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How to Fix Leaking Plumbing Lines
How to Stop Leaking Plumbing Supply and Drain
Lines
By: Mark J. Donovan
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Question: Mark, I'm an
American expatriate living over in a country where the plumbing workmanship is
shoddy at best. I moved into a new apartment, and all of the plumbing supply and
drain lines going to and from the sinks and toilet leak. The leaking plumbing
lines seem to be coming in all cases from where the hoses connect to the sinks
and toilet. I've replaced the rubber sealing rings, but the leaks still persist.
The "nuts" can't be tightened any more than I have already. What do I do? I have
to keep all of the water supply valves turned off until I need water.
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Then I have to mop the floors
afterwards. Is there a sealant that I can use to fix leaking plumbing lines?
Keep in mind where I am living plumbing supplies are not readily available.
Please help. Thank you. WT
Answer: WT, I can relate to your leaking plumbing line problems. I have
had similar issues in hotels in various locations around the world where the
sinks constantly leak and the toilets continuously run.
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To answer your question succinctly on
how to fix leaking plumbing lines, I would suggest finding some Teflon plumbers
tape. Plumbers tape is a thin white tape that is used to lubricate plumbing
threads and to improve the water tightness of a plumbing joint. Plumbers tape is
very inexpensive and you can usually find it at any hardware store. It is a very
basic and ubiquitous plumbing supply product. I would think you could find
plumbers tape in almost any country, including most third world countries.
You can use plumbers tape on both
supply and drain lines. To use plumbers tape, unscrew the fittings and wrap the
male threads with the plumbers tape.
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Make sure not to wrap the plumbers
tape over the ends of the male fittings as this could reduce water pressure to
your plumbing fixtures. Then screw the fittings back on. You should notice that
they are tighter to fit. When wrapping the fitting with plumbers tape it is best
to wrap the tape in the direction of the threads. This will prevent the plumbers
tape from coming unwound or bunching up when you screw it into the female end of
the fixture.
As an alternative to Teflon plumbers tape you can also use pipe dope. Pipe dope
is a pasty like material which performs the same functions as Teflon plumbers
tape.
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Also, if it is the drain lines that are leaking, which sounds like it is not
your case, make sure that there are plastic compression fittings where you
tighten up the plastic or metal nuts. In addition, make sure the drain nuts and
the connecting drain pipes are not stressed or cocked sideways in anyway. For
example as the plastic or metal sink drain pipe shoots down underneath the sink,
make sure the receiving end of the connecting plastic or metal P or J trap is
lined up directly underneath the sink drain pipe. If they are not perfectly
lined up there can be stresses at the nut area that may cause leaks.
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