HOME: How can I straighten pipes behind a wall?
The original builders did a shoddy job when they installed the plumbing in the bathroom, causing the taps/faucets to come out of the tiled plasterboard wall at a slight angle - about 5 degrees - so the flanges aren't flush against the wall. Any ideas on straightning the pipes without breaking the wall; I don't have any spare tiles and am unlikely to find any.
Can you cut the wall on the other side of the pipes? That might let you get at them without breaking the tile.
Be aware, however, that if you do, it may not help - if the pipes are at an angle, and you straighten them out, you're going to end up with the pipes wanting to come out at a position slightly to the side of where they are now. In other words, the holes in the wall and tile may no longer be in the right position. You may be able to flex things to make this work, but not necessarily.
Get a long sturdy pipe with a large enough inner diameter so that it can just slide over the pipe you want to bend. Push the large pipe in through the hole in the tiles as fas as you can. Use it as a guide/lever to bend the copper(?) pipe to the angle you need from inside the wall.
It will all depend how much was cut out of the tiles to allow for the plumbing to come though, but that is the only way I can think without hunting for new matching tiles.
If you are just wanting the flanges to sit flush on the wall, then you can modify the the flange center hole. The modified center hole will be more of an oval than a circle.
Manual Straightening of Pipe and Tube
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