Update: DH just drilled a hole through water pipe

[tabithasoren]

Dh was installing a shower curtain rod in our guest bath and he drilled through a water pipe. We have shut off the water. What do we do now? We will try to call a plumber tomorrow but is there anything else I should know? Ugh. This sucks!

Update: Plumber came by and was able to fix the problem in about 10 minutes. He didn't even want to be paid but we gave him $100. Now, all that is left is to patch dry wall and install rod. We are going to wait a bit and keep testing to make sure there is no leak before we cover it up.

Thanks everyone for your advice. It wound up being not as big of a deal as I was thinking. Thank goodness!

[Deleted]

Be prepared to patch and paint. Likely the plumber will have to cut through the drywall and then patch the pipe. It will be cheaper if you do the patching and painting. In fact, the plumber might not even offer it because it isn't really in the line of expertise. It isn't a huge problem, but the whole thing will be a bit of a pain in the rear.

[pitterwoo]

that does suck! Now that you've shut off the water, open the faucets to drain the remaining water out of the lines now so that you are ready for the plumber to make the repair tomorrow.

[pitterwoo]

wait a minute, is this a copper pipe or just PVC? If it's pvc you could do the repair yourself if you're into that.

[tabithasoren]

Jan 3, 2013 22:42:36 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

wait a minute, is this a copper pipe or just PVC? If it's pvc you could do the repair yourself if you're into that.

We aren't sure exactly what the pipe is. It has to be related to the hot water heater. It wouldn't be copper. We cut through the drywall and there is some type of white protective stuff on top of the pipe so we can't see it and right above that is a wood frame. We are clueless about this stuff so we stopped excavating.

[sierramist03]

yuck either way it doesn't sound like fun! hope it's not to expensive of a fix for you.

[peach]

Oh my.

The white protective stuff...is probably the pipe. It's called pex I think.
Like pp said, drain the water in the pipes by turnign on the taps and then leave it to the pros.

Maybe next time you hire a handyman to install your shower rods! ;D

[Kore]

Eek! This is my nightmare. I only use tension rods because I'm paranoid about drilling into pipes. Hope it's an easy fix!

[wawa]

Everybody else covered it. Just drain the pipes and sit tight.

But in the meantime I'm trying to picture the logical plumbing path that involves running a pipe right through where a shower curtain rod would typically go...

I hate when specialty trades pull shit like that. THINK for a second when you're running your plumbing/HVAC/electrical/whatever about what else needs to go in that wall dipshit.