Angle Stop Valves - In Demand Plumbing Antioch CA

Angle Stops

Replacing Angle Stops

Angle stops are the emergency shut off valves that can save your home from flooding if your faucets spring a leak. You will find angle stops or angle stop valves in many places throughout your home. In fact, you will probably find one wherever you have a faucet for water supply. Most commonly, these angled valves will be seen under your kitchen sink, bathroom sink, in the laundry area and behind the toilet too.

What do they do?

The angle stop lets you cut off the water supply to a leaking faucet so that there is no more water dripping from it and overflowing into the surrounding areas. When you have a faulty faucet with a drip, the first thing for you to do is turn off the angle stop that controls water supply to this line. When you call in the plumber, this is the first thing he will do too if you haven’t already. This lets him work on the faucet or remove it without unleashing a shower of water from the open pipe.

How does the angle stop get damaged?

Sometimes angle stops gets damaged resulting in a continuous leak. If your angle stop valves are made of plastic they can get damaged when you are tightening them onto the pies. The threads may wear off very quickly with plastic stops and this makes them ineffective. A cheap plastic angle stop may start leaking within a short time after you have it installed.

If you have hard water running through your pipes, then your angle stop valves may get corroded over time. At some point the metal is so corroded that the angle stop starts leaking. Then you end up with a pool of water under the kitchen sink or in the bathroom beneath the pipe where the stop is positioned. If the leak is a bad one, you may not get adequate water when you open the faucet above because much of it is flowing out well before it reaches the faucet. Another problem with corroded angle stop valves is that they may get jammed, preventing you from turning them to shut off the water supply.

Dealing with angle stop problems

Although there are many plumbing problems that you can fix by yourself, it is best to leave a leaky angle stop to a professional plumber. Remember that if you accidentally damage the stop while removing or tightening it, you risk flooding your entire house. A professional has the perfect tools as well as the expertise to know what to do about your leaky angle stop and how to do it. He will also be able to get good quality stops to replace your old one so that the problem does not recur. If you are troubled by a leaking angle stop you should call a reliable and efficient plumbing service right away to ensure that you get the leak fixed quickly and perfectly.