My house is 13 years old. I have had occasion to disconnect various
faucets, toilets, dishwasher, etc. for upgrades, replacement, or
remodelling projects. Each fixture has a shutoff valve connecting it
to a 1/2" copper pipe - all well and good. However, it seems that
everytime I turn off one of these valves, it breaks/leaks, etc.
requiring me to shut off the main supply valve and replace the
smaller one at the fixture, completely negating the benefit of having
these valves installed in the first place. Indeed, it turns out to
be more work and expense than if these valves were not there at all.
Each time, in mid-project, I trek over to my local HD and/or Menards
and/or Ace Hardware and buy a new valve to replace the old one. Each
time, I look for something that might be a better quality to minimize
the chances of this happening the next time. It seems that they only
carry one level of quality, however, so I fear that I will live with
this situation forever. What gives? I recall cursing the building
code in my previous home for not requiring these valves. Alas, I'm
no better off with them. Indeed, this is worse! I'd be hard pressed
to consider this to be a water quality issue (Suburban Chicago, Lake
Michigan water - shouldn't be too bad)

Any suggestions on where to buy valves that will outlast the fixture
that they are feeding?

-Mike

Go to a real plumbing store and ask for 1/4 turn stops.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing. . . .
DanG


"Mike Hartigan" wrote in message
ews.com...
My house is 13 years old. I have had occasion to disconnect
various
faucets, toilets, dishwasher, etc. for upgrades, replacement, or
remodelling projects. Each fixture has a shutoff valve
connecting it
to a 1/2" copper pipe - all well and good. However, it seems
that
everytime I turn off one of these valves, it breaks/leaks, etc.
requiring me to shut off the main supply valve and replace the
smaller one at the fixture, completely negating the benefit of
having
these valves installed in the first place. Indeed, it turns out
to
be more work and expense than if these valves were not there at
all.
Each time, in mid-project, I trek over to my local HD and/or
Menards
and/or Ace Hardware and buy a new valve to replace the old one.
Each
time, I look for something that might be a better quality to
minimize
the chances of this happening the next time. It seems that they
only
carry one level of quality, however, so I fear that I will live
with
this situation forever. What gives? I recall cursing the
building
code in my previous home for not requiring these valves. Alas,
I'm
no better off with them. Indeed, this is worse! I'd be hard
pressed
to consider this to be a water quality issue (Suburban Chicago,
Lake
Michigan water - shouldn't be too bad)

Any suggestions on where to buy valves that will outlast the
fixture
that they are feeding?

-Mike

As a last resort, I started buying valves at an area Ace Hardware; they
have nice Italian-made ball valves instead of the cheap Chinese crap
that Menard's carries (LDF maybe?). It's expensive, but they should
hold up much better.

Mike Hartigan wrote:

"Mike Hartigan" wrote in message
ews.com...
My house is 13 years old. I have had occasion to disconnect various
faucets, toilets, dishwasher, etc. for upgrades, replacement, or
remodelling projects. Each fixture has a shutoff valve connecting it
to a 1/2" copper pipe - all well and good. However, it seems that
everytime I turn off one of these valves, it breaks/leaks, etc.
requiring me to shut off the main supply valve and replace the
smaller one at the fixture, completely negating the benefit of having
these valves installed in the first place. Indeed, it turns out to
be more work and expense than if these valves were not there at all.
Each time, in mid-project, I trek over to my local HD and/or Menards
and/or Ace Hardware and buy a new valve to replace the old one. Each
time, I look for something that might be a better quality to minimize
the chances of this happening the next time. It seems that they only
carry one level of quality, however, so I fear that I will live with
this situation forever. What gives? I recall cursing the building
code in my previous home for not requiring these valves. Alas, I'm
no better off with them. Indeed, this is worse! I'd be hard pressed
to consider this to be a water quality issue (Suburban Chicago, Lake
Michigan water - shouldn't be too bad)

Any suggestions on where to buy valves that will outlast the fixture
that they are feeding?

-Mike

Most builder use gate valves. The fixture valves are not all that well
built. I replace everything with ball valves. Sometimes they look bad but
they last.

Mike Hartigan writes:

Any suggestions on where to buy valves that will outlast the fixture
that they are feeding?

I have the same problem. The brass bodies are corroded away internally
after 10 or 20 years. The "Brass Craft" brand sold and Home Depot seems to
be the same stuff.

My solution is to solder on 1/2" male pipe thread adapters to the 1/2"
copper stubs, and use a new 1/4-turn valve with female pipe threads. At
least that way they are easy to replace, and the soldering part is easier
than soldering on a valve. And the 1/4-turn valves (still made by the same
outfit) seem like they might live longer.