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Triple master contractor Ed Del Grande
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By Ed Del Grande
Q: Hello, Ed. My husband and I attended your live show in Tampa last fall. One of the products you demonstrated was a quick-install faucet that we fell in love with! We recently purchased one, and you were right. It does install easily, and we love it! But now that it's installed, we can't get our old stop valves under the sink to stop leaking. The leaks are slow and we are using buckets for now, but we have two questions: How do we fix our stop valves? And, when can we see you live again? You were great! Bob and Helen (Florida)
A: Thanks, it's so nice to hear from people who have attended some of my live presentations. I had a fun time in Tampa! As you know, the stage was set up at home plate (very appropriate for a home show) on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays indoor baseball field. While I never played pro ball, at least I did get the chance to step up to home plate as a professional in a major league ball park! I do have more live shows coming up this year and I'm always available for new bookings on my website at www.eddelgrande.com.
I always introduce new products at these events, and it's nice to see that you used the new quick-install faucet. For those who don't know, a quick-install faucet mounts from the top with an expanding butterfly nut, so there is no need to crawl under the sink. Plus, it has long built-in flexible stainless-steel water-supply lines that connect directly to the existing lav stop valves.
From the information in your letter, it appears that your old stop valves need some attention. It's very common for older stops that have not been turned on and off in a while to develop packing leaks, and that's what your problem sounds like.
The packing nut is the big nut on the valve body that the handle stem of the valve goes through. Inside the packing nut is the packing washer and that also surrounds the valve stem. When the packing nut is tightened, the packing washer will seal around the stem to prevent valve leaks. When an older stop is closed it usually breaks the washer seal, and when the valve is turned back on the seal needs to be reset.
To reset the packing washer, simply tighten the packing nut clockwise with an adjustable wrench while the valve is in the on position. You should notice as you tighten that the drips around the valve stem stop. Don't over-tighten this nut, usually just snug it up and it will reseal the washer. If you try this and the valve still drips, the packing seal or the stop itself will need to be replaced. Since the house water system needs to be shut down and drained for this, you should call a plumber.
However, about nine out of ten times just tightening up the packing nut should stop the stop leak. And, wow, we really "packed" in a lot of information on this question!
Ed Del Grande was born and raised in a family-owned plumbing business. With more than 25 years of experience in every aspect of construction, he holds current Master licenses in pipefitting, fire protection and plumbing. If you have a question for Ed, send him an e-mail at eddelgrande@hgtvpro.com.
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