This was unexpected....

[conuly]

Our laundry sink was unbearably clogged, and then we discovered it was leaking. (And still clogged.)

Evidently somebody had known about the leak at one point because there was a bucket under the sink and duct tape all around the leaky pipe, but the situation was rapidly becoming utterly untenable. So we tentatively emptied the bucket (into the sink, reasoning most of the water would exit the building rather than draining back into the bucket) and unwound the duct tape, preparing to just putty the leak for right now and call a plumber later to do all plumbing issues at once.

There was an awful lot of duct tape. Lots and lots of really gross duct tape. Do you know why?

Oh, you'll never guess. I should just tell you.

There was no leak. Instead, the pipe is simply designed with a large - about the size of a quarter - hole at the bottom, presumably to connect to another pipe. And at some point somebody knew about this and not only put it in like that but then decided to... duct tape it. And that solution clearly worked for quite a while, because none of us had any knowledge of this and I kinda feel like we'd remember it if we'd done it ourselves.

I'm going to try to replace that pipe this week. Worse comes to worst I can't do it and we have to call a plumber and basically aren't any worse off than we are now. But I have a lot of errands to do today, including laundry, and so in the meantime we're probably going back to square one. Duct tape. It's a temporary solution.

(I suppose I ought to be able to put a cap on that hole, but I'm not sure, after a decade or so of being duct taped, that the threading will still, um, thread.)

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

The idea that someone would be paid to misuse duct tape is pretty horrifying. But improvised "solutions" are infinitely possible.

Good luck!

[conuly]

We can't chalk up all structural oddities to this guy, but he is the one who happily put an uninsulated pipe on an exterior wall. (The first plumber we called is the one who capped it and then failed to turn it off, so it eventually burst a second time. Plumber number two recapped it, turned it off, and transferred insulation from a pipe all the way near the water heater, where it's safe from bursting, to this little nub of a pipe on the outside wall. Let's just say there's room for failure all around in our house.)