I am remodeling the kitchen with new cabinets. The cold water (copper) pipe happens to lie smack at a cabinet divider, which means it has to be moved about 6 inches out of the way. The line also feeds the two outside faucets so the exisiting contraption is the shape of an inverted "W" (with straight legs, of course). The pipes, which come out of a the floor slab, are reasonably accessable. Here is the question: I have been "reasonably" successful in the past in soldering exisiting copper pipes ("reasonaly" means that I had to go at it twice to stop nagging weeps in some joints). But in the current situation, all outside faucets set high above the level where I would be cutting the existing "W" connections and there is no way to drain out the water completely. I have read that you can stuff pieces of bread into the pipes and leave them there to absorb the water. Eventually the disintegrated bread will be flushed out through the faucets. But to my thinking, this may work only if there are few drops in the pipe. In my case, this will not be the case as the pipes will be filled to the tilt. Any ideas? Or should I just call my "trusted" plumber for expert help? I am just curious as to what he/she will be doing to get around this water problem. Thanks.
- posted
17 years ago