saladsamurai
New Member
Hi there! This is my first post and indeed my first plumbing project. I've included a couple of images of the setup at the end of the post. Thanks for taking a look!
The Issue and what I've tried so far:
I have a very old toilet in a small half-bathroom that is continuously filling. This lead me to look for a shutoff valve while I was troubleshooting the issue so that I am not wasting water while I figure things out. The toilet supply line's shutoff valve is not functioning properly: when I close it, it leaks. I have cinched it down pretty tightly and even tried "working it" open and closed to try to clear any debris and it still has a (now much slower) drip. It's quite caked with sediment on the outside so I am not too surprised.
I went to the basement to look for an alternate shutoff; I was pleased to find that there is (what I now understand to be) a "stop and waste" valve. I was displeased to find that it doesn't do anything for me in that it also appears to be caked with sediment and feels pretty awful when closing it. I've worked this valve open and closed quite a bit, in between turning bathroom sink off and on, in an attempt to clear any debris. After many open/close/flush cycles which were accompanied by a lot of "crunching" feelings in the valve and a lot more travel in the valve, I was hopeful that the valve would now function. Unfortunately it does not. That really surprised me and had me second/triple guessing myself that this is the correct valve, but it's pretty clear that it is.
My Plan:
I have a plan, but I sometimes need to "say it out loud" to help me solidify it (something in my brain doesn't allow me to understand things fully until I talk about it or type it up for someone else to read). I wanted to present it here to see if it sounds reasonable and if anyone had any feedback or notices any shortfalls. I realize there are many different ways to solves this problem, some more complicated/advanced than others, but this is my baseline. Located in Massachusetts if relevant.
1. Shutoff the main water valve to house: I realize as I type this that I have not tested that valve; here's hoping that it functions properly as I am 99% sure there is no "curb shutoff" to my house (I don't have a curb/sidewalk).
2. Replace the stop and waste valve. I will use the process shown in this this Old House video (though I will add some deburring of the pipe to the process which they did not show). The summary of the video being that they use a "nut-and-ferrule" version of the valve as a replacement: I like this mostly because it is a 300 year old house and the timbers are very dry/flammable (as a matter of curiosity, you can actually see tree bark just above the stop and waste valve in the hand hewn floor joists; the house is 300 y.o. imagine the age of that bark
). The repair location is highly visible and so I am not too worried about the connection developing a leak and going undetected.
Like the video I would put the new valve oriented such that the handle is on top of the pipe unlike the original valve which has it below. I suspect that some of my issues with the original valve might stem from sediment getting into the mechanics of the valve rather than just settling on the bottom of the pipe where I have a chance of "working" it away.
3. Replace the toilet shutoff valve in a similar fashion recognizing that the valve will also need to reduce to the correct diameter.
4. Finally, the original problem: deal with toilet. Though it might make more sense to switch this step and the prior one if the toilet solution ends up introducing a new toilet fill line.
Incidentally, the plaster that is seen right where water from a leaky valve would settle to seems to be telling a more colorful story after going through all of this.
Any feedback on the plan or cautionary tales that you have to share are appreciated. Thanks for reading!
PS: I clicked post and it never actually posted; hopefully this doesn't show up twice.
The Issue and what I've tried so far:
I have a very old toilet in a small half-bathroom that is continuously filling. This lead me to look for a shutoff valve while I was troubleshooting the issue so that I am not wasting water while I figure things out. The toilet supply line's shutoff valve is not functioning properly: when I close it, it leaks. I have cinched it down pretty tightly and even tried "working it" open and closed to try to clear any debris and it still has a (now much slower) drip. It's quite caked with sediment on the outside so I am not too surprised.
I went to the basement to look for an alternate shutoff; I was pleased to find that there is (what I now understand to be) a "stop and waste" valve. I was displeased to find that it doesn't do anything for me in that it also appears to be caked with sediment and feels pretty awful when closing it. I've worked this valve open and closed quite a bit, in between turning bathroom sink off and on, in an attempt to clear any debris. After many open/close/flush cycles which were accompanied by a lot of "crunching" feelings in the valve and a lot more travel in the valve, I was hopeful that the valve would now function. Unfortunately it does not. That really surprised me and had me second/triple guessing myself that this is the correct valve, but it's pretty clear that it is.
My Plan:
I have a plan, but I sometimes need to "say it out loud" to help me solidify it (something in my brain doesn't allow me to understand things fully until I talk about it or type it up for someone else to read). I wanted to present it here to see if it sounds reasonable and if anyone had any feedback or notices any shortfalls. I realize there are many different ways to solves this problem, some more complicated/advanced than others, but this is my baseline. Located in Massachusetts if relevant.
1. Shutoff the main water valve to house: I realize as I type this that I have not tested that valve; here's hoping that it functions properly as I am 99% sure there is no "curb shutoff" to my house (I don't have a curb/sidewalk).
2. Replace the stop and waste valve. I will use the process shown in this this Old House video (though I will add some deburring of the pipe to the process which they did not show). The summary of the video being that they use a "nut-and-ferrule" version of the valve as a replacement: I like this mostly because it is a 300 year old house and the timbers are very dry/flammable (as a matter of curiosity, you can actually see tree bark just above the stop and waste valve in the hand hewn floor joists; the house is 300 y.o. imagine the age of that bark
). The repair location is highly visible and so I am not too worried about the connection developing a leak and going undetected.Like the video I would put the new valve oriented such that the handle is on top of the pipe unlike the original valve which has it below. I suspect that some of my issues with the original valve might stem from sediment getting into the mechanics of the valve rather than just settling on the bottom of the pipe where I have a chance of "working" it away.
3. Replace the toilet shutoff valve in a similar fashion recognizing that the valve will also need to reduce to the correct diameter.
4. Finally, the original problem: deal with toilet. Though it might make more sense to switch this step and the prior one if the toilet solution ends up introducing a new toilet fill line.
Incidentally, the plaster that is seen right where water from a leaky valve would settle to seems to be telling a more colorful story after going through all of this.
Any feedback on the plan or cautionary tales that you have to share are appreciated. Thanks for reading!
PS: I clicked post and it never actually posted; hopefully this doesn't show up twice.
