OT different kind of success.

[johnniecakes]

We are in process of remodeling a portion of our home to get some additional living area. A contractor is doing the drywall portion since I just don't seem to have the ability to learn how to do it without making a bunch of dust which makes the misses unhappy. Plus the contractor will accomplish in a few days full time what will take me weeks fitting it in after work. This weekend I had to reroute some water piping to allow for the drywall installation. After cutting out the old pipes I installed about 44 linear feet of pipe and soldered 93 joints and did not have a single leak. When I soldered in the past there was always one small little leak that would be so frustrating, but not this time. SUCCESS!!

[OtayBW]

A contractor is doing the drywall portion since I just don't seem to have the ability to learn how to do it without making a bunch of dust which makes the misses unhappy.Don't fret - it's a mystical art. No one really knows how to do drywall without making a bunch of dust. And for that matter, it is - on balance - pretty hard to keep the misses from being unhappy as well....:o

[AngryScientist]

i think the only way to get good at drywall is to do a lot of drywall, and most homeowners who will have a project every decade or more are just not going to be good at it. i'll do basically everything around the house, but i wouldnt mess with drywall either.

good work with the torch!

[VTCaraco]

I struggle with the concept of doing jobs like this.
I have a fierce sense of independence and, as a teacher, have a good bit of flexible time each year. But I don't have the experience to do some of these jobs nearly as efficiently as those that do them regularly.

I had a buddy from Colombia question why American's do so many tasks like this. He even included mowing your own lawn. He described that by doing these jobs, we all but create a need for social services. Instead, he described that each subset of society does a particular job in Colombia making it so that social services are less needed.
I don't know how accurate he is, but it strikes me whenever I'm reaching for tools to do various jobs.

I conceded to this a few weeks ago and finally hired someone to do some painting of my house. I don't have ladder hooks and was challenged with some of the peaks and sore with the twisting and contorting needed to reach things while on a ladder.

It's a broad and interesting sociological question, but seems related to this post.

[mg2ride]

....I installed about 44 linear feet of pipe and soldered 93 joints and did not have a single leak. When I soldered in the past there was always one small little leak that would be so frustrating, but not this time. SUCCESS!!

Pretty impressive to have no leaks in that many joints but that works out to a fitting every foot!

W T F!

[Joxster]

I installed about 44 linear feet of pipe and soldered 93 joints and did not have a single leak. When I soldered in the past there was always one small little leak that would be so frustrating, but not this time. SUCCESS!!

Have you done a pressure test to make sure there no leaks before everything is finished?

[cmg]

After cutting out the old pipes I installed about 44 linear feet of pipe and soldered 93 joints and did not have a single leak. When I soldered in the past there was always one small little leak that would be so frustrating, but not this time. SUCCESS!!

what has happened is you have gained the patience to do all the prep work to insure a trouble free installation. you have manged to do the job with calm and not get rushed. congrats, that half the fight.

[johnniecakes]

"Pretty impressive to have no leaks in that many joints but that works out to a fitting every foot!" W T F

There were 2 horizontal runs (hot cold) that feed 2 bathrooms each one about 22 feet long. From there I replaced the stub ups to the fixtures on 2 tubs, 2 sinks and 2 toilets. Lots of short vertical runs with a few short jogs to reach the connections.

The pressure testing consisted of slowly opening each of the shut off valves and checking for leaks.

[mg2ride]

"Pretty impressive to have no leaks in that many joints but that works out to a fitting every foot!" W T F

There were 2 horizontal runs (hot cold) that feed 2 bathrooms each one about 22 feet long. From there I replaced the stub ups to the fixtures on 2 tubs, 2 sinks and 2 toilets. Lots of short vertical runs with a few short jogs to reach the connections.

The pressure testing consisted of slowly opening each of the shut off valves and checking for leaks.

Did you do it all in place or did you do some assembly on a bench?

I know soldering and brazing are not the same thing but since I was once pretty good at making a leak tight and Pretty solder joint I have always wondered if that would translate to brazing.

I have pretty much given up doing my own home improvement projects but when I was doing them I had a different measure of success for plumbing projects. My goal was to complete them with only 1 visit to the hardware store without buying a ton of extra fittings, etc.

[johnniecakes]

Everything was assembled in place without any bench preassembly. I used bailing wire with to cinch and pull a few pieces together so they would not move. I keep 2 pieces of steel sheet metal about a foot square handy to use as a back stop for the torch. These are rotated in and out as they cool.