Capping Badly Corroded Galvanized Pipe

HELP!!

A VERY expensive job can be avoided if only a smart
and generous member can tell me how my plumber can
cap a badly corroded galvanized main residential
water supply pipe.

Here's the story. We have a corroded main supply
pipe. This problem arose many years ago. The plumber
then tapped in a new supply pipe for most of the
house, but he left some sections of the house attached
to the old pipe. Now it needs to be abandoned.

We can tap into the newer supply pipe to
supply the parts of the house now served by the old
corroded pipe. BUT MY PLUMBER CAN'T FIGURE OUT how to cap the old pipe
without going all the way back to the City meter...a task
clogged with later poured CONCRETE!!

I can clearly see that the old pipe is too screwed up to
cut and thread. Is there any other way of capping it off?

My wife, perhaps brilliantly, perhaps not, says PLUG IT WITH
EPOXY......hmmmm.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Al
Santa Monica

I am going to guess thet the plumber Td into the existing line and now if you cut the old pipe you are talking about and turned on the water, water will shoot out of the pipe and that is why it needs to be capped. Do I have it right?

I think you solution lies AT the city meter.

Is there access to the city meter? You must be getting your water somewhere? Is it at a new meter? Just get the city to shut off the old meter. Or disconnect and cap the pipe AT the meter and leave the rest in place.

Jackhammer.... the plumbers other helper.

As you look at the condition of the pipe you see above the floor, think about this... the pipe under, is the same age and condition... probobly worse.

If you find a way to put a bandaid on it now and cap it.... it will cause problems later.

If you need to cap it now you may be able to use a welder and weld it shut... but start saving your money and fix it right.

Good luck

Dances-with-pumps

get a DRESSER COUPLING

something I have seen done is to go buy

a very long 3/4 REPAIR DRESSER COUPLING .....


simply put it on the pipe and tighten the hell out of it....

and out of the other end of the coupling put a galvanized

nipple , and a cap.....you need to tighten it down a lot,

then secure the pipe incase it would ever work itself loose from

the pressure........


I have seen a 2 inch dresser repair coupling used to repair a leak in a galvanized pipe right in the middle
of an 200 room hotel ....

it scared the hell out of me to even walk underneath
this joiint , but it has not leaked yet in 10 years....


so it ought to work fo r you

cap

You have to cap/plug the line where it starts, so if that is at the water meter, then that is where you have to do it.

If you want to just cap it... do as Master Plumber Mark said. If you want to do it right... trash every single bit of the old pipe and go all the way back to the meter.... eventually you're going to end up there anyway.