Submitted by Apprehensive-Egg374 t3_10lfuwo in DIY
Apprehensive-Egg374 OP t1_j642j5n wrote
Reply to comment by squarebacksteve in How can I add a second 1/4 inch water line to under my kitchen sink? by Apprehensive-Egg374
Sorry one last question. I’m realizing now that when I try to take off the shutter valve, the pipe may crack, or the threads for the pipe might come off with the shutter valve. If that happens, the other end of the pipe is far behind the wall and I don’t have access to it to replace the whole pipe. Would there be a way to solve this issue in case it happens without removing the wall to change the pipe? Like is there an adaptor or something that I can use to attach to the pipe if it breaks off to give me a threaded end to use?
squarebacksteve t1_j64fwkr wrote
In 13 years I've never had threads "come off" with the pipe. The only thing I've had happen is the pipe would crush when I beared down while removing. Those pipes I knew were unlikely to hold up though because they were so corroded, and were steel-steel. Yours looks like it's in remarkably good shape to me and I would have no worries about it. Brass-steel is much easier to remove and brass-brass even more so. That said, nothing in life is guaranteed and yea you might be in trouble if something were to break. If it comes to that, you can cut off the damaged threads and after sanding/cleaning any scratches or scapes off the pipe use an IPS (iron pipe size, same outside diameter as galvanized steel, brass, and PVC) shark bite like this and continue your work exactly like you would have done, or if it's a hard to find item you can probably more easily find a shark bite 1/2" IPS cap to install until you can get the parts you need. Rethreading the pipe is also possible but not an option I'd go for at that point.
Your best bet to avoid damage is to make sure your wrenches are secure while you're removing the old shut off valve, and put your leverage into the wrenches, not the pipe. I see guys put their weight into the wrench and it puts stress on the pipe.
Apprehensive-Egg374 OP t1_j651xvt wrote
Thank you so much!
Here are some better pictures of the pipe. This is brass?
Also, the fitting you gave me is technically for PVC. It would be ok to use for those pipes if they are cut off?
squarebacksteve t1_j65eb7g wrote
Hard to tell if it's brass or not, but I'm leaning towards yes. The angle stop definitely is. If you rub sandpaper on the pipe it should look gold if it's brass, silver if steel. If you have a nice strong magnet to test with the brass will not stick to it. That link I posted is for a PVC transition but it says it's also for ips. PVC, iron, steel, and brass piping all have the same outside diameter, so it should fit. I've never used an IPS one because I've never had to and in general I prefer not to use shark bites (they very rarely fail but are not the most reliable method of repair) but from the description it does say it works for IPS. If you do have to use a shark bite, the pipe must be damn near perfectly smooth and without scrapes or burrs or else it will damage the shark bite's o-ring and cause a leak.
I don't think you'll have an issue unthreading the old valve, I just want to give you some emergency options.
Apprehensive-Egg374 OP t1_j65kkq8 wrote
Ok—thank you so so much! I’ll let you know how it goes!
squarebacksteve t1_j65y1nd wrote
Please do!
Apprehensive-Egg374 OP t1_j6e1hth wrote
To be honest, I’m getting tempted to just leave it all as it is, and just add in another 1/4 tee above the current 1/4 tee for the fridge and leave it all be. At the end of the day, my initial question was just “can I add a Tee on top of the Tee” and I got my answer which was a yes lol
At the end of the day, if the pipe coming out of the wall snaps, there doesn’t seem be anyway to solve the issue other than taking that pipe off. Which can then cause the pipe in the wall to snap off and cause a bigger headache. Worse, it’s possible that when I try to take off the valve, the piping in the wall is galvanized pipe and that snaps off in the wall. I don’t really have the thousands of dollars it would cost to hire a plumber to fix that issue. Given how I don’t know if the pipe in the wall is an old rusted and corroded galvanized pipe that could snap in an instant when I try to remove the old valve, I feel as though this is just to risky for me.
I don’t know. What do you think? Do you think it’s really a small risk? I’m just scared the pipe behind the wall might be an old and corroded galvanized pipe that can burst and cause me issues. Even if the pipe coming out of the wall bursts, I don’t know if using that shark bite is the best idea since it’s “technically“ not made for brass but PVC. And I assume I’d have to remove the pipe to rethread it. So this whole job just seems very risky and I just don’t know if it’s worth. If something breaks, it doesn’t seem like I could permanently fix it without calling in a plumber and spending $1000+. I’m from NY so it’s really expensive here.
You have any thoughts? You think it’s low risk and I could do it? If something breaks, you have any other suggestions in case the shark bite fitting doesn’t work on the brass?
squarebacksteve t1_j6ffhtv wrote
It's easy for me to say I'd go for it, but I could fix it if it broke, and I kind of have the muscle memory to know "this is gonna break if I have to wrench on it harder". If one of my employees just added a tee, I'd be irritated because it would be lazy work, and the customer doesn't hire us to do lazy work.
But! Adding another tee is 100% possible, and while I would never do it, you definitely can and I give you my blessing to just add the tee and leave it at that 👍 it'll still be better than government work!
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