Dad’s Best DIY Plumbing Tip or Fails

 

Father’s Day is a special day to celebrate all that our dads have done for us. When we fell off our bikes, they carried us inside to get a band-aid, then encouraged us to give it another go. When our car made a funny noise, they knew exactly how to fix it.

But sometimes, DIY projects can get the best of even the handiest dad. In honor of Father’s Day, let’s take a look at some common DIY plumbing failures that our dads might make.

Toilet Installation Troubles

Toilets are an essential bathroom fixture in our homes, so it’s important that they work correctly. If your dad decides that it’s time to upgrade, perhaps to an efficient low flushing toilet, you might encourage him to let a professional do the installation.

Getting the old fixture out isn’t terribly complicated, as long as you fully drain the water out of the bowl first. If dad gets ahead of himself, he can end up with a soggy mess on his hands. However, once he gets the bowl out of the bathroom, he shouldn’t immediately install the new unit.

A trained professional will inspect the floor for any signs of damage from a water leak. If your plumbing dad skips this step, he could inadvertently cover up damage that he should fix before installing the new toilet.

If he’s able to get the new unit installed correctly, the water underneath will hopefully dry, and the wood won’t rot further. If he makes any mistakes and the new toilet leaks as well, he’ll end up with a real problem on his hands. Unless your dad is a trained plumber, he should probably leave toilet installation to the professionals.

Duct Tape Lunacy

If your dad’s first line of defense for a leaky pipe is to grab his roll of duct tape, you have a problem on your hands. Yes, duct tape is an amazing invention, and it can do a lot of great things. You can patch a tent hole, cure a wart, and even mend a broken plant limb with the magical tape.

However, covering a leak with duct tape doesn’t solve the problem, not permanently anyway. Your dad may be able to stop the flow of water with the tape temporarily, but the underlying issue will resurface again. If the pipe’s connections have worn out, he’ll need to hire someone to replace them.

If the pipe has a crack, duct tape won’t fix the issue. Eventually, the crack can spread, and then it’ll be a deluge instead of a small leak. Leaky pipes need a real solution, not just a duct tape band-aid, so encourage your dad to let someone else check this item off of his honey-do list.

Drain Snaking Situation

Snaking a drain seems pretty straight forward. You put the snake down the drain, you find the clog, you rotate the snake, and you break it up. However, if you don’t have the training to tell the difference between the clog the pipe, you could drill a hole into your pipe attempting to clean your drain.

Also, if your home is an older build, your pipes may not be in great shape anyway. If your dad starts pushing things down the drain and tries to drill through an old, weak pipe, he’ll end up creating a huge mess.

A professional plumber can inspect the pipes before snaking to make sure that they’re in good enough shape to handle the treatment. You know that plumbing dad wants to help out, but sometimes DIY solutions are not the best idea. Having someone snake your pipe is much more affordable than having someone replace your pipe. Plus, dad can avoid mom’s ire because she won’t have to clean up his mess after breaking the pipe.

Dads Can Do It All

Something about becoming a dad seems to make men more curious than ever. It’s quite heartwarming to see a man teaching his son or daughter how to fix something around the house. We certainly don’t want to discourage dads from learning new things or fostering curiosity in their children.

However, sometimes the best thing you can teach your kids is how to tell the difference between a good DIY project and a project that’s better left to a professional.