PVC Supply Lines for the Dummy DIY Plumber

joining PVC pipe

There is a freelancer at HubPages who thinks that running plumbing lines is like working with tinkertoys. She even calls some of her posts at the site "ladies' craft projects..." No kidding. The truth is that, if you have a working knowledge, assembling a plumbing system does bear a resemblance to tinkertoys (or, for people born after 1960, K'nex). It is not, however, as simple as HomeSteady.com's David Batka seems to think, at least according to his "How to Seal PVC Water Supply Pipe."¹

Batka, drawing heavily on the wealth of knowledge gained while earning a BA in English; boldly went forth, found some references, and cunningly reworded them. In the process, however, he left stuff out because, we assume, he'd never done anything like what he was writing about.
Our staff plumber types think that the OQ's question could be interpreted more than one way:

1. Assemble a run of PVC without leaks
2. Fix a leak in a run of PVC
3. Use pipe compound on threaded connectors

Batka chose option one, and proceeded to try to reword instructions he found somewhere (his post has no "references" or "resources"). Unfortunately, in his ignorance, he left out a few things. Here's what Dave said to do:

1. "Clean both ends of the pipes that you wish to connect with a dry rag..."
2. "Apply a thin layer of PVC primer/cleaner to the areas of both pipes that you want two [sic] join together..."
3. "Apply PVC cement to the areas that were just coated with PVC primer/cleaner..."
4. "Connect the two section of pipe together and hold them in place for 10 seconds."

Wait a minute! This dolt Batka actually thought you could simply push the ends of the PVC pipe together and call it a day! That will most definitely not seal PVC lines. No, David, to connect two lengths of PVC you need a fitting that will accept the two pipe ends. That is how you seal the connection. You can also buy PVC pipe that has a female end, which allows you to slip the male end of a matching length of pipe inside and cement it in place.
As for the other options: there are special slip connectors that you can use to bridge across a leak in a run of PVC pipe, and special sealing compound that is made for use with threaded PVC fittings. There is not, however, any way to just push two cut ends together, no matter what our Dumbass of the Day seems to think.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_6145416_seal-pvc-water-supply-pipe.html

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DDIY - PLUMBING