In this video, This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey shows how to quickly and easily fix a faulty valve.
How to Fix Shut-Off Valve Leak
- Close the main water supply to the leaky valve.
- Loosen the bonnet nut on the leaky shut-off valve with an adjustable wrench.
- Pull the nut back to expose the valve's threaded spindle.
- Wrap Teflon packing around the spindle, then hand-tighten the bonnet nut back into place.
- Use the wrench to firmly tighten the nut, but don't over tighten it.
- Turn the main water-supply valve back on.
- Now slowly open the repaired shut-off valve, and check to make sure it's no longer leaking.