Toilet Tip
 

Last week, I had Mike Scott Plumbing replace the plastic push-pull valves on my 2 toilets with quarter turn metal valves. The total fixed cost was $213 ($69 for each valve plus a $75 trip charge). I know that some people have replaced every plastic valve in their house, and I also know there are cheaper ways to replace the valves. But, the toilets occasionally need to be repaired with a new gasket, or a new fill valve. Now, I know that I can turn off the water to the toilets and have more confidence that I will not encounter a leaking valve that would require the water to be shut down for the entire house. To me, the peace of mind was worth the cost.

Did you happen to see how the new valves were attached to the water lines? Did they use SharkBite (or similar) fittings or threaded fittings? (just curious in case I want to attempt it myself in the future)

How long did each valve take to replace? Village plumber wanted over $ 100 each and said it took a lot of time to replace each?

It looks like he glued the metal valve directly onto the plastic pipe. He also replaced the flexible plastic supply tube from the wall to the toilet tank with a braided metal flexible tube.

It took about 20 minutes per valve to install. But, some of the time was waiting for the glue to dry before he could turn the water back on.

Another great toilet modification : )

Just joking, replacing the cheap push pull toilet valves is an excellent idea.

Diy
 

I used these https://www.homedepot.com/p/BrassCra...X-C1/205214414 From Home Depot. They do not stock the 1/4 turn at the store they only stock full turn which cost less. You can order and have them delivered to the store. Or if your order is larger enough they will deliver to your home. They are not available at Lowes. Someone asked how long does it take to replace. Well what took me the longest time was draining the line. The toilet line is the lowest point in the piping. My suggestion is to shut the water off, open all faucets in the house, flush toilet and remove water from tank with sponge or vac, remove the toilet valves with a pan under each. Go somewhere and relax for awhile when the water stops dripping finish the job. My house had 14 valves and took 4 or 5 hrs to do. You also need supply lines $6 or $7 each. Another hint toilets and ice maker valves are easy. Before you even try to do a sink valve go under your sink and shut off one valve and disconnect a supply line, it is not as easy as it sounds. The older you get your body does not contort to the positions it may need to be in.

My house also has 14 valves. I commend you for replacing them yourself. I have never needed to touch any of the valves except the toilet valves. So, those are the ones I replaced. Every time I pulled a valve closed, I cringed because I expected it to leak. I can afford to hire a plumber, so I did. But, I highly recommend that homeowners at least replace the toilet shut off valves, whether you do it yourself or hire a plumber. I would not trust a handyman to do plumbing work in my house, unless I knew him well.

Mine were fine for17 yrs. then as plumbers show up they automatically change them. I have problems trying to open/ close the metal ones. Hope I don't need handyman to shutoff one of them. Hmmm, maybe that's why they change them.

If you can’t turn the valve with your hands then use a pair of pliers. Just be sure to be gentle so you don’t damage the valve.

We had one fail at the dishwasher connection and thought we had a pump failure on the dishwasher. That same week we had one fail at a toilet so we replaced all. Our house is almost 8 years old. I always felt they were hard to turn off and in anyway so I’m glad to be rid of them.

Have you checked your expansion tank on top of the water heater? These only last about 7 years, and, if they fill up with water, the water pressure in the house can greatly increase, which can cause the push-pull valves to close. Use a screw driver to tap the top and bottom halves of the expansion tank. You should hear a dull thud sound when you tap the bottom half, and a hollow sound when you tap the top half.

Good idea
 

How old is your home? It sounds like a good idea but my home is only 3 years old. Do you think a 3 year old home would have an issue?

My house is 8 years old, but I always cringed when closing the valves. Most of the valves will never be used, but you will definitely need to operate the toilet valves.

A couple of years ago, a major leak in a hot water pipe under the concrete in my master bathroom caused $14,000 in damage. Based on my experience, there is a better investment than replacing the two shut-off valves on the toilets. I replaced the main shut-off valve in the garage with a brass valve. I shut off the main valve if I need to work on a toilet or replace a sink faucet or a water heater. If I have another broken water pipe, shutting off the main valve is easy.

First thing I did when I bought this house was replace all those ridiculous pop-off valves, along with that leaking plastic master shut-off in the garage, and those insane CPVC plastic pipes sticking out of the wall to the 18-year-old hotwater tank in the garage, which I also replaced. I also replaced all the flexible hoses.

They use a special Glue. I would not recommend doing this yourself unless you are experienced in doing such work. The two biggest water damage insurance claims are: Washing machine hoses and toilet hoses & fitting. You insurance deductible is probably way hight than the $213 not to mention the hassle of having your house flooded.

We did the same, even though we had lots of other expenses when moving in to our resale house in TV.
We also changed everything out behind the refrigerator.
A slow leak back there is almost impossible to witness before affecting the drywall which can morph into mold/ mildew issues pretty quickly.

We had Mike Scott Plumbing do the work too. Ended up a very easy bill to pay for peace of mind.

A plumber in Missouri laughed at the pop off valves. Said they were for mobile homes. “Your builder probably got a great deal at an auction for these - or picked them up for nearly nothing”. (They still work fine after 25 years).

I used a shark bite on one when the braid wouldn’t reach a new toilet.

Train everyone in the house where the main shutoff is..

Why dont you just shut off the main water valve and have a double back up to no leaks

My home was 14 years before I go a new hot water heater. I never had a problem and only replaced it because I also got a new A/C - heating system installed.

The expansion tank can fail and you may or may not have a water pressure issue. The expansion tank is designed to maintain a safe pressure in the event that you have thermal expansion or some other high pressure issue. So, you may have had a failed expansion tank years before you replaced the water heater. Expansion tanks usually do not last as long as the water heater tank.

Keep the shop vac handy, remember to open the outside valves also and with the toilet valve removed place the business end of the vac over the pipe coming out of wall vacuum the water out. This will save a lot of time, and guarantee no water.


The other way is to have only one other distant valve open and suck the line clear. Assemble the new valve with the vacuum running this is the best way when you need to solder a joint water gets sucked away from the work area.

Good thread. Don’t panic, but we had a rental house down on Marco Island that had a faulty connector on the back of the toilet. Of course it broke and of course flooded for 3 days or so before our homewatch guy found it. 26K in damage.
Casually, the adjuster mentioned that there was a class action law suit going on against the connector maker, DuraPro. I looked into it. Sure enough, he was right. Long story short, I was awarded ~3K for my trouble. Better than nothing.
Next time your plumber stops by, you might ask him/her to check those.

We had every push/pull in the house changed; didn’t want to have a chance of failure while away from the house. Peace of mind.

So, after reading all the posts, it seems to me that the valves are ok. No need to replace them, other than "I don't like them".

Most plumbers would disagree. The one in my master bath worked, but you had to hold the pipe while pulling it out to turn it off, or the pipe would pull out of the wall about an inch or so. That was because the retaining clip behind the drywall was either loose or not installed at all. Very common. Also, a lot of people think that you turn the round plastic knob to turn it off. These people will never be able to turn off the valve because you need to pull it out to turn it off. Another issue is that some of the valves will turn off when there is a spike in water pressure. Too much pressure can cause the valve to automatically turn off. That being said, I do not plan to replace all 14 valves in my house because most of them will never need to be used. However, in my opinion, the builder should not install these valves on toilets that will definitely need to be used to replace the interior toilet parts and gaskets that need to be maintained.

True, but it is common practice and code to have a shutoff valve at most plumbing fixtures. You especially need one when your toilet is clogged and overflowing. You don't want to run to the garage to turn off the main valve while your bathroom is flooding.

I replaced my Accor valve and hose assembly due to age the vinyl hose (about 20 years) I used shark bite. The hardest part was getting Accor valve off. I watched several pressure tests with all types of valves and hoses, copper, pex, clued PVC, couple brands push on valves. Shark bite fails around 850 psi. That s about 7 times pressure than utilities water pressure. I highly doubt utility pressure get that high beings water heater blow off valve will blow around 150 PSI. If one of these blows off most likely from improperly installed. IMO over time all styles will corrode, deteriorate, and leak or fail. Some plumbers want run up bill naturally they will say replace anything. Bottom line to each his own and what ever eases the mind.

There have been several posts where Accor valves have closed due to high water pressure. Some people actually think that they are designed to close as a safety feature, but Accor denies it. So, the valves must have been defective.

I would have the expansion tank above your water checked to see if the pressure is correct. The wrong pressure can pop the junk valves.

When I replaced my toilets I also replaced the push/pull valves with the same valves you have.
Now two years later neither valve
will close.
Would have been better off with the old valves.

This is a pretty simple DIY project and not worth paying a plumber hundreds $$$ to do. For those of you who may not feel that you have the necessary skills to do this, I suggest that you google the repair type and then look at the YouTube videos on the topic. There are hundreds of videos that will walk you step by step through virtually any kind of home repair.

i like the Mike Scott company, i've used them a few times, & was impressed with their honesty on repairs, professional conduct and helpful attitudes.