The shut-off valve at the base of my toilets has the standard oval chrome knob. The shut-off valves under sinks, and on basement pipes and outdoor hose faucets have those metal scalloped round “wheel” knobs.
Both types are frankly a bitch to operate, especially if my arthritis is acting up. I have a friend with carpal-tunnel syndrome who finds them impossible to manage.
I hoped I’d find new, improved versions on an Internet search, e.g. larger knobs or ones coated or designed with an easy-grip surface, etc. Nada.
Do such things exist? Am I missing them because I’m not using the right terms?
I would appreciate any assistance before trusting to the tender mercies of a local plumber; it’s hard to believe they haven’t improved on what looks to be a very old design standard, or manufactured specialty versions for people with limited grip and hand strength. Thanks.
What you want is a quarter turn valve. As the name implies, it only turns a one quarter of a turn. Since there’s no washers inside, it turns very easily and sort of ‘locks’ into place so you don’t have to tighten it down.
For the water pipes in the basement, you would use something like this same as the one above, just more rugged and not quite as pretty.
As for outside, I would get something along the lines of this connected between the spigot and the hose and the leave the spigot in the on position all the time and use this turn turn it on and off. Of course it doesn’t have to be the exact one, but go and check out the various models they have and see which one would be the easiest for you to work with.
I’ve got a bunch of these around my furnace and baseboard water system. They would work fine for under the sink, but you might have problems getting one to fit with enough space to throw the lever under a toilet.
I have been gradually replacing every valve in my house with quarter-turn globe valves, and it has worked out very well for doing fixes and DIY work. Every toilet has them now, as does the water heater, sinks, and the main shut-off into the house. There’s such a minuscule price difference between the good valves and the cheap-ass ones, I can’t believe anyone still uses the cheap-ass ones.
They’re ball valves and I’ve taken it a step further and installed the full size version of them under my sinks. Never understood the need to put pretty valves under a sink if they’re not exposed. For the toilet I use the little chrome ones.
Use "THIS"with care, If you are in a cold climate you are setting up a freeze hazard. Of course we are a long way away, but things like that are often forgotten and the seasons change way to fast.
Yes, there’s no need for that. You can get hose spigots built with a quarter-turn ball valve, instead of the wheel valve (see example). So just replace your old hose spigot with one of them.
You have probably tried everything already. Just in case you have not, put a rag in your hand over the valve handle. This gives more grip without biting your hand. Also, a large offset wrench at 90 degrees to the handle or even a pipe wrench will help. Hope this helps until you have the valves changed to something inherently easy.
A triumph of the way it has always been over technology. Ball valves have been around a long time. Some time in the 70’s some new technology reduced their price. I was first introduced to them at a supplier’s Christmas party in 1979. Good salesman, He liquored me up and gave me one as a sample. By the first of the year, I was sobered and in charge of an old run down old factory and with a boss that wouldn’t tolerate a leaky. I am not sure my maintenance men knew you could repack a valve stem. Well the valve salesman collected some nice commissions at the expense of the Speedi - Dri rep.
Why there are still so many crappy gate and globe valves being sold today, I have no idea. Rip them out and replace them with ball valves. I doubt you have any in your house, but for larger than 2’’ butterfly valves are a good choice.
The first time I tried to turn off the water to one of our toilets, the shutoff started leaking. The washer/gasket/whatever was decaying. I repaired it, and then went and bought some ball valves, but I can’t get the old shut-offs off. Now, whenever I need to do plumbing work, I just shut off the whole house. Sigh.
I had a similar problem with an ancient bathroom sink - the old shutoffs didn’t work and when I turned off the water to the house I found it extremely difficult to actually remove the old shutoffs so that I could put my nice new 1/4 turn valves on. I was removing the old sink and stuff anyhow so I put in nice valves and stainless steel supply lines.
Assuming that it’s screwed on to the stub pipe that sticks out of the wall a pair of good slip-joint pliers and some careful application of elbow grease may do it. You need a pair of pliers so that one grasps the old valve and the other holds the stub in place (otherwise you risk unscrewing or damaging the pipe inside the wall, probably at the next joint). I used some WD40 to help free up the stuck threads.
If the valve is soldered onto the stub pipe then you will probably need to use a blowtorch to melt the solder and then take the old valve off. Any DIY plumbing book will show you how to do this safely.
There are techniques for removing recalcitrant fittings. Yes, WD-40 or other sprays. It isn’t my favorite. One of the easiest is light pounding on the fitting. Heating it with torch and quenching it works well too. I haven’t tried it, but I have heard of heating it and touching it with a candle. One of the most important things is to buck up the stub coming out of the wall. Who knows what evil lies behind the plaster or dry wall. You don’t want to find out. Even if the stub screws out, getting something started back in can be tough. If worst comes to worst, use a Dremel to split the old valve. A bigger wrench can result in the threads on the stub breaking off or bending the copper tubing inside the wall.
We have a 55-year-old house. Last summer when I tried to make a minor repair to one of the upstairs toilets I discovered that the main shutoff valve (one of those old scalloped-wheel-type thingies) wasn’t working. So we called our local plumber and asked him to replace the main shutoff valve.
…which turned into his replacing every shutoff valve in the basement (all 17 of them - it’s a pretty big house). The plumber replaced them (all of which were the scalloped-wheel-type) with quarter-turn valves. While doing so, he told us that the quarter-turn valves were much more efficient than the valves he was replacing. Among other things, he told us that in terms of water pressure those old valves had the same effect as adding twenty feet of pipe to the line.
I love those new shutoff valves. They’re so easy to use and they work just great…
Most of ye olde scalloped wheel type valves are gate valves. Go to Lowes and open one and look through it. You will see nothing but a hole about as big as the pipe. That is one of their advantages, low restriction, lower than all but the ''full port ball valves. Now, globe valves are terribly restrictive. They are much more common as faucets than shutoffs except the angle valves for toilets. If it turns, likely it is a globe valve.
