Water in the basement

Sinks, showers, pipes - usually pertaining to water or sewage. So don't mix them up.
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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Water in the basement

Post by kevm14 »

I got a text at work this morning that there was water in the basement. Based on the description, I was convinced that my previous repair to the outside faucet shutoff valve had either not held, or the leak was otherwise related to that valve. Of course I left work immediately and came home to, well, water next to the washing machine. It was NOT coming from the suspect shutoff valve! In fact, this is where the water was coming from:
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These are the cold and hot water feeds to the bathroom sink, as well as the drain pipe in the center. The subfloor was dripping. So I went upstairs to look under the bathroom sink.
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Lovely. But what's making all the water?? It was this:
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The cold water shutoff valve. As I twisted it shut, it actually started to leak worse until it was closed all the way. I remembered my trick from the basement and gave the packing a tighten with my crescent wrench. This seemed to help but there was still a place in the rotation of the valve that seemed to leak. I would never trust this. So it had to come out. Conveniently, the valves use a 3/8" NPT so all the soldering I had planned (for the outside shutoff valve) would not be necessary.

Next step, shut off the main water supply to the house. If I had a closer one, I would have used that. I also opened the faucet so the pressure would be relieved.

Get some kind of bucket to catch the remaining water when you remove the valve.

Valve removed.
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The valve itself:
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I bought replacement valves from Ace and these use a 1/4 turn ball valve which is much preferred. Ball valves are basically superior because they shut off quickly and easily (usually a 90° turn) and the design of the valve is 100% clear when open as opposed to a gate valve which restricts flow even when it is fully open. Ball valves are NOT good for anything where you need to adjust flow. So they make great shutoff valves.

I actually bought two valves since I figured the other one could be right behind. Incidentally, I remember trying to shut the hot water valve some time ago and it was frozen open. Not awesome. This would be a good time to replace it.

Except I couldn't get it unthreaded. I managed to do the cold side with just my crescent wrench, but it seemed to require more force than I felt comfortable applying without backing up the pipe with a pipe wrench. Off to Ace to get a small pipe wrench.

With the pipe wrench I was able to hold the pipe from twisting and really pull on the crescent wrench. I got both valves replaced. Use Teflon tape on NPT threads. And make sure the end of the tape goes in the direction of the threads so you don't mess up the tape when threading the valve on. With NPT, I usually just thread it on until it gets tight, then make it however much more of a turn to be the desired orientation.
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But wait, there's more! When I turned the water back on, the hoses started to weep. Back to Ace for the third time, to get new hoses (mine were 16").

The old hose:
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The gasket actually separated from the hose so be sure to check the sink faucet end to make sure that's clean.
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Finally, new valves, hoses and no leaks!!
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I moved the dehumidifier (this one came with my house actually) into the laundry area to help dry out the water.
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Kind of an interesting day between the Caprice not starting this morning (that's quite rare) and this.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Water in the basement

Post by kevm14 »

24 hours later and things are starting to dry out. The water on the floor is gone.
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The subfloor seems to have dried out.
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Under the bathroom sink is getting there. This board just soaked up the water so hopefully another day or two and I can put everything back under there.
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The dehumidifier has run continuously and collected however much water this is.
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The little carpet runner we had in front of the washer and dryer is still wet on the edges so that may take a few more days. I've found that if you dry stuff out quickly, and it hasn't been wet for very long, it's usually possible to save things.
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