Do you actually drink your bathwater? That would be the only scenario where lead contamination would be an issue. You could have a solid lead bathtub and bathe in it for 80 years and still be fine healthwise. The other issue is that copper is a living finish and won't always look magazine shot worthy if actually used. Some shampoos and conditioners will take off it's patina, leaving shiny spots. Some bath products will make darker spots. If you use if often, you can expect it to have a tell tale water height ring around it, even with good quality water. With any non neutral water, such as the acidic water of the East or the alkaline water of the West, that water height mark will be of varying visibility. Clearcoating it is only a temporary solution that eventually flakes off and looks worse than if it were not clearcoated at all from the beginning.

I've been working from home for 3 years now using DSL. First at 1536/365, then 3072/768, and now 6172/768. I could probably get 12 mbps if I wanted it, but my margins would be quite a bit thinner and I really don't want to spend more. I didn't really need the faster speeds, I just took advantage of them when a better deal came along. The same speed from Time Warner Cable would be about $15-20 more a month, which is why I chose the DSL. If $ wasn't a factor, I probably would've gone with cable. DSL is a little bit more of a pain to troubleshoot when things go wrong, whereas cable is a bit more like set-it-and-forget-it. Fortunately, I've had very few service interruptions with my telco provider (Windstream). I plan to continue with them unless they give me a reason to leave.

You need to be sure as to what type of pipe this is. Get a magnet. If this is a galvanized iron pipe, then the magnet will stick to it. If it really is brass, then the magnet won't be attracted to it at all. Whether this pipe is brass or galvanized, it will have threaded ends on it that screw into fittings. Only copper is put together using solder. Therefore, you either have to put a thread on the cut end or you have to follow that cut pipe back to the fitting it is threaded into and then remove it. Once you do that, then you can thread a copper or brass fitting into that galvanized fitting and go with copper or pex from there. Not what you wanted to hear.

Crosspost w/ Appliance forum: Help with finding venting to fit my 42" copper hood shell Final attempt to salvage my 42" antique copper hood, before I give up and buy a stainless steel chimney wall hood or something: (see pix below) - I have this 42" wide antique copper hood shell - I am having trouble finding an insert that fits w/in this shell: mainly because the "lip" or "brim" of the hood is only 3", and most inserts need 4"+ (something about the ability to hang the baffle filters) - New idea of using external blower, so that I am not limited to a smaller/weaker cfm internal blower. - But does my setup allow for external blower? Hood needs to go up ~12" and 90degree turn left ~45" to go outside - How exactly does external blower system work? Is there a complete diagram? Notes: - Waiting for Mark from Tradewind to get back to me w/ ideas of what his engineers can customize - Broan/Nutone technician said they don�t have anything that fits my hood - Do I talk to a local HVAC person? What do I ask for? - One possibility is to reuse the old Tradewind insert that I have (w/ the mesh filters) attach it to an external blower???? I am not 100% attached to this copper hood, but I do like it. I like the shape and the fact that it is an antique and not some generic hood from the manufacturing line. But I could live w/out all the hassle/run-around. Really appreciate any ideas/help. As my friend Kristin (thrilledtoremodel) said, do not give up until you run it by the gardenweb. They are creative; they will come up with something! Thank you! Amanda Wants: - 900+ CFM (I fry, garlic/oil, fish, etc A LOT � need to remove the grease and smell). Yes, I could live w/ 600cfm (better than the 0cfm that I had). - Baffle filters (instead of mesh) Limitations: - Ceiling height = 91" - Option A. If I stay UNDER the ceiling, I have only 13.5" from hood top to ceiling bottom for transition piece + elbow ducting - Option B. If I go THROUGH the ceiling joist space, I gain another 7", but then I�m limited to 7-8" ducting (to go out the house) - Budget: cannot spend over $2000 91 height 36 base cab to countertop 29 countertop to hood bottom 12.5 height of hood Leaves 13.5" from hood top to ceiling bottom for transition piece + elbow ducting Old tradewind insert w/ mesh filters: My layout: hood is label "Pots/Pans"