Tape, string or putty redux

Q: Your advice about using string, putty and tape in plumbing is a little off the mark. Those three products are quite different, and are not interchangeable at all.You use tape (or pipe dope) to seal joints made between male threads and female threads, such as pipe (with male threads) threaded into a fitting (with female threads).You use string for packing.

This goes around the stem of a faucet; it does NOT go on threads. It gets compressed as you tighten the packing nut, thereby making a seal against the stem itself.

Putty is primarily for sealing the rim of drains, and secondarily for setting fixtures such as faucets and toilets. It does NOT go on threads. — Nick F., via e-mail.

A: Thanks for the clarification, Nick!

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Q: In your recent column, you wrote that fruit flies can be found in unclean drains. After much experience with the little-known fly-in-the-drain syndrome, I can tell you that fruit flies are NOT in your drain — it’s the sewer fly or drain fly.We had a problem when we first moved into our pre-Civil War house with no basement. There was a leak in the sewer pipe, which was leaking into the dirt crawl space. …

In the spring when there is more rain, sewer flies came into our downstairs bathroom in droves.

Our insect man knew exactly what they were; however, he took a sample and sent some flies to the Rutgers University insect department for positive identification. Once the pipe was fixed and bleach poured on the affected area, we didn’t have any more flies.

Here is a link to a Web site concerning drain/sewer flies: www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/ — Nancy G., Princeton, N.

J.A: Many thanks, Nancy, especially for the informative link.