Emergency Plumbing Help Needed!!!!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

The hose that runs the hot water to my kitchen sink sprung a leak.  

I am trying to shut the valve on the hose off to stop the flow of water, but can't get it to turn.  I should be turning clockwise to shut it off, right (lefty loosey, righty tighty)?

The valve looks like this.   (sorry so bit)

Any advice?  I put a foil pan in the cabinet under the sink to catch the running water in the meantime

[Wisconsin Beth]

Some of my shutoff valves are backwards or too corroded to turn.

You did try the opposite direction, right?

And you should be able to shut at the hot water heater too. Admittedly that's no hot water for the entire house but will allow you to replace the other shutoff valve.

[souldoubt]

My advice is to start by turning off the water to your house by turning off the main valve.  If the compression valve won't turn which is something that happened with one I just replaced you may need to replace the entire valve.  To answer your question yes turning the compression valve knob right until it can't go any further will stop the incoming water under the sink for that hose/valve.  In the mean time turning off the main valve will stop the leak.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Tx!  

Can i exert too much force trying to turn the valve under the sink?  Should I just "go for it"?  It seems like this is a repair I/we can handle if I can get the water shut off...

[souldoubt]

You can definitely try using some force but if it doesn't move you don't want to keep applying force because worst case you do damage to the incoming pipe in the wall.   For the record I'm not a pro but I don't think that's likely and this is coming from someone who was cranking on one of their valves less than 2 weeks ago.  The issue with my valve was that part of the knob broke and I couldn't get leverage on it to turn even with a wrench.  I took the knob off the other valve using a screw driver, put it on the valve that wouldn't shut off and was able to turn it off that way.  I'd recommend trying that if both valves and knobs are the same because worst case it doesn't work and you're out all of the 30 seconds it takes to unscrew the knobs.  If that doesn't work while you have the water shut off you can pop the valve off (http://www.familyhandyman.com/plumbing/valves/how-to-replace-a-shutoff-valve/view-all), go to home depot/lowes/osh/whatever and have someone in the plumbing section make sure you get the right replacement.  This is important because your hookup to your sink line is a specific type/size so you want to make sure you get the right one.    

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

I have MANY pipes in my basement with multiple valves. Is it worth trying to find one that will shut the water to the sink off rather than shutting off all of the water to the house and/or shutting off the water from the hot water heater (both sound like I will need a plumber to turn back on?)??

[toomuchreality]

Yikes!

I hope you are able to fix it!

Good luck!


I'll have a cocktail ready for you, when you're done.
        (you might need more than one!)

    

[alabamagal]

chemical engineer here...glorified plumber in a lot of respects.

First close the valve on the outlet of the hot water heater.  This means no one can use hot water.  Then try to close the valve under the sink.  If you break something, there will be some water that comes out of the line but it should stop eventually.  This will limit the water damage if you break something.  Then you can try to close the valve.  If you can't close the valve you may still be able to replace the hose with the hot water outlet shut off, it will just be more water you have to drain out.

No need to shut the main water valve to the house if you can shut off at hot water heater.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Aug 29, 2016 15:20:42 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

chemical engineer here...glorified plumber in a lot of respects.

First close the valve on the outlet of the hot water heater.  This means no one can use hot water.  Then try to close the valve under the sink.  If you break something, there will be some water that comes out of the line but it should stop eventually.  This will limit the water damage if you break something.  Then you can try to close the valve.  If you can't close the valve you may still be able to replace the hose with the hot water outlet shut off, it will just be more water you have to drain out.

No need to shut the main water valve to the house if you can shut off at hot water heater.

I've got 2 green knobs and 2 yellow levers on 2 different pipes.  

Should I just start trying them one at a time to figure out which is the outlet pipe or is there a trick to identifying it?

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Also, I need to run the water out of the lines to know that the hot water IS, in fact, off at the hot water heater, right?

[973beachbum]

Not a plumber here, but when I last had a pipe that sprung a leak and couldn't quickly find the shut off valve to it I flipped the circuit to the well.  We have a well for water and no electricity, no water.

I know it was probably not the right way to do it but flipping a switch in the elec box was a lot easier than crawling in the crawl space and trying to find the right valve to me.

HTH and good luck!

[bean29]

Yep, FYI it is pretty common for those valves to be no good. Our builder installed a few that were no good and didn't check them or knowingly didn't replace them. DH gets mad every time he thinks about it. I am not sure if he has replaced them all yet, but it really pisses him off b/c they are not at all expensive.

He has been working on the plumbing at our rental property, he said he has installed those shut off all over the place, but now is talking about buying a "Key" from Menards to turn off the water at the street so he can replace a stripped shut off valve in the kitchen. He said the Key is only about $20 but they come in varying depths and he does not know how deep it needs to be.

[alabamagal]

Aug 29, 2016 15:35:00 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

Also, I need to run the water out of the lines to know that the hot water IS, in fact, off at the hot water heater, right?

that would be best.  If you can turn on hot water to the faucet, it should stop pretty quickly when you turn off the valve.

You also may be able to tell by following the pipe and seeing where it goes to.  In my house it is pretty easy to see the one coming from the water supply and then the one going out to all the hot water faucets.

[mroped]

Feel the pipes for heat!
Typicaly the cold water goes in the bottom of the water heater and the hot comes of the top.
Blue/green should be for cold. 
When you fix the leak, have the plumber install you a shut off on a lever not knob.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

So, I couldn't find the right valve out of the hot water heater and could not get the valve under the sink to budge.  I called the plumber.  He also had trouble with the valve under the sink and replaced it.  Turns out the faucet is a one piece unit and so the flexible hose cannot be replaced.  In fact, one can't buy pieced faucets any more.  So, the water is off to the sink and I have to find a new faucet and the plumber will return and install it.  The bummer is that despite my best efforts to collect and soak up the water, there is some obvious damage to the cabinet under the sink.  All I can say is, thank God I was home!!!

[Pants]

GRG - sorry. That just sucks.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Aug 29, 2016 19:06:02 GMT -5 Pants said:

GRG - sorry. That just sucks.

It does, but in the scheme of things it's no big deal.  I was hoping to fix it myself, but at least I followed the plumber around and asked good questions for next time.  

[Bonny]

Aug 29, 2016 18:21:27 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

So, I couldn't find the right valve out of the hot water heater and could not get the valve under the sink to budge.  I called the plumber.  He also had trouble with the valve under the sink and replaced it.  Turns out the faucet is a one piece unit and so the flexible hose cannot be replaced.  In fact, one can't buy pieced faucets any more.  So, the water is off to the sink and I have to find a new faucet and the plumber will return and install it.  The bummer is that despite my best efforts to collect and soak up the water, there is some obvious damage to the cabinet under the sink.  All I can say is, thank God I was home!!!

Is it just the "floor" of the cabinet? If so, you can probably just replace that piece with plywood and stain it to match the rest of the cabinet.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Aug 29, 2016 19:06:02 GMT -5 Pants said:

GRG - sorry. That just sucks.

The better answer to your post is that my trivial plumbing issues are NOTHING compared to your child's recent illness and pending recovery.

I wish you and B and the rest of your family all the best medical care and outcomes there are.