Need to talk plumbing...

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Ok, I'm working on a 100 year old cottage. I'm using both brass fittings and steel piping and PEX. I used teflon tape for all the screw together joints. Tightened them up pretty good too. Seems I have leaking (weeping) at all the teflon tape joints. The PEX stuff looks ok. The old plumbing that came out had some kind of joint putty on them and zero leaks for a long time. Any body care to chime in on my problem?

Would like a recommendation for a good plumbers joint putty. The internet is loaded naturally, but I need info from someone here who knows what works. Got a lot of work held up by this problem....
As always, thanks in advance guys....
DV
 
"Regular" white Teflon tape is very, very thin. As such, it requires many wraps sometimes to seal. Yellow gas tape is thicker. You may also have to use pipe dope + tape.
 
Go to a real plumbing supply in your neighborhood. The place with all the contractor white vans outside that have HVAC on the side, and ladders and copper tubing on top of the roof.

Go to the counter, be friendly, describe what you are trying to accomplish and listen to the counterpersons advice because he knows as much as the plumbers milling around. Snap some photos and bring an iPad with you to show the images...phone screens are too small for the guys who have been doing this long enough to really know their stuff
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It sounds like you are attempting to further cobble 100 years of cobbled together attempts at plumbing by previous owners.
It is a recipe for failure.
Not because of your ability or inability...but because it is the nature of old houses with old plumbing.

Home Depot and Lowes cannot help you....
Fellow Do-It-Yourselfers cannot help you...
 
Wrap it with teflon tape and than coat it with pipe dope. Problem solved. Rectorseal, Gasoila of Laco paste are good. I have found Gasoila to be best.
 
Good tips already posted, your likely using thin tape. With the thin stuff I wrap heavy and slap dope on top of that, as others have already mentioned... Also make sure your wrapping in the correct direction. Gasoila dope works well but I've been using the dope made by Wolverine Brass a lot lately and it hasn't given me any leaks either.
 
All these well intentioned responses are missing the big picture.

They are not seeing what your project actually is or if you have followed proper installation methods. The fact all of your teflon tape connections are leaking suggests inexperience.

When you say "steel pipe" do you mean galvanized pipe for potable water or black iron pipes more typical of gas lines?

Either way, In a 100-year old home that was plumbed with steel you should be gutting it all and replacing. All of it because it is plugged up like an old fat guys arteries
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The best pipe sealer I have ever used is Loctite PST 567. A small tube costs 25 dollars and it is worth every penny. In this county gas piping is tested at 60 PSI, even though normal operating pressure is less than 1 PSI. The piping must hold pressure for 24 hours with no leak down. Loctite fixed a leaky gas piping system that would not hold pressure. I use Loctite 567 on every threaded pipe joint EXCEPT plastic. The instructions are very clear about not using this product on plastic pipe. Available at Grainger and Fastenal ( check stock by phone )

Good Luck :)
 
I am a plumbing foreman for a mid-sized mechanical company. I make money by making leak-free joints the first time. If you're using teflon tape, you need to start by winding it in the right direction. If you point the threaded end of the pipe at your face, you would wind the tape clockwise. Otherwise, the act of tightening the pipe tends to push the tape out. If you are working on potable water lines, and you want to use dope, use a non-toxic thread sealant like the various Teflon pastes that are available. I personally like to brush a thin coat of dope into the root of the thread, and then apply teflon tape. Other people use different methods with success, but that's mine. If you're using Rectorseal, T+2 is good for potable water.

As others have pointed out, cheap import teflon is not as good. It's not useless, but you'll probably have an easier time with Blue Monster, or the pink or yellow tapes that are available.
 
As said by the guy before me, putting it on correctly is the most important part. You can also put way to much on. If a couple of wraps of tape don't seal it the fittings and pipe threads are junk or the tape is the cheap thin stuff.

We use the blue monster teflon tape at work and I have seen it leak when not applied correctly.
 
When I'm working with galvanized steel threaded pipe, I wire brush all the threads to make sure they're clean. If any threads are damaged, I'll run a pipe die over them. I prefer using the 3/4 inch wide Teflon tape, which is something you'll never find at a retail store.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
IME, pipe dope works well on threaded pipe.
Just say no to Teflon tape.


I agree. Use the liquid form. I don't know why so many people default to the tape; it's not as good.
 
Thanks guys! All very good responses. I'm working on a 100 year cottage with the better part of its plumbing replaced or in good order. I'm working in the kitchen where, back in the olden days, it was ok to have the water heater in the house. It was plumbed into a wall pipe the fed wall mounted faucets.
Years ago I had a contractor put a new water heater under the house (house is on pilings ) and he simply brought PEX up through the floor to feed that faucet pipe. The install is very good and the hooking up to the wall pipe was fine as we just needed functional hot water at the time and the heater up to code.

Now, it's time to renovate the kitchen which means there'll be new cabinets and sink mounted faucets. The walls on this house are too thin to put stub outs in so the water will be coming in from the floor. That's ok here and I simply took the existing PEX back under the house and brought it up through the floor where the new sink will be. Surprisingly the cold water is already where I need it to be. The leaking fittings are where I'm installing new shut offs and an elbow that goes through the wall for and outdoor faucet. I'll swing by the plumbing store and see what's popular with plumbing contractors and get back to y'all later.
Thanks everyone for your help!
 
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