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So, I have a broken pipe exactly on the L join on the wall. It's a huge crack but no big gap, just a curved crack along the pipe.

At first I thought of replacing the pipe, but it means that I have to take out the tiles and probably destroying the wall which must cost me a lot.

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I've covered the crack using Marine/Plastic Epoxy Putty and it works kind of well, except that the wall part is still blasting out water everywhere when I turn the water supply back on. I tried reapplying more epoxy on the leaking area, but it doesn't seem to stick on the ceramic tiles.

So, what are my options now?

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4  
Do it right, replace the pipe. It will never be right, it will cost you more time and aggravation in the long run. – SteveR Mar 27 '12 at 12:44
2  
At first I read that as "How do I steal a crack pipe" and was about to tell you that you've come to the wrong website. :) – Doresoom Mar 27 '12 at 14:22
@SteveR Let's say that I'm going to just replace the pipe, can I do it without breaking the wall at all? The pipe is glued to the fitting which is inside the wall. I removed the putty and I think I'll just post a new question. – Phelios Mar 27 '12 at 15:53
Do you know why the pipe split? I have a bad feeling that the wall is concrete, and the pipe is not protected with rubber or foam wrap - which could be the very reason is has split. – dbracey Mar 27 '12 at 16:27
@Phelios - Please see my answer. – SteveR Mar 27 '12 at 17:33

2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote

That stuff is worthless for any water line that is pressurized. IF the crack does not extend into the tile and wall, one way to patch it would have been a glue-over clamshell repair kit like this:

snapover

However, you should try to figure out why the pipe is split. This is unlikely, because you generally only see it in slab floors, but if the wall is concrete and was poured around the pipe, that split could easily be from stress if the pipe wasn't wrapped with foam or rubber.

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It's concrete. I was trying to rotate the pipe around the fitting, and I didn't know it's glued. And it break. – Phelios Mar 28 '12 at 1:31
oh sorry - good luck, friend... – dbracey Mar 28 '12 at 3:25
up vote 3 down vote

I would remove the tiles around the pipe. Carefully prying them from the grout line. They look to be standard white tiles if you need to replace any broken ones. Once you remove the tiles then cut out the backer board enough to get to the fitting-pipe. Then you can cut the pipe out and using a coupling of the same size pipe add the new pipe and fitting. After the pipe is replaced rebuild the backer board and set the tile with some tile adhesive. Let dry one day then re grout the tile spacing.

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so, I have to break the wall then. I will just call the plumber. Thanks. – Phelios Mar 28 '12 at 1:33
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Can't you access the pipe from the other side of the wall? If it is an interior wall, it might be easier to open up the wall from there, saving you messing with the tiles. – Eli Iser Mar 28 '12 at 6:41
@EliIser the other side of the wall is also tiled. It's another bathroom unfortunately. – Phelios Mar 29 '12 at 4:25

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