When water is filling a room in your home, you don’t really have the time to wait for a plumber to come and help you. With a very basic set of supplies and knowledge you can be ready to handle or at least hold off most plumbing emergencies.
First steps
No matter what kind of problem you’re dealing with or repair you are attempting: Turn off the water. If you haven’t spotted them already, every plumbing fixture has a cutoff valve, or two if it takes hot and cold lines. The valves should be located near the fixture, look under the sink or behind the toilet. These valves are there to make sure you can handle a problem while still allowing water to run in the rest of the house.
If you need to make repairs to a line be sure to drain it and let it dry.
Repairing plastic
Cut plastic pipe with a pipe cutter, hacksaw or any sharp saw, even one intended for wood. You will most likely see rough edges from cutting the plastic piping, be sure to sand the edges smooth before using them for repairs. Dry and fit the new pieces and trim as needed. Then apply a cleaner-primer followed by solvent cement, and connect the fittings again.
Emergency kit: saw, a few short lengths of pipe, a couple of elbows and tees and couplings (they join straight lengths together), rough sandpaper, a can of cleaner-primer and a can of solvent. Read More.