Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - replacing toilet main water supply valve

I have tried all I can do to avoid this job, but alas, I do believe I have a bad valve. Water is leaking from the joint where the valve meets the toilet supply line, right above floor level. I assume this can go bad in time, and my house is about 11 years old. Is this a repair I can do myself? Am I correct that I have to shut the water supply off to the entire portion of the house to replace this? Should I replace the line from the valve to the toilet while I'm at it (that's the joint that's the problem)?

What type of problems might I run into... other than the problem of breaking the nut loose? Should I just call the plumber in? (hate to do that if I don't have to.) Any help or tips you can give me are most appreciated.

Hi black,
- this is easy to do and you don't need lots of tools. Turn off main supply. flush toilet, then sponge out remaining water, undo pipe at base of tank, undo same pipe at valve. If the valve is on a compression fitting , then simply undo the nut under it, get the same kind of valve and reverse the procedure. If it's a soldered on fitting, use a propane torch to loosen it. Be careful to put a heatshield against the wall. I would clean up the pipe end and replace with a comp. valve. Replace pipe to tank with a new plastic or flexible one, they're easier to work with than the metal ones. :cool:

Do it Right - Do it once.

I would go with a Fluidmaster 400A float cup type toilet tank supply valve (about $6 bucks at a big box). Comes with easy, illustrated installation directions.
Good Luck!
Mike

Thanks for all of your great help. Things are never simple, are they? Of course, I encountered numerous other problems (water in the crawlspace when I went to shut down water main; along with a dead rodent! :eek: -- but both of those problems are now successfully taken care of -- I think). I did manage to purchase the correct fitting on the second trip to the store. It is a compression fitting after all. (Found that out the hard way.)

So anyway, after struggling with all of this, breaking a part of the toilet innards in the process, I NOW have a leak at the base of the new fitting. Do I need to use someTeflon tape or something like that to seal this? Why the leak? I can't tighten that sucker any tighter than I have.

Any ideas? Maybe I'll sell the house. :wall:

If you're talking about a leak in a compression fitting, it is sealed by the brass ferrule ring not the threads, so to seal it, you can wrap a wrap of teflon tape or smear a little silicone caulk on the ferrule itself to seal it.
Good luck!
Mike