My neighbor Bill said I could just use duct tape on a plumbing leak

Last Saturday my kitchen sink pipe started dripping and Bill from two doors over told me a wrap of duct tape would hold it for a week until I could buy a real coupling. By Sunday morning the whole cabinet flooded and I found out the hard way that duct tape and water pressure don't mix. Has anyone else been given advice by a neighbor that ended in disaster like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessicaw545d ago

Bill's advice probably came from a good place but yeah... duct tape is more for temporary fixes on things that don't have pressure behind them. I've seen people use it on garden hoses and it sorta works for a minute but plumbing is a whole different beast. The water pressure in a kitchen sink is way higher than most folks realize until it's spraying everywhere. A lot of those quick fix ideas sound good when you're standing in the hardware aisle but they just don't hold up.

ninaross5d ago

Haven't we all used duct tape for something it wasn't meant for and had it work just fine? I get that water pressure is real, but let's be honest, a lot of people fix leaks with tape and it holds for years if you wrap it right. The whole point of duct tape is that it's supposed to be a quick patch, not a permanent solution, but sometimes a quick patch is all you need until you can get a real plumber out. Plus, not everyone has the money or time to replace a whole pipe right away. If you wrap it tight enough and put on a few layers, it can handle a surprising amount of pressure. I've used it on a hose bib before and it didn't leak a drop for two summers until I finally replaced it.