# Dry Fitting



## Anonymous (Jan 7, 2012)

How many guys dry fit all their drains and vents .... then take them apart and glue them together


----------



## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

I don't dry fit nothin, it's a pain in the a$$ trying to get the fittings off the pipe. And I'm pretty good with my measurements so i find that I don't need to dry fit.

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


----------



## Qball415 (Nov 20, 2010)

Ha prevent a problem before it starts.
Dry fitting seems to be the number 1 problem of dwv leaks.


----------



## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

I glue it up.

Measure twice, cut once.

Lather, rinse, repeat.


----------



## PrecisePlumbing (Jan 31, 2011)

I never dry fit and i hammer anyone who works near me who does. The only thing like dry fitting i do is put a directional piece in to set a ob junction for a crutial branch to get the 45 right


----------



## AWWGH (May 2, 2011)

NOooo dry fitting!


----------



## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

Y'all dry fit Insert fittings? 

:laughing:

sent from the jobsite porta-potty


----------



## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

Never once, ever, still do not, never ever will. Hate dry fitting. The damn pipe gets stuck sometimes and I get pissed REAL quick.


----------



## Qball415 (Nov 20, 2010)

Bill said:


> Never once, ever, still do not, never ever will. Hate dry fitting. The damn pipe gets stuck sometimes and I get pissed REAL quick.


Especially primered pvc. Precision, to be honest I have dry fitted 45s and 22-1/2* fittings to get direction in a pinch.


----------



## cityplumbing (Jun 12, 2010)

I don't dry fit. If the pipe went fully into the fitting it takes longer to pull the damn thing out. It stresses me out just thinking of it.


----------



## Anonymous (Jan 7, 2012)

Its funny because I brought this up because I see guys do this all the time... I was taught if you are going to put it together you might as well glue the dam thing the first time....

Also like some of you guys said its a pain to try to take it back apart and it a potential way to get a leak if you forget you didn't glue the darn fitting


----------



## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

I dry fit all the time, but unlike most of you I use ABS. Makes it easier to figure out those crazy complex rolls and offsets in new construction when you only have so much room to do things. And I don't miss gluing many joints. Maybe one in every three or four houses, if that. The water test finds those pretty quickly. 

Cell-core ABS usually dry fits fairly easily. Sometimes the 3" fittings are pretty tight, but I have my ways of getting them apart.


----------



## plumber666 (Sep 19, 2010)

Only when rolling up 2 45's from horizontal to vertical.


----------



## Michaelcookplum (May 1, 2011)

I dry fit only to get measurements for drilling holes, cutting off stub downs/arms, or rolling fittings(which I mark with a black marker) other then that no way!


----------



## marc76075 (Nov 24, 2010)

Only time I dry fit is when I'm under a cramped KS and want to make sure I have enough room to use a cross. If I don't then I stack two tees


----------



## MarkToo (Dec 17, 2011)

Only copper...


----------



## PlungerJockey (Feb 19, 2010)

Measure it with a micrometer
Mark it with chalk
Cut it with a axe...... and glue it.


----------



## greenscoutII (Aug 27, 2008)

Depends upon the complexity of what I'm working on. If there is rolling of fittings involved and I'm not 100% _sure_ what I'm attempting to assemble will fit in the space available for it, you bet I'll dry fit. Laugh at me all you want, it still beats having to cut it out later.

In most cases, I don't find much need to dry fit though. I love running DWV and I like to think I'm pretty good at it, so dry fitting is the exception rather than the rule.

As an aside, if you chamfer the cut end of the pipe before inserting it into the fitting dry, it is MUCH easier to disassemble.


----------



## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Stanley sez it fits...
That's all I need....

Dry fitting in my presence and it's a good way to catch a fitting in the back of the head...:yes:


----------



## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

I dry fit everything....Then take a small paint brush and draw a primer line....Let that dry, and paint a glue fillet on top of the primer stripe...

If I have any leaks, I blame it on whoever is not around, or bad pipe, bad glue, or full moon....


----------



## plumsolver (Apr 7, 2011)

Yeh you would be surprised how many,'dry fitted' fittings us service guys pull apart after years of use and not one drip. Sometimes I wonder if glue is a waste of money!
I even saw a 90 under a cottage once that had definatly never been soldered and it was,t dripping either!


----------



## LEAD INGOT (Jul 15, 2009)

Dryfitting, and little sharpie marks used to line up pipe and fittings piss me off to no end. While you have the sharpie out, just write on the pipe, I don't own a level, and I suck at math.


----------



## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

I will dry fit a ******* set every now and then, or dry fit a gunner when going thru a wall or something. When I did new resi construction, there was no real reason to. Now, I do mostly service with out a partner, and it's needed from time to time, but only one set at a time.


----------



## easttexasplumb (Oct 13, 2010)

I dry fit each piece of pipe then take it apart and spend the rest of the day trying to glue it back together. I like puzzles and sniffing glue.


----------



## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

I dry fit alot, sometimes I don't. Especially when I need to get a measurement, I'll dry fit with peices longer than I need, then I'll cut to size.


----------



## AKdaplumba (Jan 12, 2010)

I will never dry fit more then one fitting, only do it for a funky angle. Dry fitting is a rookie mistake on test. If you dry fit more then one fitting, when you go to glue it the spacing will change because the pipe goes all the way into the fitting.


If you dry fit bunch and go back and glue it you will never be successful.... it just takes too long.


----------



## bizzybeeplumbin (Jul 19, 2011)

I do it both ways. Usually I'm under a house by myself, so sometimes you need to dry fit and crawl 10' to run a measurement

I find the PVC fittings without primer remove from the pipe easier then ABS fittings. I have never forgot to glue something I dry fit. I guess I don't dry fit a ton of fittings at once. 

I wouldn't knock dry fitting, there are certain times it makes the job better and easier. 

The end result everyone should be trying to get to is a perfectly strapped, clean, slopped, plumb drain.


----------



## mccmech (Jul 6, 2011)

LEAD INGOT said:


> Dryfitting, and little sharpie marks used to line up pipe and fittings piss me off to no end. While you have the sharpie out, just write on the pipe, I don't own a level, and I suck at math.


Hey, when did you see my work? i write that all the time.:whistling2:


----------



## damnplumber (Jan 22, 2012)

If you dry fit the chances are good that it pipe doesn't go all the way into the fitting without the lubrication of the adhesive. If it does, it is a royal pain to remove it. Do your math, measure twice and cut once and get 'er done


----------

