Help!!! Calling all professional plumbers. (1 Viewer)

Jeff

4 of a Kind
Moderator
Supporter
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
5,489
Reaction score
10,163
Location
Chicagoland
Wondering if this rubber pipe (joining a PVC and Copper pipe) held in by metal bands is an acceptable way to join pipes that will last for the long haul? The white pipe comes from the left is from a toilet and the flows into the (smaller) copper pipe which flows to main sewer.

My guy is telling me this is to code.

757B2519-B914-400D-875E-C4E0A2F7CD3B.jpeg
 
Electrician by trade, but waste should never down size. It makes a restriction point. Never allow house clamps especially at the future restriction point, it's going to blow apart. No way I would accept that Jeff
 
I'm full of shit, so maybe I can help....


Nope... Don't know a thing. GLWP...
 
It actually is an acceptable way to join copper and pic in a drain line. In fact there is a manufacturer that produces this exact item. Fernco makes most of these couplings. I would be okay with it.

Not much you can do about the reduction in size other that replace the lines on either side. It appears that the reduction is very nominal so it should not be an issue

I am NOT a plumber but do many DIY repairs.
 
This is a drain so no real pressure. Much more pressure in cars that use these same types of hose clamps and have for years With no problem holding back pressurized boiling anti freeze. I’d say you are fine.
 
I’m a plumber, that’s just a regular fernco and judging by the pic it looks like 3 inch copper to pvc. The rubber gasket you are using for the connection is not the right one for the application because copper has a smaller diameter.

Without changing the whole pipe to pvc and doing it the right way. They do make a rubber gasket like that, that goes from copper to pvc, so you just got to figure out what size pipe you have, and they should have them at a plumbing store or a home depot.

It would be something like this:
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Fernco-...ing-PVC-Steel-Extra-Heavy-Cast-Iron-to-Copper
 
Well, sounds like that’s the answer, replacing more of the copper piping past there will require we rip out the walls downstairs and will be major disruption.

We just redid the upstairs hall bath (looks spectacular like a freaking House Beautiful spread) and the new tub fixture’s overflow drain plate wasn’t seated right and so we got a brand new “water feature” in our kitchen from the shower water running down the wall through the gap and collecting in the floor, then breaking through the ceiling.
:(
When the kitchen ceiling was removed to diagnose the problem, it exposed this unrelated gem. May be alright, but I’m not feeling good about it.

I hate doing renovations.
 
I was a plumber 20 years ago. I think this is passable but In my limited plumbing I’ve never seen copper used for waste lines....seems like...well a waste. How old is your home?
 
Copper drains were used for a very short time, like maybe a year or two, in the 1960s. My current 1967 house is ALL copper drains, except for under the sinks. They were a transition between cast iron and PVC. As we remodel, all copper drains will become PVC. Copper drains were like the plum pudding model of the atom. They lasted a couple years, then something better came along and everybody said yeah copper drains are inferior.

My last house (built 1918) had a mix of galvanized and copper supply lines, plus cast iron, copper, and PVC drains. You could tell what additions and changes were done and when just by the plumbing.

I don't mind the copper drains so much. Long term they are a problem, but mine were installed correctly and have held up over 50 years now. There are a few pin holes in one drain line, but it is literally right over my sump pit and not a problem.

The one house type I would never buy is one with aluminum wiring. There are too many houses around me in my price range to ever consider dealing with that.
 
Back in my insurance company days, I saw a PVC stack coming from the toilet in the upstairs condo, joining with the toilet stack in the downstairs condo... The drywaller installers missed the stud and put a screw right into the PVC... That pinhole took about 30 years to leak through the wall. When we opened it up, there was all kinds of nasty in that wall cavity.

I think I would've just burned the place down. The homeowners elected to clean it and re-sheath the walls.
 
I'll have to research this someday. I have been renovating homes in the Montreal area for over 30 years and have never encountered copper drains. Maybe this phenomenon passed Canada (or at least Montreal) by. Of course, my aversion to dealing with plumbing may have allowed me to miss it as well.
 
Copper drains were used for a very short time, like maybe a year or two, in the 1960s. My current 1967 house is ALL copper drains, except for under the sinks. They were a transition between cast iron and PVC. As we remodel, all copper drains will become PVC. Copper drains were like the plum pudding model of the atom. They lasted a couple years, then something better came along and everybody said yeah copper drains are inferior.

My last house (built 1918) had a mix of galvanized and copper supply lines, plus cast iron, copper, and PVC drains. You could tell what additions and changes were done and when just by the plumbing.

I don't mind the copper drains so much. Long term they are a problem, but mine were installed correctly and have held up over 50 years now. There are a few pin holes in one drain line, but it is literally right over my sump pit and not a problem.

The one house type I would never buy is one with aluminum wiring. There are too many houses around me in my price range to ever consider dealing with that.

My home was built in 67’ and the inspector said Homes built in the 60s was when America still prided themselves on the craftsmanship and quality. These homes were built to last and he didn’t find any issues with the home. When I was a plumber in the late 90s most of our work was repairing plumbing of homes built in the 80s that used qest piping Which has tons of problems. There’s a class action suit against the manufacturers because of how faulty these pipes were. One of the things to look for in a house built in the 80s was to check the plumbing to make sure the qest had been replaced.
 
House was built around 1969. EVERYTHING was copper. One the 20+ years I've lived here, we've replaced a LOT of copper as we went along with various renovations.
 
Honestly from my experience i would prefer copper over cast iron or galvanized drain lines, and i would definitely switch the gasket why it is open unless you want to trust it.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom