Old House Plumbing Problem.

[N80]

Update part one, the rant:

Looked up parts I needed for a shut off valve at Home Depot. Good, web site says they have them all. Get there and they do not have the Sharkbite valve. No big deal, I'll just get the regular PEX one and crimp it on. I have a crimp tool. Guess what? No 3/4" PEX crimp rings. None. Sales person said they were out. The whole plumbing isle was a wreck. Organization by size was non-existent. This is my experience at virtually every big box store. Fortunately after traveling across town to Lowes they had the parts that I needed. I still wanted some 3/4 crimp rings just to have. Look everywhere for them and can't find them. All the other sizes are there with and other 3/4" parts are there. I ask a sales associate, oh, there half way down the isle with some other non-related stuff.....customers can never find these...he says. At least he was nice and at least they had them.

Moral of the story: Order stuff off internet.

True story here. Last week I ordered some parts from McMaster-Carr. I placed my order at 6:00 pm. They were on my doorstep at lunch the NEXT DAY.

Moral of the story: Order stuff off the internet!

And I'm tired of hearing how Amazon is putting the brick and mortar stores out of business. Hogwash. I spent an hour trying to find common plumbing parts at two big box stores. They are putting themselves out of business.

Rant over.

Anyway, got shut off valve installed quickly with no problems. That shark bite stuff is worth every penny to me.

 

[N80]

Update part two:

Went to remove the leaking shower faucet valve only to find that whoever was in there last cemented the escutcheon to the tiles! I had to use a hack saw blade to get it loose. This is what it looks like:



Get the valve out and this is what the washer looks like:



This is what it looks like inside:



Once I got the wrecked washer removed the part of the valve that it sat on is pristine. Inside the valve body, the part I'm assuming is the 'seat' is not a flat surface. It is a raised, round edged metal ring. You can see it in the third photo. Not sure what this mean or how the washer is supposed to mate up with it.

My wife is going to take the valve by a plumbing supply store tomorrow and see if they can find a washer. At this point it does not seem that there is any use for the valve seat grinder/tool.

 

[/pine]

If there is a square or hexagon shaped hole in the center of the seat (bot. pic) it can be replaced with a new one...The middle pics shows a destroyed washer...possibly one of the other valves will give a better indication of the washer shape but it looks like a flat washer will work with that seat...other washers are domed...

 

[ultrarunner]

Duplicate

 

[ultrarunner]

Good deal... some washers are better than others...

Are you on treated city water of well water?

The washer is in the worst shape of any I have seen.

The seat looks like steel instead of brass/bronze.

Any pitting can be problematic in terms of longevity.

 

[N80]

City water. Two things about that washer: 1) it is probably close to 90 years old. Possibly as new as 50 years old....but still. 2) We have been progressively tightening that valve for several weeks trying to get it to stop leaking.

The valve seat does have a square hole it it. And it does look steel. It is silver and every thing else is brass.

The end of the valve that holds the washer swivels. I guess so that once the washer is compressed, turning the valve stem more does not make it spin against the valve seat.

The main concern I have right now is that the valve chamber is larger in diameter than the seat and the end of the valve and I'm not sure what is supposed to keep the washer in place when the valve is open. The end of the valve that holds the washer has a tiny rim on it so the washer must have to fit inside that rim quite tightly. Would you glue a washer in place?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that washer is the source of your leak!

I can't tell from the picture what your seat looks like. If you go to Amazon and search for "faucet seat" you can see what a new one is supposed to look like. They screw into the faucet body, they normally have either a hex or square hole in the middle that you put a tool into (a "seat wrench") to remove. If the surface looks the way it is supposed, or you can get it that way, leave it alone. They're not expensive at all to replace, and sometimes they come out with almost no effort and sometimes they fight you to the end. There are two things to look out for. One is stripping the hole, the seats are brass and tend to be soft. The other is breaking the valve or the piping attached to it. You need someone with a wrench on the other side of the valve supporting it.

If you strip the hole, you can get screw extractors (aka "easy-outs") in large sizes. In fact, they work so well that I've pretty much stopped using seat tools and just start with the extractor. I paid something like $7 on Amazon for the one I use. I think it's a #6 but I have no idea what the numbering means.

If you can get the seat out any plumbing shop should be able to match it and supply the matching washer. Buy a few while you're at it, they are service items.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

City water. Two things about that washer: 1) it is probably close to 90 years old. Possibly as new as 50 years old....but still. 2) We have been progressively tightening that valve for several weeks trying to get it to stop leaking.

The valve seat does have a square hole it it. And it does look steel. It is silver and every thing else is brass.

The end of the valve that holds the washer swivels. I guess so that once the washer is compressed, turning the valve stem more does not make it spin against the valve seat.

The main concern I have right now is that the valve chamber is larger in diameter than the seat and the end of the valve and I'm not sure what is supposed to keep the washer in place when the valve is open. The end of the valve that holds the washer has a tiny rim on it so the washer must have to fit inside that rim quite tightly. Would you glue a washer in place?

There is a style of washer that comes with a brass disc attached to the back. I'm not sure what it's called but it looks like that's what you have.

 

[N80]

There is a style of washer that comes with a brass disc attached to the back. I'm not sure what it's called but it looks like that's what you have.

Where the washer sits looks like it is brass and it looks like it is held in place with a stamped rivet or something. I wonder if this washer has come loose from the brass disk which is still in place in the valve. Looking at images on the internet it looks like most compression washers are held in place by a screw. There is no screw in this valve. If this is the case I think I'm pretty much up the creek.

I'll post a picture of the valve end with the washer cleaned off of it when I get home this afternoon.

 

[dadster4]

I heard about a lot of strict code over in Chicago. I was told a lot of it was driven by union influence over lawmakers to ensure job security. Lots of do it yourself stuff was not legal. Don't know if its still like that over there or not.

Chicago still requires all copper water lines, drain lines are to be copper or cast iron...no pvc other than fixture traps...at least that's how it was about 5 years ago