We've got running water again

Our goal for the past weekend was to get the bathroom up and running so at least when the window guys come in, they'll have a place to do their business. We wouldn't have time to completely finish the bathroom (i.e. sand, prime, and paint the walls), but at least have the water and drains going for the toilet and sink. The house has been going without running water for a month now, so it'll be nice to get it all back and going again.

After Kel had the pipes hooked up, he still needed to close off all the open pipes that were not yet connected to anything. He was using the plastic PEX pipes for the house, so at every joint, there would have to be a metal ring where he'd crimp to the connector. After he was satisfied every pipe was connected or roped off, we did our first water test. Immediately, it was apparent that there was a leak and Kel realized that he had forgotten to crimp two of the metal rings. :P So he turned off the water to crimp the two bands and we proceeded to water test number two. I went upstairs to check on the main bathroom and kitchen pipes as he turned on the water again. They were inspecting the pipes downstairs and I gave the okay to the upstairs joints. Then suddenly, they said something's leaking down from upstairs. Apparently, Kel had drawn the pipes to our ensuite bathroom, but forgot to close them off so they were dangling out of the wall open ended! (In the picture, you can see the wet spots on the floor, but we've put the valves back in.) I swear it was starting to feel like we're debugging a software application at this point. After Kel had finished adding valves to the three open pipes, we tried again and we're in business! Everything looked good, the toilet flushes, the tap on the sink runs, and there aren't any leaks. *cheer* We turned off the water main (just in case) and left for dinner.

After dinner, Kel and I went back to the house so he can pick up his car and I can take a few photos. Upon entering the basement, Kel immediately realized that the valve they've put in to connect two pieces of old copper piping was leaking. Apparently the nut wasn't on tight enough so Kel had to fasten that on tighter. After that was done, he realized there was a slight leak at the old copper elbow joint where the pipe comes out of the water tank. He tried to solder that back a couple times, but it didn't quite work since there was quite a bit of rust and build up over the years. You can see him in the picture with the blue flame, trying to solder the old pipe in the limited space that he had, filled with pipes and wires. (Believe me, I've thought about it, if anything caught on fire, I'm going to throw a bucket of water over the whole thing. :P)

Below is how our bathroom looks now, with the toilet and vanity in. We still have to get the doors for the vanity, but that can be later since there's still a lot to be done with the walls. But its slowly and steadily coming together. :)