Sweatin'

It was a busy weekend in Benton Harbor. We had finally made the decision to pull the trigger on replacing the water softener. Nothing stays clean, soaps won't suds, and we go through water filters way too fast. During the week, I had unhooked and drained the old water softener (via a new 1/2 inch drain hold near the bottom). With it pulled away, we decided to take advantage of having one less appliance on that wall.

On Saturday, Mom and Dad came up for a visit / work day. Dad and I worked on prepping and sealing the basement wall, while Mom spent some quality time with the girls. This gave Emily a great opportunity to get a few things done. By the end of the day, we had two coats on the wall and the new water softener in the basement. The only hang up was that the existing plumbing was about 3 inches too long to work with the new, larger bypass valve.
On Sunday, Tom and Patty came up for a visit / work day. Neither of us had much copper plumbing experience, but how hard could it be? Not very. YouTube was a big help.


We picked up some supplies at Lowes, and then it was time to do some SWEATIN'. Tank tops, short-shorts, and afro haircuts!

Ok, not really, but the pipes and fittings we definitely oldies. We removed the old fittings, cut 3 inches off of each pipe, and then re-sweat the old fittings back on. A short time later, the new softener was up and running.

One more coat of Dungeon-B-Gone on the walls and that project will be done. What a weekend!