Hi. My husband was running the kitchen sink and I turned on the shower. We heard a terrible clunking, then stopped. Now we are unable to get hot water in both these terminals--we do get cold. And we get hot water in the rest of the house. We tracked down the water pipes (all exposed in the basement) and there is a shut off valve that leads to the affected terminals. We tried turning it on and off--nothing. HELP! Is it something with this valve? Something in the 2 pipes after this valve?

What type of valve do u have?

Can u supply us with a picture?

Is valve handle/knob frozen(will not move)?

U may have a gate valve that gate broke away from stem and dropped into closed position. If so it will have to be replaced.

One of the plumbers on site may have a picture of gate valve that they could post.

Get back to us and we can help.

Chuck

Thank you! I'm not sure what type of valve we have--it has a knob that screws in and out. I've turned the knob back and forth a dozen times. At one point, a small trickle of water started to come through the pipes--and the clunking noise came back for a minute. When I turn the valve, I can also hear a little whistle, like water is sneaking through, but only for a short time, then the whistle goes away (but a trickle of water still comes out).
I wonder if it is some kind of gate vent valve--that makes sense. Is that easy to replace? Or do we have to re-plumb all the way out to the faucets? They're galvanized steel pipes screwed together, so I don't know how we'd unscrew just the middle portion of the pipes to replace the valve--by trying to unscrew one end, aren't you screwing in the upper part?
Thank you!

Thank you! I'm not sure what type of valve we have--it has a knob that screws in and out. I've turned the knob back and forth a dozen times. At one point, a small trickle of water started to come through the pipes--and the clunking noise came back for a minute. When I turn the valve, I can also hear a little whistle, like water is sneaking through, but only for a short time, then the whistle goes away (but a trickle of water still comes out).
I wonder if it is some kind of gate vent valve--that makes sense. Is that easy to replace? Or do we have to re-plumb all the way out to the faucets? They're galvanized steel pipes screwed together, so I don't know how we'd unscrew just the middle portion of the pipes to replace the valve--by trying to unscrew one end, aren't you screwing in the upper part?
Thank you!