At some point, most homeowners will need to find an answer to the question of how to fix a leaking PVC pipe. After all, plastic piping runs water in and out of bathrooms, kitchens and drainage systems in domestic properties all over the county.
Thankfully, you don’t have to be a fully trained plumber to fix a leaking plastic pipe. There are several products available which allow repairs to be carried out quickly and with no formal training needed – even when water flow cannot be turned off.
Here are some of the ways in which you can fix a leaking PVC pipe – without having to call out a plumber.
Pipe Burst Tape
The most common method of repairing leaking PVC pipes is with pipe burst tape. This specialist repair tape is made from silicone and is self-fusing, meaning that it bonds to itself when wrapped around a damaged pipe to form a permanent bond over the leak area.
The extra stretch which pipe burst tape provides – Wrap & Seal stretches to 300% – even allows it to seal live leaks where water flow cannot be turned off. This can be particularly useful if you cannot locate your home’s stopcock or the water valve happens to be too old, damaged or tight to use.
To apply pipe burst tape, you simply stretch and wrap it around the damaged area of the pipe enough times to permanently seal the leak. Repairs can be carried out in under 30 minutes, making this a quick and easy way to return leaking PVC pipes to full working order.
Epoxy Repair Putty
If you are trying to repair a pipe in a tight space, then you might not have enough room in which to apply Pipe Burst Tape. When this is the case, you should instead use an epoxy repair putty to seal the leak.
Epoxy putties are designed to bond different materials together and they can be used to plug holes with a working time of anywhere between 10 minutes and an hour depending on the product being used.
Superfast Copper Stick for example bonds to pipes of all types and sets in 5-10 minutes with a full cure in one hour; Superfast Plastic Stick – which has been used in countless PVC pipe repairs – takes a little longer at 35-40 minutes to harden and form a cohesive bond and 2-3 hours for the system to be put back into service.
Pipe Repair Bandages
If you want to carry out a longer lasting repair to leaking PVC pipes, then you should combine either pipe burst tape or epoxy repair putty with a repair bandage.
Pipe Repair Bandages are fibreglass wraps coated with a water-activated resin which set rock hard in minutes. They are dipped in water and then wrapped over the top of the pipe burst tape or epoxy putty for a permanent repair.
Pipe Repair Bandages can be smoothed down as water is applied and are coloured white, meaning that they will blend in with PVC pipework which is also white in colour.
Wrap & Seal Pipe Burst Tape, Superfast Epoxy Putty and SylWrap Bandages can now all be purchased in one SylWrap Universal Pipe Repair Kit, providing all the equipment needed to fix leaking bathroom pipes.