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Feb. 17th, 2008 08:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickSo I go in yesterday morning to fix the busted pipe problem at the trailer. The tenants tried to fix the problem for me but they were unsuccessful in their attempt. Now, I realize that as a fairly new and inexperienced fixer-of-things, I should not be mocking my tenants and their efforts, but I'm going to mock anyway.
Judging from the results, here's how their plumbing-repair subroutine works:
Step 1: Find the leaking thing. (Sometimes this is a nontrivial step but in this case it was not particularly difficult.)
Step 2: Turn off the water. This, they managed without incident. The shutoff is an accessible ball valve and we've been over its location in previous plumbing encounters.
Step 3: Wind big gobs of duct tape round the problem area. This is not the first tenant I have had in my relatively short experience who has tried to fix plumbing with duct tape.
Step 4: Turn water back on.
Step 5: Observe that it is still leaking.
Step 6: Call landlord.
I have said this before and unfortunately it looks like I am going to have to say it again. NO PLUMBING OF ANY KIND CAN BE REPAIRED WITH DUCT TAPE, NOT EVEN IF YOU USE BIG GOBS OF THE STUFF. DUCT TAPE, AS WONDERFUL AS IT IS, CANNOT FIX PLUMBING ISSUES.
In case anyone would like to know WHY duct tape cannot fix plumbing, here is why: Water in pipes is mostly under pressure. Pressure makes the water try to squeeze out everywhere. Also, water makes duct tape not stick so well. So, the water squeezes out against the duct tape and makes it not-stick and then the water squeezes out more and the duct tape sticks less and all of this happens pretty quickly so that about twenty seconds (if that) after you've turned the water back on, you've got water spraying all over the place just like before only now you also have a big sopping hunk of duct tape in the way of what you're trying to fix.
If you glean no other life lessons from this lj, please at least take this one:
DUCT TAPE IS NOT FOR PLUMBING REPAIRS. EVER.
Judging from the results, here's how their plumbing-repair subroutine works:
Step 1: Find the leaking thing. (Sometimes this is a nontrivial step but in this case it was not particularly difficult.)
Step 2: Turn off the water. This, they managed without incident. The shutoff is an accessible ball valve and we've been over its location in previous plumbing encounters.
Step 3: Wind big gobs of duct tape round the problem area. This is not the first tenant I have had in my relatively short experience who has tried to fix plumbing with duct tape.
Step 4: Turn water back on.
Step 5: Observe that it is still leaking.
Step 6: Call landlord.
I have said this before and unfortunately it looks like I am going to have to say it again. NO PLUMBING OF ANY KIND CAN BE REPAIRED WITH DUCT TAPE, NOT EVEN IF YOU USE BIG GOBS OF THE STUFF. DUCT TAPE, AS WONDERFUL AS IT IS, CANNOT FIX PLUMBING ISSUES.
In case anyone would like to know WHY duct tape cannot fix plumbing, here is why: Water in pipes is mostly under pressure. Pressure makes the water try to squeeze out everywhere. Also, water makes duct tape not stick so well. So, the water squeezes out against the duct tape and makes it not-stick and then the water squeezes out more and the duct tape sticks less and all of this happens pretty quickly so that about twenty seconds (if that) after you've turned the water back on, you've got water spraying all over the place just like before only now you also have a big sopping hunk of duct tape in the way of what you're trying to fix.
If you glean no other life lessons from this lj, please at least take this one:
DUCT TAPE IS NOT FOR PLUMBING REPAIRS. EVER.
