If you have recently undergone a repiping job in your home – due to leaks or corrosion in your existing galvanized pipes – you are probably enjoying the improved water pressure and great tasting drinking water coming out of your tap. But there is a downside to replacing your existing plumbing with all new copper pipes: all that leftover plumbing material. Fortunately, we found a few ways you can put your old galvanized pipe or leftover PEX pipe to work in your home.
Tables
Galvanized pipe may be subject to corrosion on the inside, but it is still structurally very strong. Repurposing your old pipes into furniture is as easy as constructing a frame – for a dining table, coffee table, etc. – and affixing some wooden planks to the top of it. For something truly unique, you can always try weaving the frame through the tabletop, as pictured below.
Bookshelves
Galvanized pipe can be put together in almost any geometric pattern you want, provided you don’t want something round. Using T-joints, you can create a stackable piece of furniture like a bookshelf. Once again, you’ll need some wood pieces to form the shelves.
Lighting Fixtures
Galvanized pipes can also be used to craft some interesting, industrial lighting fixtures. You can simple run the wire through the center of the pipes and, since the ends are threaded, attaching a fixture is easy. There also fittings to affix these pipes to walls, making this a DIY that most amateur electricians can handle (just don’t forget to shut off the power).
Wine Racks
Short sections of PEX pipe – the large plastic piping that is commonly used today – can be glued together to create a great wine rack. The larger gauge pipes are wide enough to hold even a magnum, and the narrower pipes can be glued in between as decorative pieces. Depending on how much leftover PEX you have, you can make your wine rack as big as you want.
Bookshelves II
If your books are all about the same height, try the really creative bookshelf pictured below. It affixes right to the wall and doesn’t require you to salvage any wood for shelving.