Home is from 1966.  Planned to throw in a new Moen faucet in my kitchen due to the old one being totally shot (read: leaking).  Got everything cleaned out under the sink, turned off the water....or so I thought....and the cold water shutoff valve isn't working.  Called up Nibco who is sending me two new ones free but they are only sending the vavle....not the entire mechanism including the joint the valve screws into.  

First question I have is....

Should I just go buy two ball ball valve joints and use them instead?  

Second....

Is it as simple as turning off the main, using a pipe cutter to cut out the old valve/connection, then blow-torch/solder the new one in......or is there a lot more to it?  I've flipped two homes but admittedly, never had to replace a shut-off valve.  


Third....and for bonus points....

The main shutoff coming into the house is also leaking.  One drop every few days/weeks I'm guessing.  Definitely on it's last leg.  Knowing this and that there may have come a day where it failed and I really was fucked....I bought the pentagon socket and water key for the front yard.  So I can (and will) turn it off to do the repair.  But is the process any different for the main vs. under my kitchen sink?

Please feel free to critique my approach including where I may need to use dope, tape, caulk, etc.

Thanks!!

yes, simple.

Main, cut, brush, flux, attach, solder.


The main here is connected via wifi somehow to the city. It could be replaced with relative ease, but I'm fairly certain the utility collector folks would take a dim view of that if they weren't notified or involved in it beforehand.

Easy fix. You'll probably have to buy a $5 pipe cleaner (round bristly brush) to clean the copper pipe. They also sell a tool to pull the old farell off.

Watch a couple YouTube videos.


Valves are like 5 or 10 bucks each and easy to change.

What kind of valve is the main shut off valve and where is it leaking from? It may just need a new packing or o-rings or just tightening the packing nut.

Yea, probably packing nut.

Long term, the only under sink shut off that I've seen that will hold up and not leak would be a brass ball valve.

Water pipes from 1966?

Play any Russian roulette lately OP?

Leaking from the valve/knob area.  Just youtubed it....seems like I might be able to loosen the nut, wrap it with rolled up tape, and re-screw the nut back on to fix that issue.  I'm just worried about something snapping off.

Thanks

I faced the same issue earlier.

Shut of water at source and disconnected supply line.

Cut the pipe back.

Pressed Sharkbite valve onto pipe.

Reconnected the supply line.

Done.

As for the main, I had the same issue with that as well. Tightening the packing nut fixed it 100%.

My money says you're about to get your ass chewed for the sharkbite suggestion.  

I used one when installing my silcock and didn't hear the end of it for a while from the hive.  

However, good to know with the repairs.  I'll try the ball valve and tightening respectively.

Thanks!

This is your answer.

This is what I'd be afraid of. Be prepared for a cascade job (potentially in more than one cascading fashion)


ETA, Also Moen is lifetime warranty, that might have parts for the faucet.

Get the ball valves with a compression fitting, slip them on the copper pipe and tighten them.

Okay, you're referring to the 'packing gland'. There's a nut at the base of the stem which is the 'packing nut'. In this case, the first thing I would do is to tighten the packing nut. You may have to support the valve body with another wrench to keep from stressing the pipe/solder joints, and you may have to first try to loosen the nut before it will break free and tighten up. I don't know what kind of system they have where you live but I just bought a meter key (tool for my type of water meter) to turn it off to the whole house. I can do this in seconds compared to minutes crawling under the house looking for the cut-off. BTW, your main valve might have the same problem, loose packing nut. I really don't know exactly what valves you have under the sink but most valves from that era are rebuildable. You can get anything you need at the home center or the local plumbing supply.
If the valve won't completely shut off, that's one thing, and leaking from the packing gland is another - and the easiest to fix.

Why?

I wouldn't plumb an entire house with sharpies but I've capped a few lines and used a hose bib replacement in my personal house with no problems.

I've never had one fail, and they've saved me dollars and hours in repairs. In fact, I've used them a few times, and since moving in, my regular water lines have failed a few times in different places but my Sharkbites never have.

ETA: 100 year old house plumbed with whatever was on sale or on hand at the time installation was taking place. My plumbing is a mix of copper, brass, galvanized, PEX, CPVC, rubber, cast iron, terracotta, and prayers.

Not sure of your outside valve location, but if it is underground, in a valve box, in my city, if the water utility finds out you shut off the outside valve, they will fine you $250.00,
In some of my areas, there is also a underground gas valve for the service line and possible one for the main supply line for the neighborhood. They may or may not be identified.

Shark bites are fine for stuff that isn't getting buried in the wall.

That's a mash up of plumbing I want no part of

OP has gotten some good fix advice thus far, but there is still a lesson to be learned. Turn all your shut offs off and on (sinks, shower, washer, toilet) at least a couple times a year. They last longer when cycled periodically, and may give you advance warning.

I recently had to fix a blown line to a toilet for an elderly neighbor. He said the shut off there hadn't been used once in the 30 years he lived there, and you could tell. After replacing everything, I dissected the old shut off valve, and it was toast. I only got it apart by destroying it, no way it could have been shut off while in service. Filled with hard water sediments and desiccated rubber fragments.

If it's a brass craft screw in style they sell rebuild kits at homedepot.

You and me both.

Slowly replacing parts with PVC as they fail. I would do PEX but PVC is dead simple with no major investment in tools or hardware, and I find it super easy to get good results.