10 DIY Plumbing Mistakes and How to Fix Them (+Tips & Tricks) | GOT2LEARN

what's up guys and welcome back to another video in this video I'll show you 10 plumbing mistakes that beginners make and how they could be avoided number one not sloping your pipe or sloping it incorrectly a proper slope is a must when doing any type of drain if it's sloped right it'll allow for two things the first is for the waste to flow adequately in a particular direction and secondly not to siphon out a p-trap if a nearby toilet flushes with an improper slope it'll create a negative pressure in the pipes and siphon out a p-trap close by allowing for sewer gases to enter the house for this not to happen slope your pipe accordingly and make sure you have proper venting nearby number two is not installing water hammer arrest errs before these appeared we'd install a tee with an 18 inch section of pipe that would be filled with air upon filling of the system and cushion any hammering inside the pipes but with time these would fill up with water and cease to do their job to fix any knocking in the pipes it's highly recommended to install dedicated arresters like these they're most often installed near fast valve closing appliances such as toilets or washing machines number three is reusing flexible Speedway's speed ways otherwise known as flexible hoses are one of your home's weakest link in terms of plumbing these flexible hoses are made of rubber and have a stainless steel jacket to protect the core from anything that could damage them such as animals and so on these typically have a lifespan of around 5 years and should be replaced soon after to know if yours are still good visually inspect them and if there are any frays or leaks it's a good sign it needs a replacement number for using lead solder on a potable water system lead as many of you may already know is proven to be harmful if ingested for a long period of time many homes built before the 1980s used lead solder to copper pipes together with the new code LED has been banned for potable water systems and replaced with 95 595 5 is a mix of tin and antimony and is completely lead-free so it's safe to use for drinking water what to retain from this is always check your solder before to make sure you're using the correct one if doing a repair number-5 knott deburring the inside of your pipes when a pipe is cut a burr is formed inside which results in several negative outcomes it reduces the pipes inner diameter and causes turbulence if not removed turbulence in the long run could cause unwanted leaks and lead to a lot of damage in your home to resolve this issue always deburr your pipes with either a round file a utility knife or if you have a dedicated reaming tool that's even better most pipe cutters have one built into them and a lot of people don't know about it number 6 improper cleaning of pipes and fittings when soldiering cleanliness is crucial to getting a leak free joint a store-bought copper pipe has oxidation on it due to being in contact with the air and needs to be properly cleaned before soldiering fittings are less likely to have any oxidation on them and don't always need to be brushed however if they've been laying somewhere for a while and need it you could use a fitting brush like this or cut the tip and use it in your drill to accelerate the process to properly clean a pipe use an abrasive material such as this or this and scrub the pipe thoroughly until it looks like this one also make sure the flux you're using is clean and free of debris I prefer to use this instead of an open jar as it's contained and free of any contaminants when not in use number seven not isolating your exterior hydrants in winter an exterior hydrant like this is in contact with the outside temperature and if not insulated could burst due to water expansion in the pipe it's highly to isolate would have valve inside the house and drain any excess water outside to properly winterize it better yet install one of these non freezing hydrants and never worry about forgetting to close a valve anymore these use a rod type system and close the water inside the house where it's a lot hotter and less likely to freeze if you want to learn how to install one go check out my how-to video on how to properly swap out your old hydrant with a non freezing one like this number eight not hanging your pipes correctly this could sometimes be overlooked but mustn't for copper water lines not hanging your pipes correctly could eventually weaken them and cause them to fail at a joint for example resulting in water damage think of it like a metal wire if bent a couple of times it'll just break off the same thing applies for your water lines but make sure this doesn't happen always add a hanger at every 6 feet or so for 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch copper lines this way you're sure to never have any problems number 9 applying pipe dope and then teflon tape there's a lot of controversy going on whether you should put your pipe dope on first or after applying your teflon tape the answer is simple if you dope then tape the tape will tend to want to be pushed back instead of staying on the threads possibly causing your joint to leak the proper way of doing it is installing your teflon tape first then applying your pipe dope if so desired this method will give you a much cleaner finish and has less possibilities of it leaking as well and number 10 stripping or cross threading a pipe or fitting this is a common mistake that a lot of beginners and do-it-yourselfers make and that could easily be avoided a cross thread is easy to diagnose it'll be a lot harder than usual to tighten and most likely leak and won't go in straight like a normal pipe would the reason this happens is that the threads aren't aligned at the beginning and you basically make new ones as you're tightening it for this not to happen always start off by hand and make sure it's cruising smoothly before using a tool to finalize the tightening process a quick tip here is to start off in a counterclockwise direction to align the threads you'll see it go into place which means you're good to go as always if you guys enjoyed and learn something from this video please give it a big thumbs up and subscribe to the channel for more upcoming videos and until the next one thanks for watching

Channel: Got2Learn

Views: 1,849,860

Keywords: got2learn, DIY, plumbing trick, plumber, do it yourself, pex plumbing installation, plombier, plumbing hacks, plumbing, plumbing tools, plumbing repair, plumbing diy, plumbing how to, how to do plumbing, how to repair plumbing, how to fix plumbing, toilet, rough in plumbing, solder with mini torch, how to solder, how to solder copper, how to fix copper leak, how to fix copper pipe, soldering copper pipe, sweat copper pipe, plumbing tips, plumbing hack, plumbing fail, life hacks

Id: HGwgij1M56M

Length: 7min 18sec (438 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 05 2019