Plumbing Revealed

Right after I told you about the defective water heater, we heard from a friend who happened to have an account at a wholesale plumbing place. 50 gallon propane water heaters were in stock....and about $150 LESS than what we were going to pay at Lowes. Eureka!! The Hubs met him and picked one up right away. He has spent the weekend finishing up most of the plumbing and I'm happy to report we now have hot water and an operating shower! A couple of missing connectors will finish up the washing machine and after he replaces a sink drain and installs a faucet in the basement he will officially be DONE with the plumbing....for now anyway.....there remains some sewer line to replace, but that isn't a pressing need, so for now we're calling it done and moving on to other projects.

Here's the thing you have to know about this whole renovating process- everything takes a lot longer than you realize it will. The Hubs started working on the plumbing as soon as we got the keys to the Heap and here we are, a month later, and it can officially be called done. It was a lot of hard work on his part, and I am incredibly grateful for his ability, but I can guarantee neither of us thought it would take this long or be this complicated.

 I'm starting to realize this will be the reality every step of the way.

I have determined that I will not cry at this realization. Sniffle, perhaps, but I will not cry.

It took a long time, a lot of work, and no small amount of change, but the plumbing is spectacular. The Hubs decided to go with PEX line- it is more expensive, but it is the most durable product on the market and, while I'm sure this did not figure into his decision, it looks really cool!

 

 

We started with old, galvanized pipe. It was badly corroded and just in desperate need of replacing. I, of course, did not think to take before pictures (still getting the hang of this whole documenting our life thing), but you can still see the poor condition of the pipe. Now imagine it running in all different directions, just above your head. It drips on you, and you cannot tell if the drip came from a water line or a sewer line, a hot line, or a cold line....you can see the problem. So, Hubs ripped it all out and started over.



 

 

Now the lines are color coded- red for hot, blue for cold. All but the main cold line and the main hot line originate at the manifold and can be individually turned off. So, if the sink is leaking, I can turn off water to the sink and still have an operating toilet and shower, rather than having to turn off the main water line. The line is also supposed to be much easier to replace in the event of a problem, although I'm personally hoping we never have to find out if that particular sales pitch is true. It's hard, even with pictures, to describe what a difference there is. It really does look fantastic, at least as far as plumbing can look fantastic- and it works, which is the best thing by far.

So, what's next? We'll be taking advantage of the weather while it's still nice and getting some outdoor projects done, namely, the chicken coop and a fire pit. And I will get a garden area mapped out so it will be ready for spring. There's no shortage of work around here!

Tonia