Doesn’t the paint look so good! I was very excited to get the chair rail up!
Tools used:
- 2.5″ Chair Rail
- 2.5″ Finishing Nails
- Nail Setter
- Idiot Juice
I got started on the chair rail that meets the windows sill. I had painted all the rail about four hours earlier and it was dry enough to work with. I was so happy with my first cuts and the rail slid in perfectly! Working on the second strip I again cut a 45 degree to meet up with the first piece and got the first nail in no problem. Then I found the next stud with my handy, dandy stud finder and began hammering away. On the first hit through the drywall I thought it felt a little stiff, but not enough to cause any concern. My second hit was greeted with a hissing sound and the first thing that crossed my mind is “Oh, $hit, I hit a gas line!”
I yell for Jennifer and a few seconds later scalding hot water blasts through the drywall. I now know I hit a copper pipe in the wall that feeds hot water. Jennifer grabs some towels and gets on the phone with Roto-Rooter for emergency service. I have Jennifer hold the towels while I try to turn the water off to the house. I got a trash container to hold the water that’s spraying out of the wall and finally get the water turned off. Here is the initial damage:
Not too bad, right? I thought so, too, but I also knew we were going to have to cut the drywall open to get to the pipe. Roto-Rooter to the rescue! A plumber named Chuck greeted me and I showed him the damage. He asked me to open up the drywall so I had him draw a box to show me the size he needs so I don’t have to cut more than necessary. The picture on the right shows the drywall knocked away and the box he drew. You can see my little nail hold in the middle of the pipe. Chuck explained he’s going to cut the pipe and put a coupling on to reseal the pipe. Whatever, Chuck, just get it done.
Chuck gets the coupling done in about 30 minutes and we turn the water on … water sprays everywhere! The repair didn’t take and chuck has to now cut the pipe in two places and put in additional pipe with TWO couplings. I’m thinking, great now there is twice the chance of a leak. It turns out once the pipe got a seal it began to fill with water, which prevents the seal from taking as steam forces little channels in the weld. We emptied the hot water heater and tried again. Again, more water
came out, preventing the seal. Chuck gave it one last try by blasting the pipe with heat to dry it out. He then worked quickly once the final seal was started so the pipe didn’t have a chance to fill. It worked! Almost four hours later and it was fixed. What a disaster! I had to open the wall completely to allow the area to dry with the fan. The last thing we need is mold. Chuck also told me a much easier way to install chair rail is with Loctite Power Grab. It’s very tacky so it allows you to stick the rail up well before it hardens. I wish I knew that five hours earlier.
Check out some more pics of the wreckage.
Update: Click here to see how it all turned out.
