Overheard a guy at Home Depot telling someone to use PVC glue on copper pipes and I couldn't walk away fast enough

Was grabbing a new drain snake at the Home Depot off I-35 last Saturday and heard this older guy tell a young kid plain as day to just "use PVC cement on copper" for a leaky joint. I almost dropped my cart. That's not a hack, that's a guaranteed flood in 3 months when the heat kicks on and that bond lets go. I pulled the kid aside and told him to grab a proper compression fitting for $8 instead. Has anyone else run into bad advice like that in the plumbing aisle?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan_mason13h ago

Bet the guy was a handyman who just learned that trick from his grandpa and never actually tested it with hot water. Copper expands way more than PVC when it heats up so that glue joint will crack sooner than people think. Good on you for catching that before the kid flooded his crawlspace.

miles27912h ago

Fixed mine with a heat shield before the glue job, @ivan_mason, and it held up fine for years.

taylor_miller1010h ago

Did they actually use the right PVC primer and cement for the heat? Cause that bonding stuff isn't all the same. I've seen guys grab the cheapest purple primer and wonder why it fails.