My wife has a good friend that lives a block over from our house. They are not in a great financial situation and we help them when we can. On Saturday, she asked my wife if we knew of a good/cheap plumber. I don't know of any good plumbers that are cheap. Fortunatately, I've been able to troubleshoot most issue myself.
She volunteered me to come take a look. I'm not a plumber, but I'm cheap.
IN question is a Delta Bathtub Faucet with separate Cold/Hot handles. When I arrived to inspect, the faucet has a steady stream of leaking water. More than a drip, more of a trickle. My initial thought is that this is not big deal and should be an easy fix.
I removed the handles to find valve stem extensions that were worn and broken (presumably from months/years of firmly twisting the handles to turn the water off).
My initial (uneducated thought) was that replacement of the stem will fix it. I turned the water off and took off to the hardware store to get replacements.
These stem extensions definitely needed to be replaced, because they were broken. I inspected the stem inself,and both sides (hot/cold) seemed to appear to be fine, and not in need of replacement. I was so confident that the stems being broken were the source, that I didn't consider replacing the Stem itself.
But after re-installing them, there is still a steady trickle. So, my next thought is that I should replace the Stem itself. OR...is it likely that the leak is coming from either the rubber washer inside the valve seat being worn out, or if the valve seat itself is worn. The valve seat appears to have a round hole in the center and is not removeable. It does look like it has indents on either side of it. I did not try to remove it.
Since this is a neighbor's house, with a bunch of kids...and I have a regular job with no time off...I'm trying to make sure I can fix this thing in one shot. I don't want to keep having them leave the water off while I run back and forth to the hardware store.
Do you think I can fix this with new stems?
Based on the visual picture, it looks like I need the Model #: STD1124 D Delta Plastic stem (Lowes link: http://www.lowes.com/pd_176327-72906-STD1124 D_1z0x13tZ1z13zyx__?productId=3167723&pl=1). Should I replace the rubber washer? Any ideas what type/size of rubber washer?
Any other thoughts?
Here is a link that shows pictures of the old broken stem, the value seat, and old valves.
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/qivjqbr77a333wn/AAC9T4p4zMmbOggjPrTEQP4Da
She volunteered me to come take a look. I'm not a plumber, but I'm cheap.
IN question is a Delta Bathtub Faucet with separate Cold/Hot handles. When I arrived to inspect, the faucet has a steady stream of leaking water. More than a drip, more of a trickle. My initial thought is that this is not big deal and should be an easy fix.
I removed the handles to find valve stem extensions that were worn and broken (presumably from months/years of firmly twisting the handles to turn the water off).
My initial (uneducated thought) was that replacement of the stem will fix it. I turned the water off and took off to the hardware store to get replacements.
These stem extensions definitely needed to be replaced, because they were broken. I inspected the stem inself,and both sides (hot/cold) seemed to appear to be fine, and not in need of replacement. I was so confident that the stems being broken were the source, that I didn't consider replacing the Stem itself.
But after re-installing them, there is still a steady trickle. So, my next thought is that I should replace the Stem itself. OR...is it likely that the leak is coming from either the rubber washer inside the valve seat being worn out, or if the valve seat itself is worn. The valve seat appears to have a round hole in the center and is not removeable. It does look like it has indents on either side of it. I did not try to remove it.
Since this is a neighbor's house, with a bunch of kids...and I have a regular job with no time off...I'm trying to make sure I can fix this thing in one shot. I don't want to keep having them leave the water off while I run back and forth to the hardware store.
Do you think I can fix this with new stems?
Based on the visual picture, it looks like I need the Model #: STD1124 D Delta Plastic stem (Lowes link: http://www.lowes.com/pd_176327-72906-STD1124 D_1z0x13tZ1z13zyx__?productId=3167723&pl=1). Should I replace the rubber washer? Any ideas what type/size of rubber washer?
Any other thoughts?
Here is a link that shows pictures of the old broken stem, the value seat, and old valves.
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/qivjqbr77a333wn/AAC9T4p4zMmbOggjPrTEQP4Da