My plumber used a quarter turn turn-off to a toilet riser. It was attached to the 1/2" copper pipe with a compression fitting that has now leaked at the compression joint and destroyed a ceiling below. Is that a standard and acceptable procedure to use a compression fitting for this situation? I was surprised to hear that he had used a compression fitting and thought those were only for temporary situations.

Thanks for any insight here. By the way the plumber is my friend and I won't be firing him. But I may kick his behind...

code compliant in MA - ?

standard and often used - yes

best practice - no


ps. having a bathroom w/o a floor drain is also not best practice, albeit seldom installed in a residential setting

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



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compression fitting for that usage is almost standard. But, since it would have had to leak on to the floor, I am surprised it was allowed to continue long enough to damage the lower ceiling.

perfectly legal to use a compression x compression type stop in MA.
so don't kick your friend too hard, he did nothing wrong.

packy.....they leak if you do something wrong.

Sounds like a Fluke.... compression x compression has been a standard for 20+ years and very dependable.

Thanks guys for the insights. How much did my plumber pay you!!

Only kidding. I'm glad to hear compression is fine as there are lots of times I don't want to see plumbers using open torches in my customer's homes.

However I do feel more secure with sweated joints where you can tell if they are going to fail immediately. This one seemed fine for a couple of hours and then failed in the middle of the night. Ouch.

One more thought. I had read online to make sure the compression fitting has no plastic parts. Is this correct?

no.

Any fitting can break in the middle of the night.

Usually I find kitchen sink shutoff valves are more likely to leak because people tend to stuff all sorts of cleaning bottles napkins towels plastic bags trash can candles etc etc etc and the door won't close so they push them shut and in the process strain the hoses any the valves. Or they get the kitchen pull out faucet wrapped around the valve below and it won't pull out they @#$%& it hard. A slow misty leak develops but they can't tell because all the napkins any towels soak it up until things turn into a smelly moldy mess.

One other important factor is that when you tighten a compression fitting you tighten it by hand as snug as you can and then with a channel locks continue to tighten approximately 3/4 of a turn. Then check it with the pressure full on to make sure it does not leak.....if it does, turn the water off again and tighten up a little more. This should stop the leak but if it doesn't repeat the process. BUT remember you can over tighten these compression fittings and cause it to leak. Just be careful and be methodical with your installations of compression fittings. ALSO your copper tube needs to be round and not oval shaped.