I don't know why I'm always so nervous when it comes to soldering water pipes. It really is pretty easy. Maybe I'm just so unhappy that they call it 'sweating' instead of soldering. There really is no sweating involved. It's pretty quick and painless. Somehow, I still get nervous about it. Both of my outdoor water spigots have been out of order since the fall. Junky freeze-free things that were soldered in pretty poorly to begin with. I've been waiting for good weather to replace them. I figured I'd do them one at a time, so last night was number one. I had to cut the old water line that led to the faulty spigot...it wouldn't budge. I did the first joint, which was an extension piece from the end of the spigot. A little too much heat, judging from the discoloration but it turned out solid as a rock.
The next part was a bit tricky. I had to use a sleeve to connect my new extension to the existing water line. Again, it's quick and painless except holding a torch over my head, trying not to burn anything. This joint was awesome and super fast. The burn marks you see are from the builders who did a pretty slip-shod job when they built the house in 2005.
I was very proud of the end result. A nice, new freeze-free spigot where the water lines were actually soldered in straight and not crooked. Believe it or not, I'm replacing the other spigot on the north side of the house next because the crooked joint created by the builders is leaking. No sweat, right?
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