plumbing question

[cath]

I'm trying to fix a leaky faucet in my guest bathroom. It doesn't just drip, but there's a pretty good flow if you don't do an extra good tug to turn off the water. Luckily, it is the cold tap.

But I can't turn off the shut-off valve for the cold water. I do have slip-joint pliers, but I don't want to risk breaking it. So I bought a can of Liquid Wrench, and it is now soaking, so to speak. Don't know if will work yet. The main water shut off valve is in my front yard, and I don't have the right kind of wrench for that.

I am concerned about the warning about the fumes. The room has no window, only an exhaust fan. It is the room where I make purified water for my tank. Of course I moved the Rubbermaid container with new water in it. After I clean up the lubricant mess, will there be any danger of remaining fumes in that room?

Any ideas about this whole repair job? I have repaired a leaky faucet in the past, but this job isn't going very well so far. Hiring a plumber is not in the budget.

Thanks in advance.

[Twitterbait]

Cath, I would look at replacing the shutoff valve at the same time. they have new ones that are push/pull and they are soooo nice. as far as turning off the main, any wrench should work on the tab that shuts it off you may just need to muscle it into place. as far as the faucet is concerned it sounds like you need to replace the gasket at the bottom of the valve stem. the hardware guys should know what to give you. if it is too hard to pull apart you may just want to go the easy route and replace the whole fixture. lets see a pic under the sink and one of the faucet.

[cath]

Thanks for the suggestions, Ryan. Part of the problem, of course, is the location of the sink. I have to put the project on hold this afternoon, but I'll take a photo and post it later today.

[Fly Guy]

on the gasket thing most likely

FWIW cath, if the valve is that stuck figure out how shut off the main before you do anything with it.......otherwise you risk having to figure out how to shut it off when time is of the essence.......NOT a good scenario

plus if it is simply a gasket like it sounds, you wont even have to mess with changing OR compromising the valve itself. Its not something that needs turned on and off all the time.....if its stuck in the open position i would leave it.........

Soemtimes with older and or poorly plumbed stuff its better to either replace everything completely or LEAVE IT ALONE if its functional. Remeber..if its in that bad of shape, its possibel that other stuff it is connected to is as well and unless you are prepared to replace a bunch of stuff you might want to leave well enough alone.
hth

[Twitterbait]

if you do replace the shutoff valve make sure you replace the hose that goes to the sink.

[cath]

Thanks so much Bill and John. And Doug, too. He gave me encouragement before I even posted this thread.

The Liquid Wrench soaked a while. My sister popped over and she was successful in carefully shutting off the valve. I had to go out for a bit this afternoon, and when I came back, I took the faucet assembly apart, and determined that it is a compression faucet. Right now I'm soaking various parts in distilled white vinegar. I did find some good DIY sites on line to help with the project.

I agree completely with you guys that I need to figure out how to shut off the main valve. Years ago I had a terrible leak in my kitchen and didn't know how to shut off the valve. What a mess I had!

I agree that replacing both shut off valves under the sink would be a good idea. The sink faces the toilet in that bathroom and also very close to it. Doing plumbing work there isn't very easy. Thank goodness I'm a shortie

More later.

[dobejazz]

Yeah Bobbi to the rescue Glad it's getting fixed Cath

[Doug1]

WooHoo Cath, good job

[Junkzoo]

Way ta go Cath!