Every May, cottagers head back up north to their favourite lakeside retreats, filled with the anticipation of peace, serenity and the cry of the loon. But before they can enjoy any of these things, many face a frustrating, psychological ordeal: trial by water pipe. Will it be you? It may. Let me prepare you to prevail.
Somewhere deep within hundreds of cottages across the province, a little bit of water remained hidden in copper pipes after everyone thought the system was drained back in October. This water froze during, expanded and the subsequent burst pipe lies in wait for smiling, unsuspecting cottagers. This sinister condition sits ready to make itself known with a cascading fountain of despair as the pump pressures up again, wetting everything in sight.
My wife tells me that in the midst of life’s trials, what women really want is empathy, not solutions. I’m not so sure this applies to burst water pipes, though. When you’re 50 miles from the nearest plumber, with a bunch of cranky kids lined up waiting to use a bone-dry toilet, a solution is what we all want. Desperately. And to make that happen you need a little bit of know-how, some simple materials and a few tools and supplies. One new item, in particular, might even prevent you from burning your cottage down while you complete the repair.
Fixing a burst copper water pipe involves three steps: cutting out the bad section, preparing a piece of replacement pipe and couplings, then soldering these parts into the system. You’ll need about $20 worth of tools to make it all happen, and the first item is something called a pipe cutter, though not the usual sort. |
