repair a broken metal water pipe is to cut out the bad section and replacing it. You can use copper or steel or PVC or CPVC or PEX to replace the damaed section. But whichever one you use, you will have to thread the ends of the existing pipe in order to adapt to th e new pipe. You CAN NOT glue to metal pipe. If the damaged section of pipe is more than 25% of the pipe from the utility shut off valve to the point of use, replace the entire line. Think of this: If one or two feet of pipe have rusted out, the condition of the remaining pipe is pretty close to breaking.
Call a licensed plumber, and have it done the right way.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
get someone to do it right! A plumber might work.
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PVC is not going to match up with galvanized pipe. You are in way over your head so get a plumber to do it right!
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Yes you can! Replace a pipe section from the theaded ends. If there is no place to unscrew the bad piece, cut it and unscrew it with a pipe wrench from the cut ends. After removing both sides, clean the threads and put the pvc (schedule 40) threaded pipe in both exposed threads. A piece of teflon tape around the pvc threads will insure there are no leaks. Now you can either glue a coupler in the middle or use a threaded (pvc) universal which will thread onto the pvc pipe. If you need advice, go to the local plumbing store (or Lowes, Home depot).
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jonbel gives good advice. however, if you gontwantto big up the whole section you can also cut the bad section out with a hacksaw or sawzall and rethread with a pipe threader, if you can find someone to loan on to you.
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u are over your head… replace it with copper..get a mainteneca man with plumbing skills or a plumber
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USA You did not provide enough information. How many feet of line is there? Are you on a well or utility supplied water? The only way to permanently repair a broken metal water pipe is to cut out the bad section and replacing it. You can use copper or steel or PVC or CPVC or PEX to replace the damaed section. But whichever one you use, you will have to thread the ends of the existing pipe in order to adapt to th e new pipe. You CAN NOT glue to metal pipe. If the damaged section of pipe is more than 25% of the pipe from the utility shut off valve to the point of use, replace the entire line. Think of this: If one or two feet of pipe have rusted out, the condition of the remaining pipe is pretty close to breaking.
Call a licensed plumber, and have it done the right way.
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