My sink exploded at 6am and I fixed it with duct tape

Woke up this morning at like 6 to grab water and heard a drip under the kitchen sink. Turned on the light and saw water pooling on the floor from a cracked PVC pipe near the trap. I don't own any plumbing tools so I just wrapped the crack with electrical tape first, then duct tape over that, and shoved a bucket under it. It held for like 3 hours while I waited for the hardware store to open. Now I got a proper repair kit and I'm about to attempt a real fix this afternoon. Anyone else ever bodged a pipe with tape and had it actually work for a bit?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_hall1mo ago

So you're really gonna argue that tape on a pressurized line is a good idea? Come on man, that's just asking for a bigger mess later. That electrical tape trick might work for a slow drip, but a cracked PVC pipe is already failing. The tape is just hiding the real problem, and when it gives out at 3am instead of 6am, you'll have a flooded kitchen and ruined cabinets. I've seen too many people patch things with tape and then forget about it entirely, leading to major water damage down the road. If you're gonna bodge it, at least put a shutoff valve nearby so you can kill the water quick when the tape lets go. But honestly, just fix it right the first time - it's not that hard to cut out the bad section and glue in a coupling.

parker_palmer441mo ago

Man that's a classic panic fix and I've definitely been there with a garden hose and some duct tape that held for a whole weekend once. The electrical tape under the duct tape is actually a smart move since it seals better against the moisture. Did you have to deal with any water damage under the cabinet or did the bucket catch everything?

victor_robinson1mo ago

@parker_palmer44 you make a good point about the electrical tape underneath, that's a trick I picked up from a plumber buddy years ago. On my end, the bucket caught most of it but there was still a little water that seeped along the pipe and stained the particle board under the sink. Ended up cutting out the damaged section and patching it with a piece of scrap wood from a shelf bracket, which held up fine until I could get a real plumber out a few weeks later.