I have an old house. I went to turn the water off in my shower yesterday and the fixture that controls both the hot and the cold water came off in my hand. I went to the store to get a new one and they told me that they quit making the kind htat I have about 15 years ago. I was told that I would have to totally re-do my plumbing to replace the fixture. I need help! I was also told that I would have to call a plumber because the pipes would have to be sweated out. I have no IDEA what it intales to sweat out pipes. Could someone please explaing to me what this means and how to do it.:confused:

Sweating is basically the same thing as sodering using a torch to heat up the pipes to get them out or by putting them back in by sanding the pipes clean and putting on "flux" and soder then heating them, back up and melting the soder to the pipe... in short if you don't do it exactly right you will have a huge leak I suggest having a plumber do it right because in the long run he will be cheaper then water damage besides you will have to spend $50 to get a good sodering kit a plumber should charge anywhere from 250 to 600 to replace the shower valve but I promise if you do not know what you are doing you can mess this up very easiley... go with a plumber on this