Block end of disused pipe

[Jim K..]

and add spooky sound effects if the wind ever blows into it...

[Jim K..]

Expanding foam?

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp Esq]

You are both correct.

For the kewpie doll you have to say which one to put in the pipe first. :-)

AB

[Richard Tobin]

Behind a panel in my house is the exposed end of a long-disused waste pipe - quite likely there was once a sink there - which I suspect of being the source of an occasional bad smell.

Presumably I should cap it, but as you can see from this photo it's not a neat end:

The outside diameter is about 7cm.

There are flexible rubber caps for sale, e.g.

but I doubt it could be attached securely. Would a piece of some kind of flexible rubber sheet and a jubilee clip do the trick?

-- Richard

[Pancho]

I was going to say scrunched up newspaper, but thought it might be considered unprofessional.

[Chris Hogg]

It has a jubilee clip, just like you're suggesting for a piece of rubber sheet. In addition, you could liberally coat the flutes inside of the cap with silicone or sticks-like-shit or gutter sealant to make it more secure and make it air-tight. It's not as though it's going to be subject to movement or stresses and strains, tucked away behind that panel.

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp]

You were actually correct initially. Newspaper followed by foam and slice the top flush, or leave a "mushroom".

Standard practice in construction sites I attend, it is often used for cable ducts.

Needs a tool to remove it if the pipes re-used, but if not it may be considered permanent. Vermin dont seem to like the foam and although it discolours it is very stable.

AB

[Richard Tobin]

Yes, but the cap is very shallow, so the clip would be over the part of the pipe that slopes inward - I think it might just pop off when the clip was tightened.

That might work.

-- Richard

[Tim+]

I would just stuff a scrunched up plastic bag into the pipe. It not like you?re trying to block mass air flow. Alternatively, it wouldn?t be that hard to molish up a wooden plug that matched the internal diameter of the pipe. Add a gloop of whatever sealant you have to hand if you want to make it more airtight.

Tim

[Marland]

Reasonable quality plastic bag and a cable tie would do it just as well.

GH

[Vir Campestris]

I was lifting some floorboards last weekend. I found lots of mouse bite sized bits of foam. I've also had squirrel sized ones - although the squirrel gave up when it got to the wire netting. And found another way into the loft :(

Andy

[Steve Walker]

If it was cut back to the wall, would it be rounder?

If so, can you find a 68mm to 40mm (or 32mm) reducer of the type that that is flexible rubber, with ridges around and that pushes into the pipe? And then blank the reduced size hole - you can get internal blanks of that size no problem.

SteveW

[Richard Tobin]

Yes, assuming I was able to cut it neatly, which I doubt. I'm not sure what it's made of - it's connected to a cast iron downpipe, and may well date from the 19th century.

-- Richard

[tabbypurr]

You could use various things - expanding foam, cement mortar, rubber or wooden bung, might even find a suitable size plastic pot to fit from the kitchen bin & silicone it in.

Whatever you use, clean the inside near the end first so you get a proper fit/seal.

NT

[Tricky Dicky]

If as you say it goes into a cast iron pipe and you cannot see any fittings on the pipe then I would suggest the pipe is lead. In that case the end cap you suggested will not work as the clip will simply squash the pipe together. If you can get to the front of it squash the pipe together to for a straight seam, scrape as much oxide as possible off the seam, apply flux and heat carefully with blow torch to form a weld on the seam.

Richard

[Graeme]

In message [e-mail], Tricky Dicky [e-mail] writes

Forgive me, perhaps I'm an idle sod or a bodger, but I think many people are over thinking this. Given that the pipe is out of sight and only occasionally emits pongy air, not gas or liquid or anything under pressure, I would just cut a circle of thick card or plastic and attach to the front with a few crosses of gaffer tape. Who is going to see it, or care? Should it fail after ten years, just renew for the next ten years. And yes, I have done exactly that, in the past. Job done.

[Peter Parry]

It looks to be lead pipe and the end is quite irregular so no clamp is going to work well.

The simplest way is to spray it with a small amount of water mist or wipe it outside and in with a wet cloth and then squirt a bit of expanding foam

into the end (not too much if the pipe is still attached elsewhere to used pipes). Put a bit more foam into a plastic disposable drinking cup and press it over the pipe supporting it in place with some scraps of wood as it expands and sets. The foam will fill the cup and bond to the blob in the pipe and the pipe itself giving you a gas tight seal.

[Johnny B Good]

====snip====

If there's enough of this lead pipe to work with, why not do the "Bleedin' Obvious"(tm) which is simply to squash the last inch or three flat and fold a half to one inch of the flattened end over to seal it up.

Lead is such a soft and malleable metal that such sealing methods on water and gas pipes were a common sight for many first time buyers moving into pre and post war built properties during the 70s and 80s.