New Job Skills

You know you are in for some fun when your wife informs you that a major appliance has failed. I got my latest bad news last night. The hot water heater seemed to be out, and sure enough, there was water on the floor and lots of corrosion.

So last night I bought a replacement and prepared mentally for the installation. You see, here's the deal. The unit costs $450. The installation costs $199. Being of distant Scottish decent, I cannot even entertain the thought of an additional 44% in installation. So this morning, I got up early and started tearing things apart. About noon, my son-in-law showed up to help. And let me say at this point, that I have the greatest SIL in history. But to continue...

Here is the bottom line. There are a LOT of very subtle things that have to be right to install a water heater. Specifically, the alignment. More importantly, soldering copper pipe is exactly as difficult to do as it appears. Today was my first chance to try that. By the end of the day, I have learned enough to get it right about 2/3 of the time. Another thing that I learned today is that I need a Saws-All. Those things are just too fun. And propane torches are fun. I just don't know what else they are good for besides sweating pipe.

So, I made enough mistakes that I probably did every step twice, but the doggone thing is in, and not leaking, and it's heating water. As soon as I press send on this, I'm headed upstairs to take a well deserved (and needed) shower, and then I'm off to bed to dream of pipes and burned fingers.