Can I seal off an old Wet Bar drain and supply lines

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cstdenis

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Can I seal off the plumbing to an old wet bar that I no long want, or do I need a plumber to do this? Is there some form of DIY product that will help me?


What is the best way to go about getting this sealed off?

Thank you.
 

SacCity

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Sure go ahead and cap off the lines,
On the drain want to make sure no sewer gasses can get out of the pipe,
On the supply lines cap off to ensure no leakage.
No big deal.
Michael
Sac City Plumbing
 

MTcummins

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I take it you don't have much experience with this stuff, hence the question about DIY stuff.

For the drain line, you can buy a cap out of PVC (white) or ABS (black) if its plastic pipe, and the right cement/solvent for that material. Then simply cut off the pipe where you want to, nice and straight, clean up the edges a bit if they're rough, and glue on the cap. You could also use a Fernco cap, which is a rubber cap with a steel band around it that you tighten. If the plumbing is metal, you'll have to go this way, and cutting the pipe off will require a reciprocating saw or angle grinder with a good blade/cutoff wheel.

For the copper, you'll have to turn off the main water supply for the house, and then drain the lines (open the lowest faucet in the house to drain some water out of the system, then use a bucket to open up the supply valves that you're cutting out, and drain as much out there as possible). Closing off the copper (I'm assuming you have copper water lines?) is a bit trickier if you don't have any experience with soldering. You can, but I strongly suggest against it, just buy a Sharkbite cap for each line and press them on. I think these are garbage and you're asking for trouble though. You might want to look into the presoldered fittings, you just put flux on the line, slide the fitting on, and then heat it up. It takes a little of the guesswork out of the equation.

Honestly though, if you have no experience with this stuff, get a handy friend, or pay a handyman for an hour of his time to come do it for you. It may cost less than the tools/parts you'd need to do it yourself.
 

cstdenis

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Thank you for the great instructions mtcummins. I have done some small plumbing jobs, like replace angle stops, install faucets, install disposers, but I was mainly concerned about sweating the copper pipe and securely capping the drain pipe. I want to make sure I don't leave anything open or leaking. I will take your advice and will ask my plumber to do it as I'm not really comfortable with soldering.

I really appreciate the time you took to respond.
 

Gary Swart

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This is probably one job a handyman could do and not screw up. While sweating copper is really quite simple even for a total novice, if you don't have a torch, flux, and solder it would cost you more than a handyman's time to get the basic tools.
 

MTcummins

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This is probably one job a handyman could do and not screw up. While sweating copper is really quite simple even for a total novice, if you don't have a torch, flux, and solder it would cost you more than a handyman's time to get the basic tools.

Yes, I agree. I would suggest hiring just a handyman who knows how to solder and has the equipment. It should be a lot cheaper than a plumber. Its not at all hard, but soldering does take a little practice to get it down w/o leaks. Most handymen end up having to do a fair amount of it over time and should be quite capable.
 
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