Well, I finally did it!

This is Daniel from AB&R Plumbing here, and I finally installed a new Noritz #0841 tankless water heater in my Mission Viejo home. I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner!

My wife has been after me for a long time to install a new tankless water heater and we are all glad I finally did. Endless hot water from these Noritz tankless water heaters is really great. Most homes in Mission Viejo, and the surrounding cities like Lake Forest, Laguna Hills and Laguna Beach, are just perfect for new installations. My Mission Viejo tankless water heater installation, however, did present a couple of unique challenges.

Our old 50 gallon gas water heater was installed in the downstairs laundry room, and the gas line was only ½”. The original flue was galvanized and connected to the FAU vent. This does cause two issues because most tankless units require a minimum of a ¾” gas line and you need to install a stainless steel vent. Having to comply with these requirements was part of my original reluctance to complete the renovation. It wasn’t until my wife left for a trip out of town with the girls from www.calvarymissionviejo.com that I decided to finally take the plunge and surprise her with a laundry room make over.

Believe it or not, I hired my own crew to help in the remodel! The boys from AB&R Plumbing completed all aspects of this make over. Everything from demo, tile removal, drywall repair and of course all of the plumbing repairs needed to convert this outdated Mission Viejo laundry room to something more conducive to today’s demands. Even though I decided to remodel the whole laundry room, my main focus was the tankless water heater. We ended up removing the old 50 gallon water heater and rerouting all of the required plumbing for the new tankless water heater outside …. That’s right….. outside, www.noritz.com offers several outdoor models.

Once I was able to move all the plumbing and the water heater outside, this freed up a lot more space in the laundry room. We were able to install more shelves and a garment steamer. (What’s a garment steamer???? I don’t know … but my wife says she needed it and it “irons stuff”. Who knew!!!!)

Even though I decided to install the new Noritz #0841 tankless water heater outside, I could have still installed it inside as well. With some minor modifications, I could have easily utilized the original plumbing system that was installed in my Mission Viejo home. But now that we moved the new tankless water heater outside, I now have room for a garment steamer!!!!!

Life is good.

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

As requested by Lxxx, I would like to share this recipe here with all of you. It's a real rich, bittersweet and creamy ice cream. Use the best dark chocolate at 70% cocoa solid would definately give you a sharp taste. I would said, this chocolate ice cream might not suitable for children as they might feel bitter. However, you can change the dark chocolate to 55% cocoa solid, it would be nice for children. For adults, go for 70% cocoa and you won't regret!

Recipe from "The Perfect Scoop":

500ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon (21g) unsweetened cocoa powder
140g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
250ml whole milk
150g sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Warm 250ml of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium sauce pan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 250ml cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.
   
2. Warm the milk, sugar and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.
   
3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.
   
4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.

hgtv

Bad blogger? Maybe.

Bad renovators? No – says HGTV.

That’s right, we’ve been selected to be on a show called Bang For Your Buck! We’re thrilled about the development and can’t wait to show Project Rowhouse in a different forum. Applying for the show was not too difficult. The production company posted an ad; Baltimore Grows blogged about it; We responded, with a link to the blog (of course). After a few weeks of some back-and-forth we were notified that we made it!

To make things more interesting our pals over at Baltimore Rowhouse will be on the same episode.

Filming is the second week in July and as we learn more information regarding air time, we'll be sure to let everyone know! Check back soon, we're finishing up a few projects and some blogging will follow.