Information On Different Plumbing Valves

The Types of Water Valves You'll Find in Your Home

When it comes to plumbing and water valves, there are several types that you may encounter in your home. In this article, we'll explore some of the most common types of water valves, including gate valves, ball valves, and others.

Gate Valves: A Basic Overview

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One of the most common types of valves you'll find in your home is the gate valve. Gate valves are simple, yet effective, and can be found in a variety of configurations, including compression style and push-in style. The compression style gate valve features a brass fitting that screws onto copper pipe, while the push-in style uses a quarter-turn fitting. These gates can be turned on or off by simply twisting them.

Gate Valves: Additional Types

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In addition to the basic compression style and push-in style gate valves, there are other types available as well. For example, some gate valves come with a drain hole that allows you to empty out water from the valve in the winter months. This can be helpful for maintaining the valve's functionality over time. Gate valves also come with various materials, such as brass and copper, which provide durability and resistance to corrosion.

Gate Valves: Solder-On and Compression Style

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A gate valve is also available in a solder-on style fitting. This type of gate valve features a quarter-turn nut that can be turned on or off to control the flow of water. When you turn the nut, it opens or closes the valve by moving a little plunger inside the valve. The key to using this style valve is to not heat it up too much, as the rubber bushing or cork inside the valve can melt and cause problems.

Gate Valves: Ball Valves

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Another type of gate valve is the ball valve. This type of valve features a quarter-turn mechanism that allows you to turn the valve on or off quickly and easily. The ball valves are often used in areas where they need to be frequently turned on and off, such as under sinks or toilets. They come with various materials, including brass and copper, which provide durability and resistance to corrosion.

Ball Valves: Additional Types

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In addition to the basic quarter-turn ball valve, there are other types available as well. For example, some ball valves feature a push-in style fitting that can be used with plastic or braided hoses. These valves come in various configurations, including threaded and screw-on styles. The threaded style uses a quarter-turn mechanism, while the screw-on style uses a flat spring-loaded nut to turn the valve on or off.

Ball Valves: Quarter-Turn Ball Valve

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The quarter-turn ball valve is one of the most popular types of ball valves available today. This type of valve features a simple quarter-turn mechanism that allows you to quickly and easily turn the valve on or off. The key to using this style valve is to keep it well-lubricated by occasionally moving it while it's not in use. This will help prevent seized-up issues when you do need to use the valve.

Choosing the Right Water Valve for Your Home

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When choosing a water valve for your home, there are several factors to consider. These include the type of material used (such as brass or copper), the configuration of the valve (such as compression style or push-in style), and the intended application (such as under sinks or toilets). By understanding these factors, you can choose the right water valve for your specific needs.

In conclusion, there are several types of valves that you'll find in your home. From gate valves to ball valves, each type has its own unique characteristics and benefits. Understanding the different types of valves available will help you make informed decisions when it comes to selecting a new valve or repairing an existing one.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi Shannon here from house improvements calm and today I just want to show you a little bit about some of the different valves you might use in a plumbing project around your house I've got I don't know what I got here six or seven different ones some of the more common ones some you may not have ever seen before it's hard to see so I just want to talk a little bit about each one so we're going to start down at this let this end here and what we've got this and these all these come in different sizes depending on the type of pipe here you're going to work with this one here is a ball valve type fitting so you can see it doesn't have a tap on the front this is your tap or your your valve so what it's actually doing is it's actually turning a ball which is inside the valve and you can see there where the water can actually flow through in the on position when you turn it across it just rotates that valve so then the water is not flowing these are probably I'm not talking about the brand but the ball valve in general is probably the best type of elv you can use as opposed to this type of valve the problem with a gate valve or this type that I'm holding here is over time they get a bit corroded up and they don't function the way they should when they're being when they're when they're new unless it's something you're using all the time they tend to kind of crow it up these don't tend to do that as much they're very very positive as far as its offer on there's no there's no questioning which way you've got it or anything they they don't tend to crow it up as bad so I prefer a ball valve whenever I can put them in they are more money just depending on the valve the manufacturer that sort of thing you might pay another 30 40 percent more for a ball valve but in the long term it's a much better system this particular one is basically got a compression fitting on the end so this this one's made for half-inch pipe for half-inch copper so what you would do you've got some half-inch copper here you'd slide this knot on there's a little brass fitting inside there kind of a compression fitting and it just fits on to the copper tubing like so then you'd insert this fully into the valve that slides up tight this goes on and threads on and then you'd put a wrench on the on the valve body and a wrench on the nut and tighten it up and what it does as you tighten it it squeezes this brass fitting which basically plugs that gap there there very good once you put it on there you're not going to have a leak it's it's a very good system it's great for doing a little renovation where maybe you had to cut out an old valve that was soldered in and you need to add something in there it can be used in new construction Renaud's doesn't really matter they work very well a lot of them I'm not seeing it on this one some of them will have an arrow an actual direction aerial for the flow of water so just pay attention to that this one just shows the size on the outside it doesn't actually shows direction of water sometimes depending on the guts inside the water flows better going one direction than the other so just pay particular attention to that okay so that's that's a ball valve with compression fitting on the animal here's another ball valve this one is from a series of valves that is getting very popular where it's just to push in fitting so there's no tightening that up with a nut there's no soldering these particular ones can be used in both copper and in packs or worse bow type plumbing so you know in the worst bowl or the plastic pipe piping in your house that you might have what happens is and we're going to do there we will have a video just on compression type fittings as well which is this this type of fitting but so that what happens is this needs to slide on a good just about a full inch so you usually put a little mark there you can see there's a little fitting inside of there when you're using the plastic pipe that fitting has to stay in so you get that in there and seat that fully in there and that's that's there there's a ring in there and then there's some steam steel teeth that basically what happens once you slide that in there you can't slide that back out not not physically by pulling it by hand you have to use these little keys to release that and again I'll talk more about that on the compression fitting video so basically this little tool would just go against there's a there's a rib there and that comes out now that this works the same way with copper as well with the copper you just want to take some needlenose pliers and pull this insert out you don't need it and the copper would just slide in there exactly the same way and can be released exactly the same way from the compressor from the slide in fitting okay so that's still a ball valve this one doesn't actually show a direction either so so that's still another type of ball valve then we get into more of a gate valve type setup so this is typically what you see you got the old knob you turn it tighter closed whatever this particular one this one here actually has a dream so this could be put on for an outside tap on your house or something where in the winter you want to drain the water back out of it so this one here you would drain it in the winter this one does have a direction as well there is a little arrow on there and that's more so to do with the fact that it's got a drain on it for this one went and this one is the compression style before like I said where you can slide it onto copper pipe it's got the little brass fitting that goes on the pipe and then you just tighten everything up and it's all good so that that's a gate valve another type of gate valve basically the only difference with this one is it's for soldering only so you'd clean up your pipe insert it however you wanted heat the valve up which when you do that you would take a wrench and take this nut off and then the guts come out so that you don't because there's a rubber bushing or sometimes it might even be cork inside there you don't want to get it too hot so you usually take the guts out before you solder solder this all up put the guts back in turn your water on you're good to go okay so that's just another type of gate valve the the ball valves I showed you earlier you can get them where you sort of them like that as well so so here's a here's a type of valve that you probably see in your house this one you might see under your sink for your water lines or you might see it for your toilet water line so it's simply it's another type of a gate valve simply turns and it moves a little plunger inside there that either lets water in or not or doesn't and this particular one is a solder on type fitting so same idea if you take this nut off all the guts come out so you don't overheat the little rubber in there but you're put it on your pipe solder it up and then put your guts back in once it's cooled down enough okay so that's a gate valve as well same basically same fitting here except this one has the compression fitting like we've seen before this one I've stolen the ring out of I guess but there'd be a copper ring in there again just tighten it up there's the same thing up on this end going up to the toilet or your water or whatever there's a little copper piece in there okay so there's that one okay so now we're back to the press in pushing type fitting which is this one and again this is you know this could be on your your water lines under your sink or whatever be the same idea it works on copper or the plastic tubing and it does have I don't know if you can see it because this one's more clear but it does have the insert inside there that you need for the plastic piping pull it out if you're using on a copper so you'd simply push that on the other end on this one is set up to thread on either a braided line going up to your water hose water faucet or you can use it with the plastic water lines that you sometimes see the more inexpensive ones this one here is called a quarter-turn ball valve so it it just takes you know basically a quarter of a turn to turn it off or on so it's it's really quick there's not you know with these other ones you're twisting twisting twisting right so those are the those are the basic types of valves that you're going to find in your house for at least for water just thought it'd be worth going through them and just showing what the options are like I said that the ball valves I prefer the one's also icy all the time they're under your sink they never get turned off and on and until you need them for an emergency and they're so corroded up that they either won't turn or you break them or you turn them and they leak anyways so go to the ball valves if you're changing your sink or whatever switch it over to the ball valve and just save yourself some headache down the road if you're if you're going to use these one thing that I always tell customers if this is the type that they want because they are a little bit less expensive but it isn't a big amount but just turn them off and on whenever you think of it just once in a while just keep some move and keeps them kind of lubricated up and chances are they won't be a seized up when you do need them for an emergency okay so there's your water valves a few different types solder on compression push in and those are the main ones you're going to see in your home okay so another video wrapped up I guess like I always say you can go to our website we've got a bunch of articles on there we've got videos blah blah blah we've got the forum go check it out and see what see if you think of the rest of our stuffhi Shannon here from house improvements calm and today I just want to show you a little bit about some of the different valves you might use in a plumbing project around your house I've got I don't know what I got here six or seven different ones some of the more common ones some you may not have ever seen before it's hard to see so I just want to talk a little bit about each one so we're going to start down at this let this end here and what we've got this and these all these come in different sizes depending on the type of pipe here you're going to work with this one here is a ball valve type fitting so you can see it doesn't have a tap on the front this is your tap or your your valve so what it's actually doing is it's actually turning a ball which is inside the valve and you can see there where the water can actually flow through in the on position when you turn it across it just rotates that valve so then the water is not flowing these are probably I'm not talking about the brand but the ball valve in general is probably the best type of elv you can use as opposed to this type of valve the problem with a gate valve or this type that I'm holding here is over time they get a bit corroded up and they don't function the way they should when they're being when they're when they're new unless it's something you're using all the time they tend to kind of crow it up these don't tend to do that as much they're very very positive as far as its offer on there's no there's no questioning which way you've got it or anything they they don't tend to crow it up as bad so I prefer a ball valve whenever I can put them in they are more money just depending on the valve the manufacturer that sort of thing you might pay another 30 40 percent more for a ball valve but in the long term it's a much better system this particular one is basically got a compression fitting on the end so this this one's made for half-inch pipe for half-inch copper so what you would do you've got some half-inch copper here you'd slide this knot on there's a little brass fitting inside there kind of a compression fitting and it just fits on to the copper tubing like so then you'd insert this fully into the valve that slides up tight this goes on and threads on and then you'd put a wrench on the on the valve body and a wrench on the nut and tighten it up and what it does as you tighten it it squeezes this brass fitting which basically plugs that gap there there very good once you put it on there you're not going to have a leak it's it's a very good system it's great for doing a little renovation where maybe you had to cut out an old valve that was soldered in and you need to add something in there it can be used in new construction Renaud's doesn't really matter they work very well a lot of them I'm not seeing it on this one some of them will have an arrow an actual direction aerial for the flow of water so just pay attention to that this one just shows the size on the outside it doesn't actually shows direction of water sometimes depending on the guts inside the water flows better going one direction than the other so just pay particular attention to that okay so that's that's a ball valve with compression fitting on the animal here's another ball valve this one is from a series of valves that is getting very popular where it's just to push in fitting so there's no tightening that up with a nut there's no soldering these particular ones can be used in both copper and in packs or worse bow type plumbing so you know in the worst bowl or the plastic pipe piping in your house that you might have what happens is and we're going to do there we will have a video just on compression type fittings as well which is this this type of fitting but so that what happens is this needs to slide on a good just about a full inch so you usually put a little mark there you can see there's a little fitting inside of there when you're using the plastic pipe that fitting has to stay in so you get that in there and seat that fully in there and that's that's there there's a ring in there and then there's some steam steel teeth that basically what happens once you slide that in there you can't slide that back out not not physically by pulling it by hand you have to use these little keys to release that and again I'll talk more about that on the compression fitting video so basically this little tool would just go against there's a there's a rib there and that comes out now that this works the same way with copper as well with the copper you just want to take some needlenose pliers and pull this insert out you don't need it and the copper would just slide in there exactly the same way and can be released exactly the same way from the compressor from the slide in fitting okay so that's still a ball valve this one doesn't actually show a direction either so so that's still another type of ball valve then we get into more of a gate valve type setup so this is typically what you see you got the old knob you turn it tighter closed whatever this particular one this one here actually has a dream so this could be put on for an outside tap on your house or something where in the winter you want to drain the water back out of it so this one here you would drain it in the winter this one does have a direction as well there is a little arrow on there and that's more so to do with the fact that it's got a drain on it for this one went and this one is the compression style before like I said where you can slide it onto copper pipe it's got the little brass fitting that goes on the pipe and then you just tighten everything up and it's all good so that that's a gate valve another type of gate valve basically the only difference with this one is it's for soldering only so you'd clean up your pipe insert it however you wanted heat the valve up which when you do that you would take a wrench and take this nut off and then the guts come out so that you don't because there's a rubber bushing or sometimes it might even be cork inside there you don't want to get it too hot so you usually take the guts out before you solder solder this all up put the guts back in turn your water on you're good to go okay so that's just another type of gate valve the the ball valves I showed you earlier you can get them where you sort of them like that as well so so here's a here's a type of valve that you probably see in your house this one you might see under your sink for your water lines or you might see it for your toilet water line so it's simply it's another type of a gate valve simply turns and it moves a little plunger inside there that either lets water in or not or doesn't and this particular one is a solder on type fitting so same idea if you take this nut off all the guts come out so you don't overheat the little rubber in there but you're put it on your pipe solder it up and then put your guts back in once it's cooled down enough okay so that's a gate valve as well same basically same fitting here except this one has the compression fitting like we've seen before this one I've stolen the ring out of I guess but there'd be a copper ring in there again just tighten it up there's the same thing up on this end going up to the toilet or your water or whatever there's a little copper piece in there okay so there's that one okay so now we're back to the press in pushing type fitting which is this one and again this is you know this could be on your your water lines under your sink or whatever be the same idea it works on copper or the plastic tubing and it does have I don't know if you can see it because this one's more clear but it does have the insert inside there that you need for the plastic piping pull it out if you're using on a copper so you'd simply push that on the other end on this one is set up to thread on either a braided line going up to your water hose water faucet or you can use it with the plastic water lines that you sometimes see the more inexpensive ones this one here is called a quarter-turn ball valve so it it just takes you know basically a quarter of a turn to turn it off or on so it's it's really quick there's not you know with these other ones you're twisting twisting twisting right so those are the those are the basic types of valves that you're going to find in your house for at least for water just thought it'd be worth going through them and just showing what the options are like I said that the ball valves I prefer the one's also icy all the time they're under your sink they never get turned off and on and until you need them for an emergency and they're so corroded up that they either won't turn or you break them or you turn them and they leak anyways so go to the ball valves if you're changing your sink or whatever switch it over to the ball valve and just save yourself some headache down the road if you're if you're going to use these one thing that I always tell customers if this is the type that they want because they are a little bit less expensive but it isn't a big amount but just turn them off and on whenever you think of it just once in a while just keep some move and keeps them kind of lubricated up and chances are they won't be a seized up when you do need them for an emergency okay so there's your water valves a few different types solder on compression push in and those are the main ones you're going to see in your home okay so another video wrapped up I guess like I always say you can go to our website we've got a bunch of articles on there we've got videos blah blah blah we've got the forum go check it out and see what see if you think of the rest of our stuff\n"