It's Valentine's morning...I have just been sweetly woken up by my special men individually walking in and each handing me a single rose. As I bask in this adorable act of love and appreciation, my warm fuzzy feeling is broken by the sound of chaos from the kitchen. Why wouldn't the well planned morning of V-day be the perfect time for the kitchen sink to be leaking and flooding the kitchen?!?!
Not to fear - mom is here! (and thankfully so is coffee!)
Instead of revving up the Kitchen-aid, I have the hub's throw something together and I grab my plumbing kit and get to work!
So...what are we dealing with?
Our house has older plumbing, so I figured it had to be one of the connections. I had recently attempted to replace our dishwasher (more on that later). When I shut off the water under the sink it was clear that one of the shut offs was not working and water was still flowing. I made a novice mistake, more like I have 30 minutes to do this lest use excessive force to get the job done faster. At the time I could hear my mothers voice telling me not to use tools but, again, I had 30 minutes to do the project (I was racing up against a Sunday night bedtime routine).
PROBLEM: Because I had recently forced the water to shut off I ended up breaking the seal just below the shut off valve.
SOLUTION: Replace both the hot water shutoff valves!
Step 1: Shut off main water supply to stop the water from going every where.
Step 2: Identify what you will need to replace. Even though some of my plumbing doesn't look new and could be replace with some shiny new stuff. I say NO! If it's not broke don't fix it! < That is when real problems arise.
Step 3: Take pictures so that when you are at the store you can show that picture to the person helping you. A "whoojiggy" is so much easier for an associate to find with a picture!
Step 4: Head to the store! (it's currently FREEZING in Central New York so outside was the last place I wanted to be heading that day!)
Step 5: Get your stuff and get home to the fun!
Step 6: Grab you tools -- for my project I needed two...
Step 2: Identify what you will need to replace. Even though some of my plumbing doesn't look new and could be replace with some shiny new stuff. I say NO! If it's not broke don't fix it! < That is when real problems arise.
Step 3: Take pictures so that when you are at the store you can show that picture to the person helping you. A "whoojiggy" is so much easier for an associate to find with a picture!
Step 4: Head to the store! (it's currently FREEZING in Central New York so outside was the last place I wanted to be heading that day!)
Step 5: Get your stuff and get home to the fun!
Step 6: Grab you tools -- for my project I needed two...
Step 7: Get started! Remove the old valves.
TIP: while removing your valves it is very important to make sure that you are not moving any other pipes or connections. I uses one wrench to secure the connections in place and the other to loosen the faulty valve.
*Add a helper if you need an extra hand! Mine just added cuteness!
Step 9: Begin to hand tighten your new valves into place.
Step 10: Use your crescent wrench to tighten the connects (1/4 turn at a time - be sure not to over tighten!).
Step 11: Turn the main water supply back on. FINGERS crossed for no leaks!
Step 12: Turn all your faucets on to open the lines and move any air out of the lines.
STEP 13: Bask in your DIY glory!
In the words of the Gtwins - "Tada! I phixxed it!"
Labor time: 15 mins
Total time: 1 hour (due to the quick run to the store!)
I loved this post! I can relate too. On my birthday last year, my husband had a nice breakfast in bed planned. What he didn't plan, however, was that the water lines would break and flood everywhere. Thankfully I know how to get on the phone and call a plumber!
ReplyDeleteEvon Brow @ Athens Plumbing
Awwww! What an incredibly sweet and thoughtful thing to do for someone on Valentine's Day! I actually really did say "Awww!" out loud! LOL! I love sweet gestures like they, those are the ones that mean the most to me. Not gifts or expensive things, but thoughtful acts that say "I love you and I appreciate you." Just makes my heart melt to pieces.
ReplyDeleteRoxanne Vaughn @ Total Plumbing Inc.
I love this post and am totally amazed by this Mom doing a plumbing job so efficiently and on Valentine's Day! I am also quite efficient at dialing a number and calling a plumber to do the job. I never knew there were so many plumber ladies around. I seem to be coming across more and more of them lately. I think it is great that you can get the job done and so quickly too!
ReplyDeleteYou know your projects stand out of the herd. There is something special about them. It seems to me all of them are really brilliant! this site
ReplyDelete