[flamingoezz]

I am redoing my bathroom.

The vanity came out easy, but the toilet is giving me trouble. the shut-off valve was stubborn. turning at a certain point became difficult by hand. i loosened the bolt in front of the valve and it turned easier, but would drip every few seconds so i tightened it back up.

it seemed to get to a point where it was slowing down the speed that water was coming out when i flushed, so i turned it a little further thinking it would finally close, but now water flow seems like its completely open and turning the valve further seems impossible without forcing it.

i am in a condo so closing the main valve requires a plumber and all others living in my building will be shut-down while i replace the valve or toilet.

anyone have a similar experience with a valve..do you think its completely busted?

any ideas on how to get it to turn off temporarily while i swap out the toilet?

my floor is already torn out and i really don't want to wait a week to get this all sorted out if possible

 

[sublime2]

Each unit should have it's own shut off for the unit.
Doubt there's only one shutoff for all .

 

[flamingoezz]

I called the condo assn and that is what they told me.

I looked in my utility closet and the water heater has a shutoff, but nothing for cold water. the water meter area didn't have anything either

In playing with the shutoff some more..it seems like if i loosen the nut right in front of the valve knob, i can turn it to the right further. when i do so it drips slightly. im worried about doing that too many times though and springing a big leak in my bathroom. is that normal? is it safe to do further?

Each unit should have it's own shut off for the unit.
Doubt there's only one shutoff for all .

 

[joecaption]

What's normal is to have those type valves fail. Best plan is to replace the whole thing.

 

[sublime2]

I called the condo assn and that is what they told me.

I looked in my utility closet and the water heater has a shutoff, but nothing for cold water. the water meter area didn't have anything either

In playing with the shutoff some more..it seems like if i loosen the nut right in front of the valve knob, i can turn it to the right further. when i do so it drips slightly. im worried about doing that too many times though and springing a big leak in my bathroom. is that normal? is it safe to do further?

it's never normal for a shutoff to leak,it will just get worse over time.
Just doesn't seem practical not to have a main shutoff in the condo.What if a pipe fails and your condo is flooding? You have to rely on someone else to shut your water off?
obviously, the only way to replace that shutoff is to stop the flow or water or you will have a flood. Think you will need a pro to fix this.

 

[oh'mike]

Get a plumber to come in and change all of the shut offs in your unit---those old screw handle jobs fail almost all the time---have 1/4 turn ball valves installed.

I know that's not what you wanted to hear--but you will go through this every time you change a faucet or fix a toilet.

There is not much likely hood of your saving that old one---the seat or washer is shot and the packing behind the nut is old and dried.

 

[Javiles]

Good advise from Mike, get a couple estimates for replacing all the valves bite the bullet and be done with it, make sure they use top quality valves 1/4 turns. had a customer break one in 6th floor condo buy the time it was over and the building shut down 5 floors below flooded. also have them l find the main to your unit, has to have one.

 

[oh'mike]

You all must live in a charmed part of the country---many (most) of the condos in this area were apartment buildings at one time and you need to shut down the whole building to work on one unit.

Big pain--big---small service work turns into a" wait until Hank finishes his lunch and he'll turn off the building---"