Working With Pipe

Soldering a joint.

Copper pipe—the most common type of water supply pipe—is strongest when joined by soldered "sweat" joints. The pipe and fitting are heated with a propane torch until hot enough to melt a strip of solder on contact. The solder will be held to the edge of the fitting until a solid ring of molten metal appears around the entire joint.

It is not often that you are forced to cut out a section of pipe and insert a new length—only on that rare occasion when a supply line freezes and bursts, a joint springs a leak or a drain becomes permanently clogged. More often you may decide you want to add an entirely new branch of piping as changing family needs demand additional fixtures and appliances.

But whether from choice or necessity, the job is easier than you may think, for modern materials and easy-to-master professional techniques make these chores much less daunting than they at first appear. New materials have revolutionized plumbing. No matter what kind of piping you already have—copper, steel, cast iron, plastic or even old-fashioned lead—you can generally make a choice among several materials to use for a repair or a new branch, since there is an array of adapter fittings that allows any one type to be joined to almost any other.

Make the job as simple as possible by selecting the easiest pipe material to use for the job at hand. Where plumbing codes permit, this usually means using plastic pipe, which is quickly cut with a saw and easily spliced with cement. If you must use copper tubing, see if the flexible type will do: it bends easily around corners, saving time and money by reducing the need for fittings. Since it can be joined with flare or compression fittings, flexible tubing is also ideal for situations where soldering joints with a blowtorch is impractical or dangerous.

Whatever



pipe material you choose, the job will go more easily if you follow a procedure used by professional plumbers: complete as much of the assembly as possible at your workbench.

Even longer runs of pipe can be partially fabricated there, section by section, then brought to the place where they are to be installed. This method allows you to do much of the task in a well-lit, comfortable work area instead of the dark, cramped places where pipes must sometimes be run. If you prefer soldered joints, it also reduces the amount of soldering that must be done near the flammable structure of the house and its wiring.

Putting in a new fixture often necessitates drilling small holes in a wall to locate the existing pipes, then cutting a larger hole to allow enough work space to cut into these pipes in order to start the new branch lines. This need not deter a would-be plumber, since holes a foot square or even larger are generally easy to patch with wallboard, plaster and joint tape, since none of these holes are made in the structural, load-bearing beams of the house. But to keep wall cutting to a minimum, you should run new pipes along the outside of a wall wherever you can, and then create a camouflage for them with framing or cabinets.

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