gotaproblem
New Member
Hi,
I am in urgent need of advice.
I recently moved into this rented apartment with two friends and while doing a DIY project this weekend,we accidentally hit (I will give more details about how this happened later) an exposed old metal water pipe which started to leak from one joint. The problem is that this water pipe is the one connected to the fire sprinklers, so now we are freaking out that if we tell this to maintenance we will be blacklisted forever and forced to move out of our new apartment.
Luckily the leak is minimal and after I have carefully inspected the joint, I think that it's most likely due to the pipe dope seal coming off / cracking due to the hit: let me explain this better by giving you some more context about the accident.
While we were moving a large wooden structure that we had just build, we ended up hinging at the metal pipe. In order to move the structure out of the way, we had to bend the tube. So there was never a bump or a crack, but the stress of the forced bending must have created some minimal space inside threading of the tube which made the pipe dope seal fail. Other than that, the tube and the joint are totally intact and I cannot see any visible crack or breakage whatsoever.
I wanted to call maintenance right away, but my housemates asked me not to do so for fear of being blacklisted, so we tried to fix the thing ourselves. Calling a plumber was also out of the question because our apartment complex has a concierge and cameras at every entrance door.
We partially unscrewed the tube (a full 360 turn) without completely removing it from the joint, just to expose some threading. Then we used some Teflon to create additional space around the threading. Finally we turned the pipe in its original position. We also smeared some megalock around the teflon for additional sealing before and after turning the pipe back in place. This "fix" reduced the leaking to a small droplet every half hour, but we need to fix this thing properly.
I know this looks bad and shady and I am honestly ashamed of this whole situation. If it was just my choice, I would call maintenance and face whatever consequences. But my housemates are begging me to at least try and see if we can fix it ourselves before we call maintenance. Which is why I am here.
Needless to say that I would really appreciate any advice on this matter.
Thanks.
K
I am in urgent need of advice.
I recently moved into this rented apartment with two friends and while doing a DIY project this weekend,we accidentally hit (I will give more details about how this happened later) an exposed old metal water pipe which started to leak from one joint. The problem is that this water pipe is the one connected to the fire sprinklers, so now we are freaking out that if we tell this to maintenance we will be blacklisted forever and forced to move out of our new apartment.
Luckily the leak is minimal and after I have carefully inspected the joint, I think that it's most likely due to the pipe dope seal coming off / cracking due to the hit: let me explain this better by giving you some more context about the accident.
While we were moving a large wooden structure that we had just build, we ended up hinging at the metal pipe. In order to move the structure out of the way, we had to bend the tube. So there was never a bump or a crack, but the stress of the forced bending must have created some minimal space inside threading of the tube which made the pipe dope seal fail. Other than that, the tube and the joint are totally intact and I cannot see any visible crack or breakage whatsoever.
I wanted to call maintenance right away, but my housemates asked me not to do so for fear of being blacklisted, so we tried to fix the thing ourselves. Calling a plumber was also out of the question because our apartment complex has a concierge and cameras at every entrance door.
We partially unscrewed the tube (a full 360 turn) without completely removing it from the joint, just to expose some threading. Then we used some Teflon to create additional space around the threading. Finally we turned the pipe in its original position. We also smeared some megalock around the teflon for additional sealing before and after turning the pipe back in place. This "fix" reduced the leaking to a small droplet every half hour, but we need to fix this thing properly.
I know this looks bad and shady and I am honestly ashamed of this whole situation. If it was just my choice, I would call maintenance and face whatever consequences. But my housemates are begging me to at least try and see if we can fix it ourselves before we call maintenance. Which is why I am here.
Needless to say that I would really appreciate any advice on this matter.
Thanks.
K
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