Duct tape on a leaking copper pipe bought me 6 months

My basement pipe started dripping last October. Plumber quoted $350 to fix it. I wrapped it in duct tape as a joke until I could save up. That tape held for 6 months until I finally replaced the section myself for $12 in parts. Did I just get lucky or is this a real temp fix for low pressure lines?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly3381mo ago

That duct tape fix is wild but I totally get it. Sometimes you just need to buy time when money is tight and a plumber's quote feels like a punch in the gut. Six months is actually impressive for tape on a copper pipe, even a low pressure line. You definitely got lucky that it held that long, but honestly, a lot of temp fixes work way longer than people think if the leak is small enough. Did you use regular duct tape or the heavy duty stuff? I'm curious if that made a difference.

the_phoenix1mo agoMost Upvoted

Nah, you gotta use the heavy duty stuff for pipes, the regular stuff will just peel off in a week when it gets wet. That cheap silver tape is useless for anything real. The trick is wrapping it tight and layering it like 6 or 7 times, then pressing it down hard so it bonds to itself. Still, six months is playing with fire, I would have been checking that thing every day waiting for it to blow. At least now they know for next time to just bite the bullet and call a plumber sooner.