Plumber's tape isn't just for pipes - found that out the hard way

I was finishing up a custom shower build in a home outside Portland and tried using plumber's tape to seal a drain connection. Turns out the stuff is not rated for the kind of heat a hot water line puts out. It melted and gummed up the threads so bad I had to cut the whole pipe out and replace it. Cost me an extra $80 and half a day of work. Has anyone else found a use for that tape that actually backfired?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_grant1mo ago

Oh man, that's brutal. Did you have to completely tear into the wall to get that pipe out or were you able to access it from the shower side? I'm wondering if you could have saved it by scraping all the gunk out with a wire brush and some solvent before giving up on the whole thing.

annas871mo ago

80 bucks and half a day is rough, I once used it to patch a garden hose and it just crumbled off in a week.