Gate valves from this era seize open. You will not discover it until you need it. Worth replacing with a quarter-turn ball valve before a burst forces the issue at 2am.

This is most common in homes built before about 1940. Pre-war construction — galvanized supply, cast iron drains, cloth-wrapped wiring, ungrounded circuits.

Related

• Pressure drops at every fixture at once
• Every drain in the house is slow, not just one
• Rusty water only on the first draw
• Sewer backs up in the lowest fixture after heavy rain
• Sewer smell from a room nobody uses
• Hose bib with no vacuum breaker
• Stain on the ceiling directly under a bath
• Laundry standpipe overflows on the spin cycle

Back to Plumbing.

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Written by Jaylan Jones. I Like To Fix earns a referral fee when a call connects to a contractor. See our business-model disclosure.