While a lot of plumbing is moving toward plastic pvc pipes chances are that at some point in your life you will deal with copper pipes and understanding how to solder is essential. To help you get on your way and to work let’s run through the basic steps of soldering.
1. Turn off the Water This is the obvious place to begin to avoid a huge mess. To turn off the water there are a couple different options. Take a look underneath the sink to look for the water valves. They should be simple valves that you twist to shut off the water to the sink (generally these will be quarter turn valves). If they look like very old valves don’t touch them as they may have been rusted and twisting them may end up breaking them spilling water everywhere. Instead, head down to the basement and turn off the water from there. Then head back upstairs and take a bowl and place it underneath the valve beneath the sink as some water will spill. Grab a pair of adjustable locking plyers and remove the flexible hoses from the valves.
2. Find the Studs Go along the wall you wish to add the shelves to and run your stud finder slowly along the wall. When you find the stud take a long ruler and draw a very light line (in pencil) down the length of the wall to outline the stud. Do this for each stud along the wall surface in order to see what spacing you have available for screws. Then take your ruler and measure out how far apart you want the shelves. Once you get the measurements take your pencil again and run horizontal lines across the wall to mark the locations for the shelves making special note where the shelf line intersects the studs.
3. Install the Vanity This is really up to you if the vanity needs to be replaced or if you would like to permanently install the vanity so it doesn’t shift. You will want to screw it into the wall using dry wall screw. If you are drilling into tile make sure to drill into the grout between the tiles rather than the tiles themselves as they will crack and fall from the wall. If you are having trouble with the screw, take a masonry bit and drill a hole into the wall and place your molly bit.
After you have the right width for the shelves you will need to cut the doors again to get the right length. This will leave one end of the shelf with an unattractive opening. Grab the excess door you cut off with the end still intact and chisel out the particle board end piece. Then reinsert the end piece into your newly cut shelf and glue it in, clamp it and let it dry. You will be attaching the shelves to cleats you will install in the wall. In order to install them you will need to chisel back the cardboard inserts in the open end (lengthways) of shelf about 1.5 inches. This will allow the shelf to fit on the cleats snugly.
5. Solder the Pipe After the pipe is heated up take your solder wire and pull out a good five inches off ream and hold the ream with the solder wire forming a straight line. Take the blowtorch away from the pipe and lay the solder gently against the heated edge of the pipe and the connector. The solder will melt and run along the flux that you laid on the pipe. Make sure the solder creates a seal all the way around the pipe and use your solder wire to smooth any drips or bumps in the seal. You don’t need a bunch; just a thin layer along the connection. For heaven sake make sure that you are never soldering directly above your face as the solder will drip down and burn you (personal experience). Also wear protective eyewear. If the pie was not hot enough for the solder to run heat the pipe more and test with the edge of your soldering wire. You will get the hang of it after a few runs.
6. Reconnect the Pipes Go through and attach the two lines the drain pipe to the trap pipe and make sure it fits snugly. When you are putting the pipes together use a Teflon paste sealant. This will help the threads seal together. Also make sure that your two water lines are on the correct valve (hot for hot and cold for cold). The right is usually cold and the left is usually hot but whatever you want to do.
On a side note if you are having a plumber or general contractor replace your old copper piping with pvc pipe make sure to keep the copper yourself rather than letting them walk away with it. Copper can sell for a good price at scrapyards or metal works.
MBA Construction is a general contractor in Williston ND. We specialize in design-build, build-to-print and construction management in the energy, industrial & medical industries.
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How To Sweat/solder Copper Pipe
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