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Jun 13, 2005

Plumbing for Answers

Plumbing is an easy job, done in the most awkward location.

I spent a rare day off on a lovely Sunday morning crawling under the house and in the attic repairing a cracked waste pipe. Why didn't I just call a plumber to do this for me? Because, for the second time, I had to repair a job botched by a plumber a few years ago.

I can only guess how someone could screw up such a simple task. Fixing ABS pipe is as simple as glue part A to part B:

1. Buy $25 worth of pipe, elbows, fittings, whatnots, and ABS cement. Always buy 3 of everything - the stuff is cheap, and it sucks to be under the house and discover you're short a $2 fitting.
2. Cut out the old botched pipe job with any old saw. A Sawzall can work wonders as long as you're careful to not rattle other pipes to pieces.
3. Cut the new pipe to length.
4. Glue everything together with ABS cement.
5. That's it!

The only hard part about the whole job is getting there, and that can be a real chore. I'd swear I almost stepped on my own lower lip when I contorted myself in to the attic corner today.

Wanna learn more about plumbing? Ortho and Black & Decker both publish excellent guides.

Ortho's All About Plumbing Basics

Black & Decker's Complete Guide to Home Plumbing

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