Thursday, February 19, 2015

DIY: Something is leaking under the kitchen sink!

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 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 8: Tape off the newly exposed pipe threads with your plumbers tape.
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!)
 
 
 

 



 

 

4 comments:

  1. 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!

    Evon Brow @ Athens Plumbing

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  2. 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.

    Roxanne Vaughn @ Total Plumbing Inc.

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  3. 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!

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  4. You 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

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