I live in a condo in an 18-unit building, and, unfortunately, none of the units has its own main water shutoff. The plumbing is set up in such a way that everything is shared, and there is no place for me to install a main shutoff for my unit even if I wanted to.

All of my shutoffs (sinks, toilets, washing machine, fridge) are the multi-turn type, and I've had a few leaks in the past (that were fortunately resolved by tightening the packing nut). Without a main shutoff, any type of leak makes me nervous, so I decided to replace some of these gate valves with quarter-turn ball valves.

After arranging for water to be shut off to the entire building and giving all the residents 72 hours advance notice, I had a plumber come out and install a new washing machine outlet box. The plastic box is glued to the drainpipe and also firmly attached to the valves and copper pipes, but it's just a little bit crooked. The box comes with plastic mounting brackets, and the plumber told me that those can be attached to the nearest studs when the drywall is repaired (he didn't want to tear up more drywall than necessary), and that will straighten out the box. He assured me that the pipes have the flexibility to do that, but I'm worried nonetheless - especially since I don't have a main shutoff if something starts to leak from the pipe or valve thread.

How durable are copper pipes? If I mount the outlet box to the wall, are the copper pipes going to be under extra tension that might result in a leak? There's no easy way for me to post a picture, but one side of the box would have to be pushed back about 2 inches to be in line with the stud.

Any thoughts/comments are appreciated. Thanks.

TWO inches? There is no way the drain line will rotate that much and he must have been a hack to put it in that way. A good plumber attaches the straps so the studs when HE installs the box.

Agree 100% with HJ !

PlumbCat TM 2003


Plumbermandan

How easy does the box move? It's common to have some play in unattached pipes and the box may just be leaning forward due to that. If you can push the box into place with one finger of light pressure it should be fine, but anything more than that means it was installed improperly as hj says.

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Not a plumber by trade but a fierce DIYer

He stated that one side is 2" outside the wall.

I got the impression the whole thing was leaning out 2" from the wall. Hard to say without a picture to see the situation and how the pipes were run.

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Not a plumber by trade but a fierce DIYer

Best to post a picture.

[www.plbg.com]

Sounds like your plumber didn't really do his job? Why wouldn't he remove enough drywall to secure the box to the studs? Those outlet boxes are not easy to rough in. Soldering close to them is tricky as the drain pipe and the box can't be subjected to high temperature, and threading the valves inside the box can also be tricky since there may not be room to steady a wrench onto the valves as you tighten. I know it looks neat, tidy and recessed but the biggest problem I have is once you finish the wall, if one of the valves were to malfunction, to replace it you most likely have to tear up the wall again either to cut the pipe from below it to remove the valve, or to use a wrench to hold on to the adapter fitting on the underside of the valve box so you can turn the valve inside the box. I even had one box you can't even rotate a valve 360 inside the box and to remove it you have to cut the copper below then turn the pipe to unthread.

The box is just slightly askew. Right side lines up with the stud, left side sticks out a bit - slightly less than 2". The plumber had a difficult time with this. The copper pipes do not run parallel to each other straight up into the box. The cold water pipe is visible in the picture, but the hot water pipe goes back at an angle, and there's an electrical cable snaking between them (visible at bottom left corner).

I take the blame for the plumber not mounting the box to the studs - he offered but thought I might prefer to just have a drywall guy do it. I thought that might be easier since the plumber doesn't do drywall work. Probably a bad decision on my part. So now I can either 1) push the left side of the box back a couple of inches to mount it to the stud (in which case the copper pipes will push back), or 2) mount brackets on the right side of the box only, and just leave the left side sticking out. Once the plastic frame goes over the box, it will hardly be noticeable, and this thing is in a closet behind the washing machine, so nobody is going to see it anyway.

I would leave the left side as it is and put a shim behind the right side.
the box will stick out too far but you can put some wood trim (like a picture frame) around the edge and then mount the cover.

if you are clever with the wood trim around the box. no drywall guy needed.

If it will "hardly be noticeable" then it is NOT out 2".

[@#$%&[postimages.org]][/url]


As per the OP: the plumber offered to attach box to stud, offer was refused

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

That still does NOT relieve him of the obligation to install it level and plumb.

The OP paid the bill

ergo

the OP was satisfied with the work performed.




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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

still unclear if the box is not level/plumb or whether it was but because it's not secured, when OP connected the supply and drain hoses they pulled on the box and caused it to tilt forward.

see my comment above

wtfc?

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Never heard of "buyer's remorse"?

wtfc, except the buyer



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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

The box was level when it was glued to the drainpipe. It's the copper pipes that are exerting a force on it to make it slightly askew. It would look the same with the hoses disconnected. As previously mentioned, the plumber had a difficult time with this. The pipes run in different directions, and he couldn't solder near the box for fear of melting it. If I had my own main water shutoff, I could have asked him to keep working on it until it was perfect. But I had to shut off water to an entire building with 18 units, so I made the decision that this was good enough. Tearing up drywall and mounting brackets to studs is work that can be done without a plumber. I just wanted to know if there's any risk of stressing or damaging the copper pipes by pushing the left side of the box back a couple of inches.

assuming there is 2-4' of unsupported copper tube -> you will be OK

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638