Drilled hole in PVC Discharge Pipe from Sump Pump

[kbh132]

While attempting to hang a shelf in my basement, I mistakenly drilled two 1/8" holes in the PVC discharge pipe of my sump pump. My basement is finished with drywall and the discharge pipe is hidden behind the drywall. The section that I drilled the holes into is a vertical section of the PVC pipe and the two holes are 3.5' apart. The first hole is 3.5' off the ground and the second hole is 7' off the ground. I have read a handful of approaches to resolve my problem. A few examples include:

- cutting out the 3.5' section of PVC pipe between the holes and replacing it with new PVC pipe/couplings
- cutting out 6" sections around each hole and adding a PVC coupling
- plug hole using either clear silicone caulk or epoxy
- plug hole with a screw whose diameter is slightly wider than 1/8" (size of hole) and slightly longer than the thickness of the PVC pipe. Use a rubber washer on the inside of the screw head, apply epoxy to the screw, and screw into the hole.

This will be my first plumbing experience (first time home owner), so all of your help is greatly appreciated.

Note: I would prefer to minimize the amount of drywall that I will be cutting and replacing if possible.

Thanks,
Kyle

[cacher_chick]

You only want to do this one time, and minimize the chance that the repair will ever fail.

Repairing the drywall will not be any harder regardless if you cut out a square foot or 4 square feet. The repair is the same.

I would cut the pipe right where each hole is and cement in a regular PVC repair coupling right there at the cut. Your biggest challenge will be cutting the pipe straight.

[Gary Swart]

Replacing drywall should be the least of your concern. Patching or replacing drywall is about the easiest repair to make. No matter how small the repair, it will require taping, sanding, and painting-probably the whole wall to be sure to get a good match. With that large of a piece of pipe to repair, that part is fairly simple too. Cut the whole section out and use a regular coupler on one end and a banded coupler on the other. Other patch jobs may work, but are "iffy". If I was doing it, I'd cut the drywall from stud to stud then sister new 2x4s or even 2x2s to them to make sure I had a solid base for the new drywall. Sure, you could toe nail the patch to the old studs, but in my opinion, it's easier in the long run to just use a couple new boards.