How To Fix Busted Pipes- 3 Easy Methods

How To Fix Busted Pipes Using 3 Quick And Easy Ways- Find Out

If you want to know how to fix busted pipes that cause leakage in your home and eventually lead to spending money on new pipes or plumbers, you have come to the right place. This guide helps you understand the reasons behind your pipes bursting and tells you how to fix busted pipes at home without much help needed.

Let’s see some things related to busted pipes before learning how to fix busted pipes.

What Is The Cause Of Busted Pipes?

The leading cause leads to the busting of pipes in cold weather. When the weather freezes, The water flowing inside these pipes expands and is close to a freezing state, if the pressure keeps on increasing too much, the pipe structure gets damaged, or busting occurs. When related to freezing, the pipes get burst when the temperature drops down below -6 degrees celsius. If you wish to learn how to fix busted pipes just follow all the things given below.

Many people are not able to find when the pipe in their house has busted and realized days later due to which the pipe gets so much damaged that it becomes difficult to repair them by yourself. Let’s see how to fix busted pipes by finding out where the damage has occurred.

How To Know The Pipe Has Burst?

Initially, the signs of a burst pipe will go unnoticed by many of us and will be all over the place, it depends upon the magnitude and spot of rupture. You will see the signs in water flow. For learning how to fix busted pipes, you have to first find out if the pipe has busted or not.

The signs to make out if the pipe has burst include:

1. Flooding: Probably the most evident and common signs of burst pipes. If you or your housemates are noticing water puddles all over the floor or the walls are getting wet then you can make out the pipes have burst. Also, the water meter spins like crazy if flooding occurs.
2. Patches Of Extra Green Grass (Algae Growth): Usually when the pipes burst outside our houses, or maybe around the yard, your lawn will be flooded with water from these pipes. If you see patches of green grass appearing near the pipes, most likely they are growing due to water coming out from the pipes.
3. Bubbling Walls: When you are not able to figure out if the pipes have burst, you will start noticing bubbles like spaces forming under the paints or any wallpapers present in your home.
4. Mould: This is another indicator of too much moisture present. Many people have this issue without having any leakages in their pipes, however, if you have never faced problems with mold but suddenly started seeing them, you can check if the pipes have burst or how to fix busted pipes.

After finding out that the pipes in your house are busted, you have to find the location where the pipe is damaged to learn how to fix busted pipes. It is a key step in fixing. Let’s see how you can easily locate the place of damage to know how to fix busted pipes.

How To Locate Busted Pipes?

If your pipe has burst because of the formation of ice, it will not necessarily damage the spot in your pipe where it has formed. Sometimes all the ice does in your pipes is creating a blockage inside. Due to the pressure created, the most vulnerable spot will have erupted. It is very important to locate the place where exactly the damage has been caused due to freezing or any other reason.

Examine the signs of water damage

Look for places over your walls, basement, ceilings, etc, and stop at the spot where you think the damage is most easily seen or noticed. The leak will be most probably at that spot only. Remember that this is not the case always, sometimes the water pools at another place far from the spot of damage.

Search The Pipes Outside For Mold Or Corrosion

Moisture, corrosion, rotted wood, and mold also indicate the need for repairing any leaks present. The broken pipes might be located most probably behind the wall.

Try To Find Smell Of Sewage

It is not necessary to try this one. You will automatically smell the bad odor if the pipe has burst along with sewer pipes. If you feel it’s too smelly and you cannot fix this by yourself, immediately seek help from a professional as they have the required tools and techniques to proceed.

How To Fix Busted Pipes

Without a fix on proper timings, the cracks can become even bigger and cause more problems than they are causing now. Whether the piping inserted in your home is of copper or PVC material, fixing a busted pipe is mandatory. You can avoid putting money on plumbers by turning off the main supply and draining and inserting new pipes.

You can use 3 methods to know how to fix busted pipes in your home. These methods are:

1. Locate The Leak And Turn Off The Water

This is the first method you can do to learn how to fix busted pipes. The steps included in this method include:

Step One

• The first step involves turning off the nearest or relevant supply valve if you witness a leakage in your pipe after it has burst. If there is a leak in the supply of water, which means the leakage is in the piping from any water supply outside the region of your house, turn of the nearest valve present.
• For instance, if there is a leak in the water supply extending towards the bathroom, just turn off the valve of the washroom supply. If you have made out that the leak is located inside a drainage pipe, which is extending from below the faucet present, you may start replacement of that pipe while the supply is on.

Step Two

• This step involves turning off the valve of the sprinkler if you see a leakage in the sprinkler pipes. Many people have fire sprinkles in their houses. If you are among them, make sure you are turning off the sprinkler valve. You can easily locate the sprinkler supply valve because in most cases you will find it located right next to the primary valve of the water supply, this is the second valve located downstream from your sprinkler system.
• Typically, you will get both the primary valve and sprinkler valve on the side of your house that faces the street directly.
• If you still couldn’t find where they are located if you live in a rented house, seek help from the owner asking them for help.

Step Three

• If you see a visible or evident leakage in the supply of water. You can just drain the water line that is affected. Turn on all the taps you know that are directly connected to this water supply having problems.
• For instance, if the affected water supply is the one in your washroom, turn on the faucet in your washroom and let it run until all the water comes out completely.

Step Four

• This step involves locating any leaks present in the wall of your house. If you witness a leak in the water supply piping located in the wall, you will have to begin with opening it. Just score 25 inches long into the wall where the water leak is evident.
• Just cut along the score line you have made using a drywall saw and make a big enough hole for you to peek inside easily. Once you are ready with the spotting of the leakage point, make that hole even bigger so that you can easily access it.
• You will require a utility knife and drywall saw for this procedure. You can easily get them in any hardware store present nearby.

2. Copper Piping Replacement

To learn how to fix busted pipes having copper material, just follow the steps given below.

Step One

• You are supposed to remove the damaged piping of 2.5 cms or 1 inch from both sides where a leak has occurred.
• Start by Using a measuring tape and a marker to make a 1-inch mark on each side where you have located the damage or burst in the pipe.
• After marking is complete, just wrap the jaws of the pipe cutting machine you have brought and tighten its screws by rotating them in a clockwise direction. Continue doing the same thing until the pipe section that is damaged is removed.
• Repeat the same process to cut on another mark you have made on a different side of the damaged pipe.
• While you place the cutter over the pipe, make sure that the cutter’s head is facing towards the ceiling while you are begging with the initial cut.
• If you do not have a pipe cutter yet, you can easily get one from any home improvement store nearby.

Step Two

• This step begins with cutting a repair sleeve 2.5 cm or 1 inch longer than the pipe you have removed due to its busting.
• This repair sleeve you are about to use is the new pipe. You have to use this pipe to connect with the original piping.
• Mark the repair coupling from any end of it using a marker. Again make use of the pipe cutter you have and grip the sections marked firmly.
• Turn the screws until the pipe is cut by rotating the cutter in the clockwise direction.

Step Three

• You have to clean the repair sleeve you have before inserting it into the piping system. You can start this by inserting the pipe cutter blade you have into the cut places of the repair sleeve you have brought.
• Turn this cutter around the perimeter for scrapping off the uneven regions present in the piping. Do it until it smoothly fits the original piping you have.
• After completing all these, insert any wire fitting brush inside the repairing sleeve and scrub it out for removing any corrosion.
• Finally, just wipe out outer surfaces on that piping using a plumber’s sand cloth or emery paper.
• To be completely safe with the repair sleeve, make sure you are cleaning it thoroughly before inserting even if it fits the original piping.

Step Four

• Slide your repair sleeve after cleaning into the older pipe gaps. At this point, you should have two pipes that are exposed with a gap in between where the damage was present earlier.
• Start by sliding the end of one pipe into one end of the older pipe and then push it a little bit so that the other end can easily fit and get inserted in another side of the original piping.
• If you are facing any issues with the repairing sleeve, loosen it using pipe hangers so that it fits. You can use a screwdriver too. After you have inserted it make sure you are fighting them completely and the repair sleeve is properly attached to avoid any leakage in the future.
• Make sure 1.3 cms of this repair pipe is present inside the original pipe on both sides. This reduces the risk of any leakage when the water pressure is high.

Step Five

• If there is any faucet above the pipe that was leaking earlier, open that faucet.
• Before you are set for soldering, just turn on the faucet, it will be located on the upper side.
• At this stage, the main supply of water should be off completely. Nothing is going to come out. It will keep the pressure from increasing much by pushing all the water into the busted pipe while you are repairing it.
• If you do not see any faucet above the piping, you can just skip this step.
• Before we move to step six of how to repair busted pipes, make sure you already have solder and a gas torch with you.

Step Six

• You need to use the solder and gas torch you purchased to solder the joints.
• You can proceed by opening the adjustment valve of fuel and by lighting the tip by just hitting the ignition button present on it.
• Keep adjusting the flame until the blue cone reaches a height of 3.2 cm long or 1.25 inches.
• Hold the flame such that the tip barely comes in contact with the fitting.
• While holding the tip of the solder you have at opposite ends of the joint, wait until the wire in the solder liquified and travels to the joint.
• Once the solder has melted enough such that it fills the entirety of the joint you can remove the flame.
• Cover the ceiling joists that are wooden in the material using any flame protecting cloth when you perform these steps. After this, place steel to cover any flammable materials or clothes present nearby. It is best to do such things by taking full precautions, instead of learning how to fix busted pipes, you might end up hurting yourself, so perform with low risk.
• Give the solder a time period of 30 seconds or 45 seconds maybe to cool down before you are turning the main supply of water.

Step Seven

• Step seven of this guide (how to fix busted pipes) involves turning the main supply of water on and flushing the lines.
• After the solder is set, turn the main supply on to check if the problem of leakage has been fixed or not.
• If you still notice the water leaking drop by drop, check your piping again and find any region where you did not let the solder flow.
• Once you locate such regions, re-solder them until the leakage problem is completely fixed.
• Once your pipes are completely repaired, let the water lines run continuously for 5 minutes to 10 minutes. In this manner, all the debris accumulated will also be removed.
• Before you re-solder, make sure you have turned off the water supply that you had turned on earlier for checking purposes.

3. PVC Piping Repairing

To learn how to fix busted pipes having PVC material, you can check the steps and follow them.

Step One

• You may also bring PVC slide repair coupling in order to know how to fix busted pipes. Once you purchase a PVC slide repair coupling you will receive two parts- the slip fix and the smaller slip coupling.
• The slip fix is generally an extendable portion. Once you get them home, just attach the slip coupling to one end of your broken pipe. You can attach the slip fix by pulling it towards one end as it is extendable in nature.
• This will make the process of how to fix busted pipes very easy. It will also reduce the requirements of taking exact measurements.
• While you are out for purchase, make sure you are always purchasing those products that have the same size as the broken pipe you have. For example, if the PVC piping in your home has the size of 10 cm, the slide repair coupling you purchase should also be 10 cm in diameter.

Step Two

• In this step, you have to attach the slip coupling to the piston end of your extendable slip fix. Slip fix has two ends, one of them is a small region that is extending from the larger region. This smaller region is called the piston.
• Sliding the coupling over that piston region and then pressing it against slip fix using considerable pressure is important to know how to fix busted pipes.
• Make sure that the slip couplings are flushed with a small piston end of the slip fix you have.

Step Three

• This step involves placing the compressed slip fix in opposition to the piping in order to determine where to make the cut.
• To carry out this process, all you have to do is hold the coupling and slip fix against the position of pipings that you are repairing.
• Mark the points of that piping that forms an alignment with each side of that compressed slip fix by a permanent marker or regular marker.
• Before you are all set to take the measurements, make sure that the slip fix and slip couplings are firmly attached to each other.

Step Four

• Using the PVC pipe cutters, remove or get rid of the damaged section of the pipings.
• To carry out this procedure, align the PVC pipe cutter’s jaws around the marks you have made in the previous step. Also, you have to grip the handles at this stage.
• After this, squeeze the handles of those cutters firmly while you move that cutter up and down, in and out.
• You have to continue repeating and doing the same thing until you get a clean cut through your PVC pipings.
• Repeat the same procedure to make a cut on the other point you had marked using the marker.
• Make sure you cut them as straight as you can.

Step Five

• You have to add a primer to the piston and slip coupling of the slip fix during this step.
• PVC primer has the properties of softening materials which makes them prepared for using solvent cement.
• Just remove the slip coupling from the end of the piston of the slip fix.
• Using the brush applicator given, apply that primer to 2.5 cms of area inside the slip coupling.

Step Six

• This step involves applying solvent cement on primer as well as on slip fix and slip coupling.
• Solvent cement is specially designed so that it fits PVC pipe fittings easily. You can use a brush applicator for the purpose of applying this solvent cement to regions of the piston end of slip fix and slip couplings same on which you have applied the PVC primer.
• If you are wondering how to fix busted pipes through solvent cement, you can easily get them from any home hardware store near you.

Step Seven

• You have to keep pushing slip pieces together so that they are flushed against one another.
• Just push the slip couplings over one end of the piston on slip fix and then press it by putting a considerate amount of pressure or force on it.
• Once both the pieces are flushed, just turn the coupling of the slip 1/4th around the piston end of slip fix and hold all the pieces together in the same position for 5 to 6 seconds.
• Using a rag just wipe off the leftover or excess cement after you have finished this work.

Step Eight

• Apply the solvent cement and PVC primer to the repair pipe and the coupling.
• You may use the brush applicator for this purpose and apply another 1 inch of this PVC primer after applying 1 inch of solvent cement. You have to apply both of these to the inner end of slip couplings.
• Repeat the same procedure to the inner ends of the pipe as well that you are about to repair.
• You have to make sure that the slip fix and slip coupling are firmly held with each other before you proceed to this step.

Step Nine

• This step involves installing the coupling over the repair pipe that has been covered using the solvent cement.
• You have to press the exposed end of that slip coupling with the exposed region of the repair pipe until it cannot go any farther.
• After finishing this, just give it 1/4th of a turn all around that piping.
• You have to hold it for 5 seconds after the turn is given.
• Use any cloth to wipe off excess solvent cement present.

Step Ten

• Just repeat all the steps you have done in the previous step for the remaining piping you have. You have to apply another 1 inch of that PVC primer and then 1 inch of solvent cement as you have done is the last step.
• Apply it to the piston end of the slip fix and then to the inner region of the piping to be repaired.
• Make sure that you are applying the PVC primer first and then proceeding with solvent cement application on pipes and PVC materials.

Step Eleven

• This step involves connecting both the piston end of the slip fix along with the remaining piping.
• You have to pull the piston end of the slip fix closer to the remain piping and turn it in the clockwise direction while you are pulling it.
• Just continue with pulling the piston and rotating it until you cannot pull it any farther.
• Read the manufacturer’s instructions and as per those guidelines given, let solvent cement dry completely.

Step Twelve

• It is time to check everything. Turn on the water supply and then flush the water lines.
• After the solvent cement has dried completely, you have to turn the main water supply of that pipe on to be sure and check that the piping is not leaking after this.
• Once you have fixed the piping on your own, turn on those water lines for nearly 10 minutes so that you are completely sure and the debris accumulated inside them also flushes out.
• If you see that the piping is still leaking, you have to check again if you have fixed the slip coupling and slip fix with each other or not. Make sure they are not loosely connected because that may cause leakage.

This was everything you needed to know to learn how to fix busted pipes using PVC pipe or copper pipe.

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