Taking down a 1st floor bathroom shelf, I discovered that the "expert" who installed the shelf years ago managed to drill through the upstairs drain pipe. The 1/4" hole is about 5' off the ground and apparently never leaked when the screw & plastic anchor were in place.

I prepped with dremel wirebrush & rough sandpaper and plugged it with JBWeld SteelStik as shown below. Seems to be holding fine for now.

Question is, is this an adequate repair or do I need to do something else? I'd hate to have the thing leak sewage-tainted water in the future and have to replace the entire wall.

Thanks!

repairing a drilled hole is very different from repairing a worn out, cracked pipe.

if you prepared the surface as well as you said you did, the repair is probly stronger than the pipe.
you should have put your initials in the epoxy for future generations to see...

When I encounter this type of leak, I cut the tubing through the center of the hole and put it back together with a coupling. You need to sand and flux the tubing and the coupling and solder it without water in the tubing, so drain it down at a hose bib or lower water outlet. All the best..

srloren, he said it was a drain pipe. it looks cast iron to me.
of course they did have copper drains in homes last century..

That's copper, but that repair will only have to last until the first backup. Copper drains run horizontally get pinholes at the top of the pipe like crazy, and after it leaks, someone will probably cut out the whole thing anyhow. The vertical sections never seem to get the same oxidation.

My flub, thanks for enlightening me

well then if it is copper it should be patched by soldering it closed. it is only 1/4 inch hole.

I have to disagree with soldering up a quarter inch hole... I just don't buy it. But that's me. You guys pays your dues and takes your chances.

TEMPORARILLY

cover the hole with a blank plastic electrical cover plate

just screw into the plaster - NOT TOO DEEP - ha ha

check it every now and again

when satisfied

either

patch the wall

or

hang a picture

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638



Edited 1 times.

Thanks for all your informative responses.

So far, the patch is holding fine and since this isn't the main bathroom, I actually like the idea of a electrical cover plate to monitor for the time being so I'm going to kick this can down the road for now.

Cheers,
-pc