Fixing a Pipe Bib From the Inside

 Not sure why my internet is so slow tonight. I can't get it to upload. It took over an hour to get these pictures uploaded and I have one of the finished product and I can't get it to upload at all. 

Slow internet is the price I pay living in a small town. I started before midnight and it is now almost 1:30 and they still won't load so it isn't a busy time for internet. 

I will just post what I have and you can imagine the finished pipe. ;-)

I had a disaster clean up man come to my house and check out the drywall. He said it was 100% wet. That made me feel so much better. (joking) I was about cut out the entire section of wall but he said if I could get air flow in the wall, I could probably dry out the drywall. I had to rip out the cedar planks and then cut a hole and pulled out the wet insulation. I realized a few hours later that there was a board keeping the air from flowing in the section to the right so I cut another hole and pulled out the insulation in there. I pulled the wood off until his meter said the drywall was ok. The carpet is lifted and had fans on it for several days but the drywall had to wait as I had drill try outs and bunko so it got cut 1 1/2 days after finding out about the leak. 

I pulled out the pipe bib that I had installed and found insulation in the valve. That meant that I caught insulation in the pipes when I screwed them together which in turn wicked the water out of the pipe into the wall. So, I had to cut a hole into the ceiling to get the adapter out of the pipe so I could clean the insulation off the threads and re-thread it. 

I was ok cutting the holes in the wall as I can cover that with the cedar planks but cutting the ceiling was hard for me as I won't be able to make it look perfect. I do think I may just cover the spot with an air vent cover making it look like part of the heating system but actually, it would give me access in the future to the pipe. I will have to see how that would look.  

I scrubbed the threads to get the insulation out and then put on the Teflon tape and then got some pipe dope and slathered it with that and screwed on the adapter.

I then put Teflon tape on the pipe and put dope on that and then pushed it through the wall from the outside. I then went inside to screw it on making sure the connection was "clean" and then tightened it again from the outside. 

I tested it and have used the hose and there haven't been any leaks which makes me happy. I was so grateful that I got the bib on without having to cut the ceiling. It is a miracle that I was able to get the old one off and just a fluke that I caught the insulation in it, otherwise, I would have been fine. Can't wait to get the wall dry so I can put more insulation in and get the room put back together again. 

I have two fans blowing. One if faced into the water main and the other is faced away from the holes in hopes that will pull the other fan's air through the wall. I can feel a breeze up in the ceiling hole so something is moving in there. The paint was all bubbling so I hope I can get that all dry. I don't want to have to paint again.

 I hadn't used the pipe dope before but it went smoothly and seems to have helped seal the pipe well. I actually have a neighbor who is a plumber and he lent me his when I didn't want to go back to the plumbing supply store.

With the two sections to seal due to the adapter, I was grateful to have the dope to seal them better in hopes we wont have any more leaks. 

I got the pipes attached and then turned it on to make sure it works. It looks like it is working well. I have house guests coming again this week and have had one all weekend and her car had some issues so it looks like she will end up here for part of the week as well. I am grateful that we have water with all this company.

It was a busy weekend as I am working on some leaks on my trailer as well. I need another weekend. :-)