when I shut off the water to my house at the gate valve in my basement the water does not stop completely. why?
by
John N
I was moving the bib on the back of my house. I shut off the water in my basement and opened all the faucets in my house. The water got to a slow drizzle but did not stop. The only thing I did not do is close the valve to my water heater or flush the toilets. could this be the cause or is the gate valve not sealing?
3 answers
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Hi John that is not uncommon if possable replace the valve with a ball valve they are much more reliable.
Ace Solves It All
on Dec 28, 2011
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over time like in any pipe a bit of sediment builds up along with hardness due to lime etc. This builds up on the seat of the valve and prevents it from closing tight. The harder your water the worse it can become. As Ace said, replacement with a new ball valve is the answer. These type of valves are less prone to seepage overtime as there is no grove of sorts in which to seat the little ball that turns and shuts off the flow. You will need someone with a street wrench to turn your water off while you change out the valve if you want to replace this offending valve. Or using a new fitting called a Shark Bite you can install another valve down stream of the one you have. Most likely after the meter, turn off the water at the meter and cut the pipe down stream about one foot away and install a new valve . These new fittings work without solder and simply allow you to push the pipes into them to make a long lasting seal. Just be sure you can move the pipe back and forth about one inch in order to connect them together. Purchase the Shark Bites with a threaded end and a new ball valve with a threaded female connection,. Screw them into the valve cut pipe. Insert, and your all done,. No flame, and only what water that is getting around the old valve will leak out.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Dec 28, 2011
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The sharkbite worked great. Thanks for the solid advise.
John N
on Jan 01, 2012
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