Stove Reinstallation

We had no hot water for 3 days.   When we went to disassemble the kitchen countertops, we had to remove the stove and sink and we ran into some issues.  First while disconnecting the sink Mike discovered the hot water shutoff valve underneath was broken, so we had to turn off the hot water for the whole house from the basement.  In a desperate attempt to get the hot water turned back on before the work week, we put all our efforts towards getting the new sink basin and faucet installed so that when the hot water was turned back on there wouldn't be a huge flood in the kitchen.  By late Sunday night the sink was in and the faucet hooked up, the hot water valve turned back on, everything looked good... except the hot water was coming out cold.  Then we realized the hot water heater had no gas. Whoops.  When we disengaged the stove top, there was no shutoff valve for it so we had to shut off the gas for the whole house to prevent a gas leak in the kitchen.  No gas - no hot water, no dryer, no oven, no stove, no heat.  Did I mention how chilly the weather has been?

I needed my hot water back.  So of course installing the stove became our top priority the next night.  The second half of the countertop was installed with clear caulk and the mounting brackets, then we put the stove top into the pre-cut hole... and it wasn't fitting right.  It took us a lot longer than I care to admit, and involved cutting notches into the already-installed countertop with the jigsaw in the kitchen to no avail.  Eventually we figured out the problem - the gas hookup under the stove no longer lined up with notches cutout in the cabinet base and were stuck.  The reciprocating saw made quick work of creating wider notches - and finally everything fit.  We hooked the gas line back up to the stove and could (HOORAY!) turn the gas back on to the house.

Now I wasn't going to share this part because it's a little embarrassing, but we couldn't figure out how to get our hot water heater on again.  Now is our defense we've never had to do it before and the pilot light would not light.  We kept picturing gas explosions and singed eyebrows and the internet was not helping.  My poor mother had to come over and help us at 11 pm on a weeknight (we couldn't let it leak gas until morning) to fix it.  Mom, I swear we paid close attention and now know how to do it on our own for next time!