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Leaky Pipes, Drains
Most plumbing problems occur at or near such fixtures as sinks, tubs, and toilets. Less often the pipes themselves can leak, sweat, freeze, or bang. Here's how to deal with these difficulties.
There are all kinds of plumbing leaks. Some can flood your home, while others are not nearly so damaging. Your approach to stopping a leak depends on the type of leak it is. If the leak is at a joint, tighten the joint. If the leak is in a pipe, remove the section that is leaking and replace it with a new section. Unfortunately, this is more easily said than done. For example, when you turn a threaded galvanized steel pipe to unscrew it from its fitting at one end, you tighten the pipe into its fitting at the other end. With copper pipe, the new section must be sweat-soldered in place.
The problem with all of these solutions is that a pipe that's bad enough to spring one leak often starts leaking in other places too. You may fix one spot only to see the pipe burst somewhere else. Especially in cases where the leak results from corrosion, the whole section of pipe will probably need replacing. This is typically a job for a professional plumber