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Henrik's expert workmen survey the site
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After I saw what a great job
Henrik Plumping did improving my tenant's hot water at the Charlie Chaplin Cottages (click here to see article), I decide to see about having it done in my own home. I love a hard shower, and my girlfriend and I hate it when someone else flushes the toilet, uses a washing machine or turns on sink, causing the shower to go cold.
Henrik's estimater, Willie, came out and thoroughly checked the basement water heater and diligently followed the path of pipes to the bathroom. Two days later, at 8:30 in the morning, the
Henrik Plumbing truck pulled up with four eager workman and all their supplies to do the job.
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Protecting the rug
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Because the home was built in 1912, many factors made the job more complicated then expected. The job called for putting in a 1 inch copper main and replacing an old 3/4 galvanized, as well as brining new copper pipe to the bathtub, shower, toilet and sink.
The first thing the workmen did was layout draw clothes where they would be walking and working. When any messes were made they immediately cleaned up broken plaster, wallpaper, etc. that came from the holes they put in the walls to run the pipes.
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Working behind the wall
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One of the gentleman worked all day and into the night under the crawlspace, figuring out the jumble of pipes and eliminating unnecessary ones. They went up two stories from basement to bathroom, re-piping a pipe to re-circulate the hot water, so I could instantly have hot water on demand, without having to wait, as with most other systems. All of the hot water pipes were insulated to save energy. Because of the problems that presented themselves due to the age of the galvanized pipes, the entire main house water pipe needed to be replaced as well.
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Old pipe clogged with years of sediment
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Not only did the galvanized pipes clog with rust and calcium deposits, they had also become brittle with age. The re-piping happened just in time to prevent leaks from occurring in the walls or flooding the basement!
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Prepping a pipe to be blowtorched
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After they worked into the night to make sure we had hot water, we took our shower and realized that all the noise, expense, and mess was worthwhile. They supplied me with a pressure balancing shower fixture so that if anyone flushes a toilet or uses hot or cold water, the pressure will automatically reduce both hot and cold, so the temperature will never change.
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Welding the elbow joint
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The water pressure has drastically improved! The next day the plaster crew came and repaired all the open walls to a smooth plaster finish, paint/wallpaper ready. I definitely recommend Henrik Plumbing for their copper re-piping expertise. Our job cost just under 6k, and was worth every penny.
In addition to the standard re-piping,
Willie was aware that we live in a fire zone in Laurel Canyon, and offered to include a Rainbird head on our roof with a ball valve and 3/4 run, so if there are any fires in the area, we turn on the ball valve and the entire area will be blasted with cold water to prevent embers or any other fire igniters from burning down the house. The insurance savings, and peace of mind, this provided made the investment well worth it.
www.repiping.com
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