Sick Day?

I called in sick today to take a break from the work place and try to get in a little R & R, but one chore I wanted to take care of was the hot water handle in the shower. It's been acting up and just needed a new washer. In order to do the repair I needed to cut off the water supply to the house and it's no big deal, I've done it several times in the past. Well after fixing the shower I noticed the shut off valve was leaking. Great! I was hoping to get lucky by pulling the stem out, buying  a similar valve and putting the new stem in. Not a chance! The valve is/was probably the original from 40 years ago and they've gone through several changes since. 

Here's the culprit now and I think I see the problem. 

I used our Christmas Tree funnel to catch the water and transfer it into the bucket while I scratched my head. 

Here's a before picture with a little better view after cutting the drywall out of the way. 

After 7 hours, 4 trips to the store and 50 bucks worth of parts, I have a finished product and a little more experience in the plumbing department. I actually got pretty lucky because I didn't have to do any digging. So much for my R & R?  

  

I did the repair correctly, but I had some bad luck during the process so I'm leaving the funnel in place just in case.