Time and tide wait for no man (neither does corrosion on fixtures)

[ohland]

Last night the tub drip became a steady stream. Not my favorite thing to diddle with, but I know the drill. Broke out the 1/2" drive 11/16 deep socket, a phillips screwdriver, the washers, and the valve seat facing tool. Turned off the water downstairs, came back up, then there was a slow decent into futility...

The seat took a heckuva lot of moxie to back out. Saw signs of thread damage, widened thread and partial thin crescent of brass... Not good. Backed out the stem. Looked good, except the screw at the end had lost it's head, probably corrosion. The washer remnant was a cone holding onto the stub of the retaining screw. The remnants of the screw are somewhat corroded and will not turn.

Picked up a 3/8 NPT plug at Ace. Turns out to be wasted effort, there is an internal passage and without the stem and washer, the passage is unsealed...

Thankfully, the fixture is easy to get at. Since the hot water tap is froze up, I probably will pull the old fixture, cut the water feed (1/2" copper), put in valves and flexible risers, and put in a new fixture. This one was installed before I was born. Maybe my parents as well...

Further action: Got the stem drilled. Tapped for 8-32. Short. Grr. That's why you don't move the machining fixture until everything works. Chucked the stem up again, drilled down about 1/4" more. Now the screw fully reaches the washer and has some compression. Now to reassemble things, add some silicone grease on the stem threads.

[Frank46]

Just a thought, install shutoff valves on each line to the tub. Been doing that in this house. Easier to shut the water off at the tub, sink or whatever than shutting off all the water to the house. Don't use gate valves as crud builds up in the seat and you don't get a good shutoff. I use ball valves for that reason. Frank

[koehn,jim]

You can buy fixtures that are designed for large residential buildings that have shutoffs built in, if space is a problem they help.

[ohland]

Folks, I know about applying manly-man torque, and today the stem backed out under water pressure... Old retrobate jerry-rigged it again, but after it was somewhat water-tight, I went to Ace and got two 1/2" compression fitting valves. Somehow, it does not seem likely that the tub cold water valve is going to get any better...

[blackthorn]

Reading this thread and suddenly this mental picture popped into my head----After twenty years of "mickey-Mouse" plumbing "fixes", Ohlund now needs a small step-ladder to access his antique cast iron tub! This is due to the little squares of 2"x4" lumber stacked under each tub-leg to raise it far enough to accommodate the string of hose segments, hose clamps and shutoff valves installed over the years in an endeavor to keep ahead of leaking faucets!

I learned (the hard way) that when it comes to plumbing of any kind, (even the most basic) I NEED to "call the guy"!

[ohland]

Reading this thread and suddenly this mental picture popped into my head

The picture that pops into my consciousness is that it's all paid for. No mortgage, no rent. But we do have taxes. No where near city taxes, thank God...

[MaLar]

Plumbing makes me SWEAR!

I have a friend who says when he starts fixing the kitchen faucet, he ends up plumbing all the way back to the well.

[ole 5 hole group]

Sounds about right. A couple years ago, like 4 years ago, the base of our toilet leaked. Easy fix, just take it off and replace the wax ring - ya, sure the house is 65 years old. I remember replacing that wax ring about 20 years ago but this time the entire top of the sewer pipe/flange had corroded away.

I believe in doing it right the 1st time - took me awhile to learn that. Well, had to rip up a little flooring to accomplish this task of replacing the flange. Well, that little project, for reasons still not understood by me came under the control and direction of the War Department, which resulted in a new toilet, bath tub, sink, vanity, lighted cabinet, new title, added a little storage closet, replaced all the lights to the "modern design" and painted everything - it only cost me in the neighborhood of $2,400.00 and a week of cussing.


If anything else happens - I'm calling "the man" and he will be instructed to just fix what needs fixing and the war department will be briefed upon completion!!

[RayinNH]

Sounds about right. A couple years ago, like 4 years ago, the base of our toilet leaked. Easy fix, just take it off and replace the wax ring - ya, sure the house is 65 years old. I remember replacing that wax ring about 20 years ago but this time the entire top of the sewer pipe/flange had corroded away.

I believe in doing it right the 1st time - took me awhile to learn that. Well, had to rip up a little flooring to accomplish this task of replacing the flange. Well, that little project, for reasons still not understood by me came under the control and direction of the War Department, which resulted in a new toilet, bath tub, sink, vanity, lighted cabinet, new title, added a little storage closet, replaced all the lights to the "modern design" and painted everything - it only cost me in the neighborhood of $2,400.00 and a week of cussing.


If anything else happens - I'm calling "the man" and he will be instructed to just fix what needs fixing and the war department will be briefed upon completion!!

Thanks for the chuckle .

[William Yanda]

"If anything else happens - I'm calling "the man" and he will be instructed to just fix what needs fixing and the war department will be briefed upon completion!!"

Good luck with that!

[waynem34]

I have a friend that is a residential plumber. He has helped my family a lot. Watching him he makes it all look so easy. Just knowing whats available and having the right tools make the man look like a genius. I walk down the plumbing section and hes grabbing 10 of these 10 of those 1 of everything it seems.I ask him "Are we going to use all this" he said " probably not but we got it if we need it". Never liked helping him. Always made me crawl my fat **** under the house when needed. Good Luck.