After shutting off the hot and cold water lines to my washer to remove the unit from my laundry room i noticed a small leak coming from the hot water valve as if the valve is not completely closing. The valves themselves should be roughly 10 years old and were extremely tight when attempting to close them, my question is how big of a job is this to replace the water valve? Is it as simple as turning off the main water to the house and replacing the valve or are these typically soldered on? Currently i just ran the hose for the hot water to the drain line to prevent water from leaking onto the floor so is this something that is a fairly non issue once i hook the lines back up to the washer and turn them back on? Or is this something i should get addressed asap?
Of course, the best solution is to replace the valve. Valves are either soldered on or attached to the pipe with compression fittings. If the pipe is copper and you see a silver band of metal between the pipe and the valve, that's probably solder. In this case, it would be best to let a plumber replace the valve. Otherwise, if your valve is attached with a compression fitting, you can get a new valve at your local home improvement store in the plumbing section. I recommend getting a 1/4 turn, steel ball valve. These are very simple and reliable valves. When you remove the old valve, be sure to also remove the compression washer and shoulder nut as well. You'll want to use the new ones that come with your valve. I also recommend using Teflon tape to wrap the threads of your new valve, at least two times in the direction of nut tightening. This will reduce the chance of leakage through the threads. Tighten the compression washer between the valve and the shoulder nut snugly. Make sure the valve is off. Turn the water on and check for leaks. If you see periodic drips, tighten the shoulder nut until the dripping stops. The other cheap and dirty alternative is to get a cap for your existing valve. These are also available in the plumbing section of your home improvement store. They run about $2-3, I believe, and are threaded onto the faucet where your hose attaches. That will keep your leaking valve from dripping all over the place.
Not to sound insulting but the hose will have water left in after you turn the valve off , use a bucket and drain the house before you go tearing things apart. You really do not have to change the whole valve if that is the case, there is a rubber washer inside of the valve which may be worn or distorted from over tightening of the valve.Either way you have to drain the system I would tell you to attend one of the plumbing classes at Home depot to learn what to do they hold them all of the time .
