Sweating Joints

... not quite what it sounds like.  This post is all about plumbing.  I hate plumbing - but plumbers are bloody expensive, and I ain't exactly rich.

I started with the easy stuff.  Here's the saddle valve for the copper line that will supply water to my refrigerator.  It basically just screws into place on an existing water line.

The next step involved attaching valves for the kitchen sink and dishwasher.  This requires soldering the bronze valves to the copper pipes.  It is a nerve-wracking experience because once you cut the copper pipes, the entire house must go without water until the valves are properly installed.  In the trade, soldering copper pipes together is called sweating a joint.  And believe me - with the propane torch going, you do tend to sweat.  Having never done this before, I was a bit apprehensive, but with some patience I managed to pull it off.

With a bit of experience under my belt, I undertook a somewhat more challenging project: the master bathroom tub/shower faucet.  As with the other bathroom, the old shower hardware was barely functional.  I ripped it out and installed new copper piping with a pressure-balancing valve that will keep the temperature steady even if someone decides to flush the toilet.  For ease of assembly, I did most of the soldering in a less-cramped space, and then took the finished assembly and made the final few connections to the existing supply lines.

The hardest part of my plumbing adventure was yet to come.  Recall that the old bathtub had rotted through.  I opted to replace it with something a bit more luxurious - a whirlpool tub.  It actually doesn't cost much more than a regular tub, though it is considerably heavier and more awkward to maneuver.  The tub is a standard five feet long, but the bathroom is also only five feet wide, and the doorway certainly isn't five feet wide.  So once I got the tub into the bathroom, it was nigh-impossible to rotate it into position.  I had to hack off bits of things and make a real mess - I even broke the toilet in the process.  Adding to the complications, the tub gets installed on a mortar bed, which was also a bit of a pain - the mortar dries quickly, and the tub does not like to be moved quickly.  Other complications included attaching the tub drain to the existing drain, which (of course) didn't quite line up.

After wrangling with the tub for the better part of a week, I finally emerged victorious.  It was time to test out my new toy.  Surprisingly, it all worked with no leaks the very first time!  Check out this tub in action... I can't wait to actually be able to use it.