Valves

Plumbing and the Homeowner

You will find that the longer you own your home, or your investment property, the largest cost to you will be the plumbing repairs. (From water heaters , faucets, toilets, valves, drains, and much more). The good thing is that most plumbing repairs are designed so that the home owners may do it themselves. We have found that the hardest part about repairs is identifying the right part to solve the problem.

VALVES

What most people don’t realize is the difference between a faucet and a valve. Let’s try to explain the difference: valves are used in most cases to service faucets fixtures. The first valve in your home what is called your main valve; every homeowner should know

where the main valve is located in case of an emergency. The purpose of this valve is to shut down all incoming water to the home. From there you have individual valves throughout the house. Most of these valves only get used when there is a problem with a particular fixture or faucet.

There are many type of valves to identify, gate, sillcock, boiler drains, stop & waste, frost free, and ball to name a few. They all have a specific purpose, sillcocks and frostfree valves, are the valves for house connection outside. You will see boiler drains used to hook up your washing machine and a ball gate valve to service your water heater.

A stop valve is used to shut down the water to the toilet or faucet, this is where most of the problems come from with these valves; they only get used when there is a problem with the fixture or faucet.

With valves that do not get used regularly you will find that parts are not made to repair most brands when they wear down. When it drips, for the most part all that is available is a simple washer or packing to stop the drip, however if a handle, stem, or packing nut is needed you will need to replace the entire valve. Problem - NO PARTS!

The valve needs to be taken out of the piping system and be replaced. On the other side, the valve that never gets used will seize up and you will still have the same problem; NO PARTS! Get ready to do some plumbing.

The good news is that things are getting better. Today most valves and stops being made are what they call ball valves. These valves have a stainless steel ball with a quick quarter turn for on and off. These valves are proving to show they last a long time and work when you need them. For some of those hard to get at valves, such as outside frost free sill cocks, make sure you buy a brand name because these companies are now offering replacement parts.

Plumbing Parts Plus offers a staff that knows how to handle problems like these. With over 50 years of experience, we can stop that drip!

Plumbing Parts Plus
637 West Beloit Road
414-321-8570