Flex Seal is a relatively low-cost product that anyone can purchase for cheap, quick, do-it-yourself repairs. Highly rated by consumers and effective across an impressive range of applications, Flex Seal shores up leaks, cracks, and other damages in a variety of materials. However, before you buy this product and use it for DIY plumbing repairs, it’s important to know the inherent dangers of doing so. Read on to find out why you should never use Flex Seal to fix worn or damaged plumbing in your Commerce, Michigan home.
Flex Seal Isn’t Made for Plumbing
If Flex Seal truly was an affordable fix-all for residential plumbing, professional plumbers would use it. Contrary to what many people think, professional plumbing companies aren’t in the business of sidestepping the most economical and practical solutions for repairs in an effort to mark up their prices. When products like Flex Seal are actually successful, they eventually make their way into the toolboxes of licensed plumbers everywhere.
This is hardly a dig at Flex Seal and its capabilities. Instead, it’s a direct reflection of what the manufacturer of Flex Seal has to say about its products. According to the manufacturer, Flex Seal is made for:
- Repairing damaged gutters and roofs
- Weatherizing select building features and materials
- Weatherproofing concrete and building foundations
- Various indoor and outdoor projects
- Minor swimming pool and swimming pool equipment repairs
- Boat and automobile repairs
- Miscellaneous bathroom fixes
Nowhere on Flex Seal products or on the company’s website are there any claims of Flex Seal being able to repair plumbing. There’s also some very good reasons why.
Flex Seal Isn’t Safe for Use Around Food or Potable Fluids
If you break your favorite coffee mug, you certainly wouldn’t repair it with an adhesive that’s virtually guaranteed to leach harmful chemicals into your morning brew. This is also why you shouldn’t use Flex Seal to repair your plumbing. Using Flex Seal on a damaged water supply line could compromise the health of everyone in your home. Even the Flex Seal manufacturer asserts that these products shouldn’t be used near consumables.
Having a product like Flex Seal leach harmful chemicals into your water supplies can have widespread consequences. Not only does this put you at risk of drinking Flex Seal chemicals, but it can also mean bathing and cooking with them too. This is hardly an appealing prospect when you know that long-term exposure to Flex Seal can:
- Damage the central nervous system
- Irritate the eyes and skin
- Cause digestive stress
- Result in permanent eye, skin, lung, and brain damage
Again, this isn’t negative information about Flex Seal itself. Instead, it’s a warning about using an overall effective product in the wrong applications. Although Flex Seal works well, it simply isn’t meant for plumbing systems.
Flex Seal Won’t Work Well on Most Plumbing Components
Vinyl is one of several materials that Flex Seal cannot work on. In fact, the product manufacturer strongly advises against use Flex Seal to perform vinyl repairs. Although galvanized steel and copper are frequently found in plumbing systems, so is PVC. PVC is the abbreviation for polyvinyl chloride. Even though vinyl ad PVC aren’t one in the same, PVC is indeed one form of vinyl.
There are a number of popular handyman and home repair websites that suggest using Flex Seal on PVC. However, most are careful to note that Flex Seal is only a temporary fix in these applications. In short, it won’t hold for long. If you have a damaged PVC pipe in your home plumbing system, you cannot reliably use Flex Seal to solve the problem. If you turn your back on your Flex Seal repair for too long, the leak could return or you could have a burst pipe on your hands. It’s always both cheaper and safer to have a professional perform the repair instead. When you do, you can also rest assured that your provider will use food-safe and water-safe materials.
You Stand to Lose the Protections of All Relevant Warranties and Insurance Plans
Products like Flex Seal are the bane of home warranty and home insurance companies alike. Home warranty companies pay to replace or repair home systems that are damaged as the result of normal, age-related wear. Home insurance companies will repair your home systems when these are damaged as the result of unexpected events such as fires and floods. Neither company type can afford to repair damages that are the result of mistakes that you’ve made yourself.
Both home insurance policies ad home warranty plans are binding agreements between the companies that have issued them and the consumers that have purchased them. Just as issuing companies make promises to consumers, consumers make promises to adhere to specific maintenance and repair practices when signing these agreements. Failing to uphold your end of the deal with either agreement type can result in the immediate loss of all related protections.
For instance, imagine that you have a leaking pipe in your home. If you’ve been diligent about scheduling regular plumbing inspections and performing routine plumbing maintenance, your home warranty will pay to replace the leaking pipe. However, if the plumber that you hire finds evidence that you’ve used Flex Seal to repair the pipe before, your home warranty will be voided and you’ll be personally responsible for all repair costs.
This same is also true of your home insurance plan. If a pipe bursts in your home, you certainly don’t want your home insurance company to discover that this pipe or any pipe near it has been treated with Flex Seal before. Not only will your home insurance plan be voided and the related repairs billed to you, but you’ll also be responsible for paying for all of the necessary water damage restoration. Using Flex Seal for a quick plumbing fix simply isn’t worth it.
Flex Seal Repairs Will Diminish the Value and Marketability of Your Home
There are countless other ways in which a low-cost plumbing repair with Flex Seal can come back to haunt you. If you choose to sell your home in the future, any home inspector who sees your plumbing elements coated in Flex Seal could declare that the building’s plumbing system isn’t up to code. Flex Seal plumbing repairs diminish the value of residential buildings, detract from their marketability, and limit the likelihood of financing approvals. You’ll find it hard to connect with buyers who are able to get financing for your home if you’ve used Flex Seal to seal up plumbing leaks on multiple occasions. More importantly, anyone with a seasoned eye will know that these repairs are ultimately major plumbing disasters that are just waiting to happen.
Matheson Heating, Air & Plumbing proudly serves residents of Commerce, MI and the surrounding areas. We offer plumbing installation, maintenance, and repairs, water heaters, water softeners, and more. If you’ve got plumbing problems and want safe, effective, and long-lasting solutions, we can help. Give us a call today.