On 2008-05-02, dakota2112 wrote:

The thing that really confuses me though is that the relatively
large PVC drain pipe enters the box inbetween the valves, and exits
through the floor co-planar with the pipes but NOT inbetween them.

Is the P-trap for the washer drain visible in the basement? If not,
it is in the wall, which explains why the pipe jogs.

I'm not sure how I would even go about removing the existing valves.
If they are threaded on, I won't be able to remove them because the
pipe flexes torsionally and I can't access the pipe itself to prevent
that.

I believe they are threaded on, but someone else with more experience
should confirm that. If so, you would need to open up the wall below
the box so that you can get an opposing wrench on the connection.

Cheers, Wayne

On May 2, 11:05 am, Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2008-05-02, dakota2112 wrote:

The thing that really confuses me though is that the relatively
large PVC drain pipe enters the box inbetween the valves, and exits
through the floor co-planar with the pipes but NOT inbetween them.

Is the P-trap for the washer drain visible in the basement? If not,
it is in the wall, which explains why the pipe jogs.

I'm not sure how I would even go about removing the existing valves.
If they are threaded on, I won't be able to remove them because the
pipe flexes torsionally and I can't access the pipe itself to prevent
that.

I believe they are threaded on, but someone else with more experience
should confirm that. If so, you would need to open up the wall below
the box so that you can get an opposing wrench on the connection.

Cheers, Wayne

duh, absolutely - the drain trap is inside the wall! That explains
the offset. Thanks for pointing out the obvious which I totally
overlooked

I think the valves must be threaded on, as there's no way a torch
could've gotten in there without melting the plastic, and it doesn't
look like there's clearance to insert the vertical pipe with a valve
already soldered on the end. Opening up the wall to get in there and
hold the pipes is what I had planned if all else fails. I'm just not
looking forward to doing a voluntary drywall repair - but this whole
thing is to avoid a catastrophic leak in the first place, so...

As for the existing valves, they are not seized completely, but they
were a bear to turn the last time I shut them off which was several
years ago. That's why I'd rather piggyback or replace completely.