That cheap water shutoff valve burst at 2am last night

I installed a $6 brass valve from the hardware store under my kitchen sink 3 months ago and woke up to water spraying everywhere in the dark. The whole cabinet floor was soaked through and the vinyl plank started buckling before I could shut the main line off in the crawlspace. Anyone else had these budget valves fail on them or did I just get a lemon?

2 comments

2 Comments

hayden72019d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I gotta push back on this one... I've actually got a couple of those cheap quarter-turn brass valves under my sinks that have been going strong for almost five years now. No drips, no bursts, nothing. The trick is you can't just crank them down tight like the old multi-turn valves, you gotta stop at snug or you crack the ferrule inside. Plus a lot of those "budget" failures come from people not supporting the pipe right behind it - if the copper is bouncing around every time you open the cabinet door, you're asking for trouble. I bet your issue was either overtightening or maybe the pipe wasn't seated all the way into the compression ring.

reed.ray19d ago

Man that sucks bad, waking up to a flood in the dark is a nightmare. Even if hayden720 has had good luck with those cheap valves, a $6 part is a gamble you shouldn't have to take under a kitchen sink. I'd rather spend the extra ten bucks on a proper quarter-turn from a plumbing supply house than risk another 2am surprise.