I went to join my family for Easter brunch this morning. Spent a good part of the day away from home. Upon returning around 4pm, there was water leaking from my garage ceiling! I turned off the main supply and located the leak in the wall behind the upstairs master bath vanity. I cut a hole in the sheet rock and saw that a nail from the exterior siding had poked the copper pipe where the pipe passed through a stud. I guess after 25 years it decided to wear through the pipe or corrod from electrolysis.
I spent two hours removing the double sink vanity to access the pipe because the leaking pipe was behind the drawer section of the vanity. Since it's Easter and all the hardware stores are closed, I have no water until sometime tomorrow.

Oh well, carry on.

__________________
Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

This very thing happened to an aquaintance of mine late last year. His leak(gusher) caused damage to the adjoining neighbors!! He was out about $2K when all was said and done. I'll be hoping your luck is better than his...........FYI, I have about 5 gallons of water on hand that I rotate out. Best of luck Mickey D

__________________
Go big or stay home

I feel for you man! Lived it 35+ years ago. I was fortunate in that I've always kept length of all sizes copper pipe, elbows, and connectors in the garage next to the cabinet with the torch and lead free solder and paste. Any chance one of your neighbors may have these needed parts?

Hmmmmm. I heard homeland security just took delivery of 5,000,000 gallons of water along with their ammo. Coincidence? I think not....

__________________
Thirty characters. Exactly...

If you have beans for dinner, you will be able to dry your leaven's & blow 'em away.

No flush required

No need to thank me, this valuable information comes with the forum membership

I know it's a little late to help with your current problem but, Home Depot does not close on weekends or holidays except Christmas.

When you get time go by and ask for a quick repair kit. It is a plastic tube with gasket that snaps around the pipe for a temporay fix. Keep at least one or two at home for emergencies.
Russ

__________________
US Veteran 1970-1974

Sucks to be you.
Put on your big boy britches, slap on a compression fitting and move on.

__________________
Forum consigliere

Sorry to hear of your leak. Been there, did not like it.

Here in "Paradise" when the housing boom was going on in the 70's and 80's a whole lot of houses were built with either some really cheap copper pipe and then later that flex pipe with the bad connects. Lots and lots of folks ceilings fell in due to water damage. Then of course they were fixed with Chinese Drywall and are still fighting that!.

My house had the good copper but even it sprung a leak and had the whole house re piped with CVPC. Amazing how fast and what a good job those guys did. I was very impressed and that does not happen often with a lot of trades down here.

I will never attempt a do it yourself job on a Sunday or Holiday, something will always go wrong.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

I wish it was that easy Caj, The section with the hole is where it passes through the stud.

Thanks Tenn2, by the time I got the double vanity out it was past 7:00pm. Wasn't in the mood to head to HD.

__________________
Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

I may be too late but I have a tip I learned from an old plumber when I was a kid.

The water in the copper pipe won't allow you to solder the connection. Even a slow drip will cool the pipe enough to keep you from soldering it. To eliminate the drips or a slow trickle of water, stuff a piece of white bread in the pipe, at least 4" in.

The bread absorbs the water and keeps the solder joint dry, then when you turn the water back on the pressure and flow will dissolve the bread.

__________________
Kirk / Spock 2020

I had to pass on a fishing trip Saturday to go fix my dads water softener. I haven't seen Bob in years since he moved up around Daytona. We were to meet halfway in St. Lucie. I got the pictures from my friends Sunday. The Dolphin were plentiful.

__________________
Dum vivo cano

I hope you have a good productive day with this project.
I hope it goes smoothly and without further headaches.

I too was told this old trick and it works like a charm. Ain't nothing like coming home with a smile on your face, the sun shining bright and everything right with the world and discovering a water leak At least I was able to get to mine by crawling under the house rather than getting the saws all and going at the wall. Look at it this way-at least you own property

__________________
Forum consigliere

Small leaks in domestic waterlines?... Time for a quick zap with the oxy acetylene torch and a penny, no need to drain the lines!

On a walk in freezer unit, I once made a patch out of a penny that held up under hundreds of psi of refrigerant.... I meant for it to last a weekend, on the following Monday I had no drop in pressure. I let it go and when I did a PM exam of the unit a few months back, it was still perfect after a year.

__________________
- The Federalist #46 -

Learned this trick way back when too lol.Depending on the bread,you may need to unscrew the aerator and rinse the screen.

This how I survived a collapsed sewer line. Just be sure you double bag and remember red bucket #1 white bucket #2.

__________________
God spelled backwards is dog.

Do the Saw Horse act as a barrier, door, warning or what??

Is that terrazzo??

You could just draw a line like Less Nessman

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

The saw horses is his "pushing handles".

Love the WKRP reference, btw.

With a pin hole leak I take a rubber hose like an air hose or car heater hose and cut it to fit around the pipe and use a smaller gas hose type clamp to fix it temporary for at least till i can get it repaired.

Sawhorses serves as magazine rack and accessory storage.

Terrazzo floor makes it easy to clean up overflows.

I was by myself so I didn't need to mark my territory but, as God is my witness, I really thought turkeys could fly. Long live WKRP

__________________
God spelled backwards is dog.

Mickey D, I guess you're about at that age where you will be having problems with your plumbing........ I can't believe no-one said it before me..........PS, Be thankful for a leak instead of a pressure problem(grins).

__________________
Go big or stay home

I like the epoxy that comes in a tube; looks like a cigar, need together and apply-done.

May the Silver Sow award be yours!

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Since the hole in the pipe is inside a hole in a stud the repair is going to involve cutting out a piece and soldering in a short piece.

__________________
Luke 22:36

Mickey, if you're not comfortable soldering and don't want to hire a plumber, get some pipe and a cutter, and Sharkbite fittings. These things are amazing. They push on and make a permanent fitting. No solder, no nothing, just slide them on and you're done. More expensive than a solder connection but if you don't have the tools to solder or the knowledge it'd be cheaper that buying all that stuff or hiring a plumber.

I was skeptical at first but these things work. I've used them in kitchen remodels where soldering wasn't practical.

I really wish I had invented the things.

Drink beer. It's mostly water - and if you drink enough of it - you'll forget about the pipe leaking.

What Cooter Brown said, sharkbites rock!

__________________
Recycled Bricklayer

Exactly. No room to make a temp repair.
By the way, the repair is made. The nail was shot into the pipe. amazing it lasted this long!

Thanks for all the tips and suggesting.

__________________
Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

Around here we try and avoid running pipes in exterior walls for fear of freezing.

__________________
Luke 22:36

Our water shut off one night a couple hours after the kids were in bed. Wife had a colonoscopy scheduled the next day so she had been taking the medicine to empty her out and after the first flush started to panic when it didn't refill. I keep a couple 7 gallon jugs of water (aqua-tainer) filled all the the time and have replaced the plastic valve with a metal one with a hose fitting and have a couple hoses that were from washing machines. Normally I use them for the camper, just stick the hose in the water fill hole, toss the jug on the roof and open the valve and let it fill.
So I grabbed one of those and fed the hose into the toilet tank and set the jug on top and would just open the valve to fill the tank then she could flush like normal. After the first refill she could do it herself so I was able to sleep while she refilled the tank ever 30 minutes

I live now in an older house and when I get enough leaks I call a very affordable plumber.

Me too. I have fixed small leaks like this every since I can remember. Usually lasts till you can fix it correctly and gets you out of a bind for sure.

_________
James

Sorry you had such an incident, but it sounds like you handled it.

We had our gutters and flashing done in copper a couple years back and I saved all the scrap.

Too bad don't live closer, I'd have given you some to patch the hole. Drain the line, sand, solder - done.