I'm actually looking forward to this project. It's going to involve doing a lot of things I've never done before, and I'm always up for that. It's also going to involve something I've done before, but hate (plumbing). As a bonus, it's going to involve something that I've never done before (soldering copper pipe) that's a part of that something that I hate (plumbing).
Behold, the original shower fixture. I really want to replace this. It's one of
those pull-out knobs that takes a lot of force to operate. I'd really like to get
something that the kids can turn on by themselves. As you can see, it's soldered-in
copper pipe. Ok, I can do this, I'm a tool-using organism. And it's an excuse to buy
tools, including a torch! <beavis>FIRE! FIRE!</beavis>
Shut off the water, cut the pipe. I figured it'd be handy to install a couple of
shutoff valves on the water pipes, so that I wouldn't have to keep turning the water to
the whole house off and on as I pressure test. I practiced on some scrap to at least
get some idea of what would happen, and actually managed to do it, only needing to
resolder one joint. Go me!