Part of retiling the master bath in our mobile home required removing the toilet. When I put it back in place, Murphy's Constabulary kicked in and of course it was leaking from behind the nut on the supply line at the tank inlet. Since none of the plumbing equipment, like about mobile homes, accept shutoff valves, a leak or repair requires the water master be turned off. This cuts the water to the entire trailer. Information technology's a bother. I devised a plan to not only repair the leaky toilet, but install a shutoff valve. It's piece of cake, requires only two parts, and takes less than twenty minutes.

If you have standard i/2″ flexible pipage, y'all'll need a 1/two″x5/8″ compression-fitted shutoff valve (~$9.00)

Compression valve.
Compression valve.

and a standard 3/8″ toilet tank supply line  (~$four.50).

Standard toilet supply line.
Standard toilet supply line.

If you don't have any pipage tape, you'll need to take hold of some of that when getting your other parts. For tools yous simply need a abrupt knife or heavy shears, a crescent wrench, and a rag or newspaper towels. The rags are optional, but you lot volition spill water and demand to mop it up somehow.

  1. Close off the water main. (see below if you're not certain which position is off.)
  2. Flush the toilet and soak up the piffling h2o left in the tank. If there'southward a lot, employ a loving cup to empty information technology into the basin.
  3. Disconnect the tank supply line by unscrewing the nut at the base of the tank. A lilliputian water is still going to be in the pipage, but information technology won't be under pressure level.
  4. With your pocketknife or shears cut the 1/2″ supply line beneath the existing nut. Get your cut as straight as possible and be certain to leave enough pipe to work with. Hint: Yous can exit it long and push button information technology back into the floor to shorten it when you're all done.
  5. Insert the supply line into the 5/8″ (larger) side of the shutoff valve and hand tighten.
  6. Loosen the nut you merely tightened and remove the valve.
  7. When the nut slides downwards the supply hose, y'all will see the compression ring stuck on the hose about an inch from the end. If y'all don't see the ring, pull the nut back upwards and reconnect the valve. This time, tighten it about a half-plough with your wrench, and so remove it.
  8. Wrap the pinch ring and the terminate of the supply line with pipe tape. Don't skip this stride!
  9. Reattach the shutoff valve and tighten the nut tightly using your crescent wrench. You'll need to hold the valve to tighten it well.
  10. Plow the valve handle perpendicular (crossways) to the valve and turn the h2o main back on to check for leaks. (If information technology'due south leaking, you probably didn't put on the piping tape similar I told you in step 8.)
  11. If it's not leaking, remove the small nut and compression ring from the other finish of the valve. You won't need them.
  12. Wrap the threads of the valve outlet (the terminate where you only removed the small nut) with pipe record.
  13. Screw the new, standard iii/8″ supply line onto the valve.
  14. Screw the other end of the new line onto the tank'southward inlet.
  15. Open the valve by turning the handle one/4 plow so information technology is inline with the valve.
  16. Check for leaks.
  17. Mind to the tank fill while you clean up the petty bit of water that spilled out of the supply line when you asunder it to kickoff all this.

If y'all don't know how valves work, just remember that turning the valve handle and then information technology crosses the piping (perpendicular) closes the valve. Think of it equally a dam across a river. Turning information technology parallel to the pipe opens the valve. Accept this opportunity to put caulk in the pigsty where the supply line comes in.

Whether you're doing this to fix a leak or merely to add a shutoff valve to your toilet, you'll find information technology's a quick, like shooting fish in a barrel, inexpensive fix.

Newly installed toilet tank hose and shutoff valve.
Newly installed toilet tank hose and shutoff valve.

Go along chasing the odd, petty happy.

I write. I blog. I vlog. I sing & trip the light fantastic toe & spray seltzer down my pants. There's more at Youtube /theBarefoot and /We're Fixin' To Camp. View all posts by theBarefoot