The 1/4-turn valve for the cold water on one of the basins in our new bathroom started leaking.
I put a square bucket under it to catch the drips. It needed to be emptied every 12 hours.
Yesterday, I prepared to fix it. I had the parts. I was ready to rock-and-roll.
I dropped the power to the well and bled off the water pressure.
I disconnected the braided hose to the faucet handle and then put a wrench on the hex feature where the valve was threaded on to the 1/2" nipple.
No-go. It would not budge with the amount of force I was willing to apply. Time to call the plumber.
I reconnected the braided hose and turned the well back on. I reinspected the valve...and now it was emitting a stream of water at 330 degrees from horizontal. No more drip....drip....drip....
I threw open all the taps in the bathroom and then hastened speedy-quick back to the breaker-box in the basement and dumped the power to the well.
After some consultation with a friend, I did some looking and determined that I can turn off the water at the water softener so we still have two taps of unsoftened, well-water that I can use to get water for flushing toilets. It means I will be humping water in buckets but that is OK.
The good news is that we have lots of potable water in the pantry and I LIKE the taste of our unsoftened water.
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I could have kept fighting with the valve but there is a time to call in the professionals. I don't enjoy doing plumbing, especially OLD plumbing. I never know what collateral damages I will inflict while "fixing" something.
Shark bite fittings are Gods gift to diy plumbers!
ReplyDeleteA good temp fix on a plumbing leak is silicone tape. Not teflon, but silicone tape. It will even repair a radiator hose on a vehicle, which is high pressure.
ReplyDeleteYou made an effort, so no shame in that. We've all "been there" on a repair that didn't work out.
Discretion is the better part of valor. I also would have called plumber at that point.
ReplyDelete