I screwed up again

[sheepfarmer]

Sigh. I tried to put a handle up on a wall to use for balance going down the basement stairs, pried up the crumby paneling and peeked behind to make sure I had some wood underneath, thought I was good to go and drilled a pilot hole into a water line, probably part of the circulating hot water heating system. Good news I guess is I like the plumbers, nice company, and I wanted to redo that stairwell, really shabby. Bad news is boy do I feel stupid. I thought I knew where the line was. Hope all those guys come in Monday to get the voicemail messages I left.

I'd like to get right in there and rip the paneling out, but probably not a good idea.

Any kind words or suggestions appreciated. I assume the bit with the hole has to be cut out and a new piece soldered in? Copper pipe.

 

[RCW]

sheep - you're not the first, nor last to do that. Ask me how I know....

Regardless of the repair, I'm more concerned whether your system had an anti-freeze additive?

I know your weather is similar to mine. Our system has anti-freeze. Once you "open" or drain the boiler's system, the anti-freeze might be lost.

You might be able to repair quickly, but make sure you have the same protection (e.g., antifreeze) that you may have had before.

Again, that's if your system had anti-freeze. Many don't....

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have no words of wisdom and we heat with forced air when we don't have the corn burner running. I actually run them both at the same time. if I had to buy corn or wood pellets, the propane is so cheap I wouldn't run it at all but, the corn is free and I buy 1 pallet of pellets for an entire year, 218 bucks.

Nice to have a fire in the bio mass stove and all the cats park their bodies around it. So do the pups.

All our plumbing is in PEX anyway. Stuff is super easy to work with.

We keep the house at 70 all the time, sometimes a bit warmer. Being old requires a warm abode.

If you drive by the house and the wind is right, smells like someone is popping popcorn.

When my in laws were alive and lived in East Lansing, they had hot water baseboard heat and it seemed ti me at least to always be having issues. Forced air in my view is less complex and we have a +90 condensing furnace anyway, very miserly on propane.

 

[D2Cat]

Sheepfarmer, when I read your title I had a lump in my throat and a bid of concern. When you said you were working on a handle on the wall for balance, I could only imagine you stumbling and going down and having some physical challenge. You drilling a hole in your water line was a relief. All problems are relative! Call the plumber, get it fixed, and quit picking on yourself!

 

[skeets]

Nope you aint the first,, I know a guy that drove 4 nails through the same pipe

 

[Daren Todd]

Nope you aint the first,, I know a guy that drove 4 nails through the same pipe

I was installing a fire alarm system in a daycare that was in an old house that was being remodeled. They went with radiant heat.

Flooring company came in to install hardwood flooring. They used too long of a nail and managed to stab every piece of pipe put under the floor for the radiant heat. Then they didn't clean out the collection bags for their floor sanders and caught the place on fire.

My fire alarm system worked, as well as the sprinkler system. Flooring company had to pay for another remodel as well as another flooring company to come and and finish their work

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[sheepfarmer]

Well life is looking up, BIL of plumber came over and we ripped off the paneling and cleared a route to fix the pipe. Quarter inch to either side I'd have hit the wood and not the pipe, it was sandwiched between two pieces of scrap wood. Now with the studs, block wall and mouse chewed insulation showing, there is strong incentive to fix that stairwell and put in some hand rails. Hope they can find time ... so much to do around here.

 

[torch]

While the paneling is off, stop by your local electrical supplier and grab a quantity of metal "stud guards" (aka "shield plate" or "nail stop"). Place one over every place a wire or pipe penetrates a stud.

 

[Nicfin36]

At least you got it good. I was talking to the cable guy years ago. He was putting a line in through my wall. I made a joking comment about him hitting something. He said he's been lucky, but he did nick a copper line one time just enough to make it barely leak. It leaked for a long time before it was found doing a good bit of damage to the subfloor.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Yup, nice neat hole right in the middle. Imagine my surprise when I pulled the drill bit back and water gushed out of the hole

RCW, no antifreeze in this system. No heat and you have to drain the pipes. Or keep it warm some other way. First long winter power failure I had here, 30 years ago, I managed keeping a fire going in the fireplace for 5 days. Then I got a generator. Good news is new heat pumps are adequate for most of the house, and I can isolate this zone, and it will stay above freezing.

Torch, thanks for tip on "nail stops" I didn't know about them. As I have mentioned before I hate learning things the hard way, but it beats not learning at all.

 

[JohnDB]

Yusss, done the same myself When we moved into our current house I used a thermal imaging camera to trace the hot water pipes (had to run hot water for about 1/4 hour to heat the interior of the wall enough to get a visible signature). So at least I can nail and screw into the wall in other places without too much worry. Just got to hope the cold water pipes run somewhere near the hot water pipes...

 

[Bmbbm]

Sorry that you messed up. But like someone else said i was afraid you went head over heels down the stairs.

 

[Tooljunkie]

My plumber came in and we ripped out the shower and installed a new 3 piece. Connected pex to copper with sharkbite fittings those things are slick!

 

[fj40dave]

Did the same drill smack dab into the middle of the copper pipe trick when pilot hole drilling for a earthquake strap for a water heater.
Couldn't have been better centered if I tried!
That's when I learned about "nail plates"....that were supposed to be there to begin with. (I bought the house)

Shark Bites are AWESOME!

 

[Bark]

Shark Bites are AWESOME!

Because of the location and time restraints I recently used shark bite fittings for the first time to "temporarily" repair a damaged copper heating line. I was kind of freaked when I discovered that the repair can twist and doesn't have a solid feel to it.
When I went back to put a permanent fix on it I couldn't easily get it apart. It doesn't leak so I figured I wont mess with it.
As you guys know, trying to solder damp pipe in a tight location can be a real pain so I am now impressed with SharkBite fittings.

 

[skeets]

They make a tool for removing shark bites, lil brother did a bunch of them at Moms place rather than try to cut and solider. That was right after they came on the market have worked like a dream ever since

 

[D2Cat]

In a pinch you can use an open end adjustable wrench, often referred to as a Crescent wrench. Simply open it to fit over the pipe diameter loosely so it will slide, and gently push towards the installed fitting.

The little "C" clips are not expensive, just easy to misplace.

 

[Bark]

Good YouTube video called "SharkBite Fittings - Awesome or A Failure Waiting To Happen?" for anybody not familiar with the fittings.