How to Join Plastic Pipe

Fitting and joining plastic pipe is one of the easiest do-it-yourself projects you'll ever undertake. Whether it's white PVC pipe for sprinklers and plumbing or black ABS for drains, plastic pipe fastens together like Tinkertoys®. It's flexible, too, so it can handle gentle bends with ease. In fact, you can use plastic pipe to create the plumbing for an entire sprinkler system in less than an hour.

When welded with solvent cement that partially dissolves the plastic surface, the joints rarely leak. Be sure to use the right kind of cement for the pipe you're joining: PVC cement for PVC pipe, ABS cement for ABS pipe.

Step by Step
1. Cut the pipe with a hacksaw or plastic-pipe cutter. (If you're cutting a broken pipe out of a tight spot, use a plastic-pipe cable saw.) After cutting, use a sharp knife to remove burrs from the cut end.

2. Dry-fit the joint without cement. Push the fitting all the way onto the pipe end, move it into the proper position and mark both pieces with a felt-tip pen. Disassemble the joint and apply primer to the pipe and to the fitting.

3. Apply solvent cement onto the pipe and into the fitting. (This helps the cement bond to the plastic.) Put a little more onto the pipe than into the fitting but not enough to cause drips. Reassemble the joint immediately, give the fitting a quarter-turn as you push it on, and align the pen marks. A slender bead of cement should appear all around the outside of the fitting. Use a rag to wipe away the excess. Hold the joint together for half a minute and you're done.

4. Wait an hour before you run water through the pipe or pressurize it. (Manufacturers recommend 24 hours, but we've never heard of anyone waiting that long. We don't. We're just not that patient and we've always found that an hour is enough.)