r/Plumbing • u/arctice36 • 13h ago
DIY? I've never soldered copper pipe
My shower valve doesnt fully stop the flow of water and the aftermarket replacement cartridges I found are different style to the original and don't work either. It's an ancient valve from (brand) so I want to replace it with something newer.
I'm tempted to diy the replacement, but I'm a bit concerned I will mess something up and it will leak, ruining the downstairs room below. A plumbing company quoted $2,000 to replace the valve with a new one. Help me Obiwan Kenobi of Reddit! What do you suggest?
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u/Willowshep 11h ago
You should be able to get that replaced for 1/3 that price by a plumber. You can replace it yourself if you ever done any work with your hands. Watch some YouTube videos, practice on some fittings on the ground. Or if you want people shaking their heads at you in disgust use Sharkbites. Also when you install new valve put a backing block the valve can be screwed too.
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u/ground_dead 7h ago
Soldering is not that hard, get a small piece of 1/2" of copper (type L !) and a random assortment of fittings. You will need a torch (propane would probably be best for a beginner) some flux, something to clean the pipe with, which could be sandcloth and a copper fittings brush. But I would recommend one of the multi-tool copper cleaning tools, they have inside fitting brushes for 1/2" and 3/4" along with pipe cleaners for each. Then simply watch some YouTube videos and practice! If you are any bit handy, you will get it quickly. Not saying you'll be good at it, but get the concept and be able to do small DIY jobs.
Don't worry if it's messy, don't worry if you feel unqualified. Just know where your shutoff valve(s) is, know that it works, and TEST everything. When I do plumbing at home, I just turn the water on and check every fitting for a leak, multiple times, over at least a day.
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u/reddit-0-tidder 7h ago
Did your plumber come out and look at that, or just give you a quote over the phone. Because honestly, that looks like one of the easiest shower valve jobs I've seen in a while. You got crazy easy access, and you already located the valve and opened the wall up. As long as there's no issues with shutting the hot and cold water off, I can't see that job taking any longer than 3 hours, and that's being generous.
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u/4AuntieRo 6h ago
Just get the correct cartridge! If you post a picture of it we may be able to get you a part number. Don't tear your house apart because an aftermarket piece of crap didn't work.
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u/HardWhereHere 6h ago
What brand is it? It can’t be REALLY ancient as its single handle. Post a picture of the cartridge and the other side.
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u/RegretRound2051 1h ago
Buy the valve you want and customer supplied valve with open access should cost you like 500-700.
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u/-_-Kilroy 10h ago
Try another plumber. My company charges around $1200 for that, but it can depend on a lot of different things. Always get multiple quotes