a photoblog of what i did today.....

[glatt]

I pre-made these valve assemblies so I could poke them through the wall hole onto those elbows. There was no way for my expander tool to get into the cabinet to build these things up from the wall, so I did them out in the open. The escutcheon plate is a deep one that fits onto the valve, and then you expand the tubing and push it on inside that plate. I cut the tubing a little long so I could cut it to fit later.

Here, I am holding the tubing up against the drywall so I can measure where to cut it.



These special tubing cutters work extremely well.



I put a white expander ring onto the tubing. These rings help apply extra force against the fittings to keep the joint water tight.



And then I used the expander tool to stretch that tubing so it will fit on the elbow.

[glatt]

With the tubing expanded, I have a few seconds to push it onto the elbow fitting in the wall. I couldn't see if I was hitting the prongs of the fitting to be sure I had it on all the way, but it was stopping, so I think it was good.



I stuck my phone in the wall and took a picture so I could hopefully see if the tubing was on the elbow fitting all the way. Looks like it was. The white ring is touching those prongs. I'm sure with more experience, I would just know by feel that it was fine.



So I did the same thing with the hot water side, and I'm holding the fitting in place for a moment while the pex tubing contracts and clamps down tight on the fitting.



And this was the upstairs sink all done. From the time stamps on the photos, this took me 25 minutes, but a lot of that was going down to the basement to get tools I had forgotten, and I wasn't rushing at all.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes, a Sawzall is most valuable and can be use to make milkshakes or martinis in the slow times.