Marathon night of Plumbing

Everything is always more involved than you think. Am I right? Hubby and I needed to fix the element on the hot water heater. It was getting a little old taking tepid showers... Do it for a week or two and you'll see. Since we were going to have to drain the whole thing to replace the bottom element, we figured we would do a few extra things... Like add a cut off valve. Which in turn meant plumbing correctly for the washing machine. Which in turn meant actually attaching the wall to the floor and side wall. Which in turn meant going under the house to re-coupling something. Which in turn meant, well, you get the idea. But, in our heads, its always this simple, do it yourself activity that can hopefully be finished in a few hours. Right? All night plumbing and a 6am trip to Home Depot for one last missing piece later....

Kaitlyn, being her helpful, yet deathly afraid of loud noises, self.

Plumbing.
Accepting his plumbing Emmy award :) This piece of complicated piping allows access to the sump pumps, while allowing the lid to come off the barrel, the back up pump to come off, and the sewage pump pipe to pass right by. This is a work of art. Truly.

I like to call this piece "The Discharge". The deep purples represent the anger and frustration brought on by PVC primer, while the dirty finger streaks represent the hope that one day we will actually be finished. I give you "The Discharge."

You just don't truly understand this princess until you see her in all her glory. Mussed up hair. Ratty old t-shirt. Heavy duty ear protection. And heels. Can't forget the heels.

And hubby's poor finger. He sacrificed his finger for the house. Its so sweet.

In all actuality, I am fairly certain it was a small 3rd degree burn from some solder that fell off the pipe. Thankfully it was small, and the scar tissue should heal it up well enough. Also thankfully, 3rd degree burns burn the nerved endings as well, so it didn't hurt that bad.

The two cut off valves we installed above the newly re plumbed hot water heater (with bendable/movable parts, should the moving need ever arise again). This way, when we re plumb the bathrooms upstairs, the water can stay on to the rest of the house. Smart, huh?

You can see the copper to my washing machine hookups running at the top. This way, hubby can still get in and fiddle with the pipes without bumping his head, or them getting the way. You can also see the pipes going through the wall to the new master bath (someday). And lastly, you can see the discharge line for the washing machine that is also smartly detachable for easy access to our 2 pumps.

The back of the washing machine box with the discharge. Eventually (once the basement has passed my "making sure everything works and will not flood again" time period), we will put drywall on that wall. But for now, it would just be an liability. Also, note the small burn marks on the back of the studs. At this point, it was, I think 3 in the blessed am, and I began to think of camping, and camp fires. I get like that when I am tired. Nostalgic.

The pump and back up sump pump discharge lines (on the left). The washing machine line in the middle. The sewer pump discharge line going up the back wall (right beside the dryer vent line). It looks fairly complicated. Actually, it is fairly complicated.

And all of those things will be behind that currently bare stud wall with drywall and a door. You will never know how cramped that space is, because it will be hidden. But, hubby has done such a good job thinking it out, it is well organized and easily reachable.

Pay no attention to all the tools on top of the washing machine. Apparently, I need to spring for a work table down in the basement :/