I have a constant drip in my bathroom sink. After a little trouble shooting, I came to the conclusion that my hot water valve underneath the sink is the culprit. I traced the pipe down the wall, into the basement and to the water heater. The only thing between the water heater and the old valve in the upstairs bathroom are 90's and T's. There are no shut off valves. My question is how do I change the valve under the sink without having a shut off valve ahead of it? I began to try to do it without turning any water off, thinking I could be quick enough to put a new one on, but quickly found out I wouldn't be able to and now I'm stuck with the old valve still on and the sink still dripping! I have no more bright ideas (that's a joke, I know that wasn't a bright idea haha). I know there has to be a way, but I am trying to avoid costly fees of having a plumber come out.

Why not simply shut the hot water off at the heaters cold water inlet or shut the entire house down at the house shut off. Good luck, Tom

Get a replacement valve, close the cold water shut off valve to the heater, close both hot and cold angle valves under the sink, open your faucet to drain all the water, remove your old hot water angle valve, install the new one, check for leaks no leak the job is done and you are back in business, good luck.

John

Forgive me for not being up front in my first post... I am a new home owner and while I may be decent in some area's of DIY type repairs, I am lacking in the plumbing area. For example it took me 5 hours to replace the wax seal on my toilet last winter. I ended up ruining the first one I bought and had to buy another new one. Haha I laugh now about it (wasn't funny that night though!) But I am always willing to give something a try, I am a quick learner.

Back to subject at hand, I am not aware of the water heater shut off... is that something that should be pretty easy to find? Can I just turn it off or are there special instructions I need to follow? And is it normal that an older (I'm guessing 40 years) plumbing system not include shut offs at every sink, tub or where ever the water is being used. Seems like it would've been so easy to just install a shut off valve at every stop in the line. Thank you very much for you help already.


Never mind on about where the cold water shut off would be on the water heater, I just went to look and it was right there in front of me! Thanks for the help!

I still wouldn't mind knowing the answers to the other 2 questions in my previous post though.

If you go to your water heater and see the water coming to the heater there should be a shut off valve installe, if not close yor main water shut off valve and continue with your work, good luck.

John


What brand and model Number is your faucet?

Is it single handle or two handles?

It may an easy fix by replacing the cartridges or the seals, Thanks.

John

Your stop is one problem, which the other guys solved for you. The leaking fuacet, however is not do to a bad stop. Your faucet is the main problem. Like afaroo said, we need a brand and model, then we can help you fix that problem too.

Thanks for the info on the water heater, I found the valve. I can just turn that off and do my work, or do I have to turn the pilot off or turn on all the faucets in the house? Not sure on that part.

The brand of the faucet is Price Pfister and it has two handles.

I thought my problem was under the sink because when I turn off the hot water valve it starts to drip.

I am not clear is the leak from the faucet or from the angle valve under the sink, if it is from the angle valve just tightend the nut a little bit and see if the leak will stop see the (image) below, if it is from the faucet it is time to replace the cartridges or the seals, also you don't need to turn off the pilot or open other faucets

Hello ejgarcia,

It will help if you provide us the model number or post a picture of the faucet, Thanks.

John

When I turn the angle valve off water starts to drip from it... water is dripping from the faucet whether the angle valve is on or off... I disconnected the tube from the angle valve to the handle and that was the only way it stopped dripping at the faucet. This was all on the hot side only, the cold side was still on and hook up. I will continue to work on it now that I got so many tips from everyone, Thank you all so much!

When you close the angle valve where is the water leaking from is it leaking from the nut if so, slightly tighened the nut and check for leak, when this if fixed then work on the faucet, good luck.

John

I also may have been confused. I assumed when you said the drip was in your bathroom sink, that it was your faucet. If indeed the leak in under your sink, then you are on the right track. Sorry about the confusion.

I finally got it all figured out, thanks to everyone who gave me all the advice.

It sure does feel good when you're able to figure something out and do it yourself. Also feels good to save a few bucks too! Thanks again

I want to install a shut off on the toilet line leading to the tank. There's just a screw @ the end of the line & I woud like to shut off the water so I can change a flapper.

Hello gtgaqt,

I responded to your other post, Thanks.

John