Power to the People

It turned out that the triangular brace was in the path of the tub spout, so I had no choice but to remove it, gently and with some respect for its nearly 100 years of service. Here is it turned upside down, looking like some Medieval candelabra or implement of torture.

Instead of trying to salvage the existing shutoff valves, I just cut them off (they are the candles in the picture above) and I put in some new Sharkbite push-on valves--no adhesive, tape, flux or solder. They just press onto the pipe. To my mind this is most unnatural--witchcraft, perhaps. I had Cheryl turn on the main water to test it while I sat upstairs and watched.

Except for a small piece of drain pipe, all of the original plumbing is now gone, and because this achievement was a major milestone the project manager stopped in to celebrate and take all the credit (no surprise), through she did grace me with some stealthy looks of appreciation from time to time, which is what all of us worker-bees live for--to make the boss happy, right?

I have a sinking feeling that she's been watching the news and that my collective bargaining rights are about to disappear (just like Wisonsin).

With the triangle out of the way, I was able to position and install the shower faucet body today (it has a black plastic shield to protect it while I do the tile work).

Just for fun I turned on the water for a second, sending a gusher out the bottom. Ooops. Power to the people.