- Old water heater
This is the old water heater, disconnected and ready to be hauled upstairs. - Old water heater connections
The old water connections (set loosely in place for the picture). Most of the corrosion was actually cleaned off by this point. The cold water input (right-hand side) was the one that caused the trouble. - Old water heater top
For a long time (years?) water leaked out of the pipe and filled the fiberglass insulation on top of the tank like a sponge. The steel tank rusted away underneath. - Old water heater top - close-up
The tank was only four years old but the top was an indistinguishable mix of fiberglass, rust, sludge, and steel. - New water heater
The new water heater, in place and ready to be fired up. It's 50 gallons instead of 40 to give them a little extra hot water for their showers. - New water heater connection
My new water connections. Better than the old ones but I'd like to redo them already. For example, there shouldn't be a shut-off valve on the hot (left) side, I should have run flexible metal or braided pipe for the first foot or two instead of plastic, and a metal shut-off valve would be much more dependable. - New water heater - gas hookup
Hooking up the gas was the scary part of the project for me. I'd never done it before. But the new yellow pipe is flexible so the heater can be moved a little if needed. Also, the loop highly amused Joyce. - The old sink
In July '05, I replaced the Newby's kitchen sink. This is the old one after sitting outside for a day or two. The real problem is that it was rusting through by the faucet holes but it was also in generally poor shape and had shallow basins. - The old drain system
The center drain tee was causing some leaks and the extension for the dishwasher drain was problematic. - The new shutoff valves
There were no shut-off valves on the supply lines. The CPVC pipe went right to the faucet. The first thing I did was to add shut-off valves so the house water could be on while I worked on the sink. - Dale poses with the new sink
Dale poses with the new sink. We mounted the faucet before putting the sink in. Much easier. - The new sink's basins
The new sink has deep basins of different sizes with an offset faucet mount. Only one drain basket is installed in this picture. - A flattering picture of me
Joyce tried to get a picture of my "plumber's crack" but had to settle with a shot of my thinning hair. - Scratched basin
We just couldn't get a good seal with first baskets that we tried. I tightened them until I scratched the sink and they still leaked. I bought a less fancy pair and they worked flawlessly the first time. There's probably a lesson in that... - Working sink!
After about four or five nights of work, the sink is working!