Supply Line and Stop Replacement

Have ready

Empty the cabinet under each sink and clear the space behind the toilet, because we need to reach the stop and the wall. Have a towel or a bucket handy and know where the main shutoff is. The first three checks are whether the stop turns and holds, the condition of the supply line and the escutcheon at the wall, and the nut size and thread on the fixture connection. We also look at the floor and the cabinet bottom for a slow leak that has been running.

• Replace corroded stops
• Stainless braided supplies
• Check for a seized angle stop
• Leak test at pressure

The visit

A supply line and stop replacement visit starts by naming the failure, not by selling the fix. We check what the problem touched, protect the floors and the rooms below, and leave a written scope. The work is done in one sequence by the same company, so the trade that caused the damage is the trade that closes it.

What fails first on the Shore is what we look at: salt-rotted fasteners, water finding the soft spot, and the 'quick fix' that never dealt with the cause. For supply line and stop replacement, the tell is usually visible on the first visit, and we say what it means in plain English.

Permit

Replacing a supply line or an angle stop is a repair and normally needs no permit, and no inspection applies. It is the same pipe in the same place with a new valve on the end. A permit is normally required when the work grows into a re-pipe of the room or the house, when a new fixture is added, or when a line is run inside a wall that did not have one. We tell you if the job is turning into something that needs a permit.

On the Shore

The braided supply and the stop under a shore sink are the parts most likely to fail quietly. Salt air pits the chrome and corrodes the ferrule and the nut, and the rubber or plastic inside the line hardens, so it weeps at the crimp. A stop that is never turned seizes, and then it will not close when you need it. In a house that sits cold, water left in the line freezes and splits the fitting. Stainless braided line and a quarter-turn stop last longer here.

When we leave

Every new stop gets turned off and on twice to prove it travels, then the line is pressurized and the connection at the stop and at the fixture is checked with a dry towel and a light. We fill the sink or flush the toilet and watch the joint again under flow. Any drip is caught before we leave. We also check that the escutcheon sits against the wall and the line is not kinked or stretched. If the cabinet is damp, we tell you.

Built with

We use a braided stainless supply line with a polymer core and a brass nut, or a braided polymer line where the fixture takes one, and a quarter-turn ball stop in brass. Compression fittings go on copper, and a push-fit stop is used only where the pipe is clean and the maker allows it. We match the thread to the fixture, and we use a new escutcheon and a fresh ferrule rather than reusing the old one. No plastic nuts under a sink.