A fitting solution to a common problem.
Hi, Brad Nale here to talk to you about plumbing fittings. Now don’t everyone whoop it up. Try to remain calm. I know this is a terribly exciting subject, but please, read on.
I recently had to replace plumbing for a bathroom sink. Not the most fun I could have planned for a Saturday, but not that big a deal, should only take an hour or so. Yeah, well, as I cut open the wall to expose the problem, I began to think, maybe I should have called a plumber. But plumbers are outrageously priced these days, and who to call? So DIY it was.
There was one simple bright spot in this project, though; Shark Bite Fittings. Shark Bite fittings are not all that new, but I had the never used them before. I’ve seen them demonstrated and thought, wow, looks great. Now that I’ve actually used them I think WOW! They are amazing!
Here’s the situation I had: In the wall behind a bathroom vanity, I found copper and galvanized fittings had been used together. This is a horrible mistake and I cannot believe that any plumber would do this, or inspector would allow it, but there they were. The two metals had been corroding each other for many years and had allowed hardly any water to pass through, not to mention, this was a ticking water-bursting, flood the basement time-bomb just waiting for the most inconvenient opportunity to go off.
I cannot solder pipe. I never learned. I can, however push two fittings together, which is just what I did. Cut the pipes, put in a couple of elbows and a coupler. With Shark Bite fittings, it was so simple. But, wouldn’t you know it, I measured wrong and needed one pipe to be about an inch shorter. No problem, simply remove the Shark Bite fitting, cut the pipe and re-install the Shark Bite. Try that with a soldered-on fitting.
Turn the water back on at the main valve for the moment of truth. Voila! No trouble from the Shark Bite fitting at all! Amazing. All these years I have turned down some plumbing projects because I never learned to solder pipe. Those projects cost me hundreds of dollars in plumber’s fees. Not a problem any longer!
Visit your local Ace Hardware store, go to their plumbing department and check out these fittings. They really are well worth using and solve so many problems easily! The Helpful folks at Ace can show you just how to use them, how to install them and remove them. Once you try them you’ll never want to solder a pipe, or call a plumber again.