Adding a New Tee in PVC Pipe for Dummies - The Freelance Files MMCCXLVI

Fitting a slip tee

When it comes to the world of do-it-yourself home maintenance and repair, we long ago realized that amateurs rarely jump online to ask about the most basic tasks. We guess that's because complete amateurs don't tackle the simplest task; they hire someone to do it for them. It's when they have a little experience and have encountered something new that they start googling solutions to the problem at hand. That realization is why we think eHowian Steve Hamilton missed the point when he pounded out the SFGate.com post called, "How to Make a T in the Middle of PVC Plumbing."

We say that because, although Hamilton's instructions are (pretty much) correct for building a tee joint while installing a run of PVC plumbing, any idiot building a new run of PVC plumbing knows how to add a tee. It's our experience that people get stymied by the design of PVC (and, for that matter, copper) fittings when attempting to add a tee to plumbing that's already fixed in place. Here's what Steve said to do:

• "Mark the pipe to indicate the section you need to remove. Leave enough pipe to fully penetrate both in-line sockets of the fitting."
• "Cut the PVC pipe cleanly and squarely with a handsaw at the marked locations."
• "Apply PVC primer liberally to the outside of both ends of the pipe... Apply PVC cement to the primed pipe and fittings..."
• "Insert the ends of the pipe into the fitting, pushing them fully into the sockets with a slight twist..."

What Steve didn't address was the fact that conventional tee fittings require that the cut pipe ends must move apart by about two inches for the new tee to fit into the gap. It's highly unlikely that a properly installed plumbing system will have that much "give."

No, instead of blathering about an ordinary tee fitting with one-inch "sockets" on both ends, Hamilton should have directed his readers to a special slip tee fitting. No matter whether a DIYer is gluing PVC or sweating copper pipe, slip tees are the solution to fitting a four-inch tee into a two-inch space. If they're not ready to pull out the PVC cement or the MAPP torch, DIYers can pick up a "Shark Bite" fitting (see image above) that just slips on the pipe.

Whether just plain ignorant of the problem or too lazy to do the research, our Dumbass of the Day completely missed the point. You can't just stuff a generic tee fitting into the middle of a run of pipe, you need a fitting specifically designed to allow one leg of the tee to slide far enough onto one cut end of the pipe that the other leg can slip onto the other cut end. That isn't going to happen if you follow Hamilton's instructions. Guess Steve's "20 years [sic] experience" as a "remodeling and repair specialist" never included that particular task. Feh.

DDIY - PLUMBING