Add Shut Off Valve for Outside Faucets

[Hugh]

My outdoor faucets don't have a shut off valve for turning off the water to them in winter. I'd like to add one. There's a common supply pipe from my well's pressure tank in one corner of the basement to about even with one of the outdoor faucets. The pipe then splits, with a smaller pipe going vertical then back to horizontal on the way to the faucet in the back yard. That pipe runs under the joists in my unfinished laundry room. After the split, the supply pipe goes to the front of the house. There's another split with a pipe going to the kitchen sink to provide unsoftened water, and the pipe continues on to the front yard spigot. All copper pipe.

I no longer use the unsoftened water faucet to the kitchen sink, having replaced it with a filtered water spigot (so it's capped off). Due to the furnace and the finished part of my basement, reaching that pipe to install a second shut-off valve would be a nightmare. I believe it will be best to install one shut-off in the common pipe that runs to both outdoor faucets (and the unused kitchen part).

I got a shutoff valve from Menards. I have installed one like this before in a dishwasher line, where the length wasn't critical. That is, I just used a pipe cutting tool, made one cut, installed the valve, and let the remaining part protrude a little farther behind the dishwasher where the flexible hose accommodated the connection. There's no "slack" in the pipe to the outside faucets, so I'm a little worried about cutting out the exact right amount of pipe so the valve will fit. Giving the pipe a little tug with my hand, there's no play in the pipe, so it also might be difficult to put the valve in place even with the right length segment removed.

So, I'm looking for some advice in installing this valve prior to turning off the water and cutting anything only to find I've messed up. (Pic is what I took so I'd have the correct size for picking the valve.)

 

[Geofd]

Use a "slip" coupling this type of coupling slides right over the pipe then slide it back
1/2 way over the other side mark both sides so you know your in equally

 

[Hugh]

Use a "slip" coupling this type of coupling slides right over the pipe then slide it back
1/2 way over the other side mark both sides so you know your in equally

Thanks for the response. I don't get how a slip coupling will help, though. I'm planning to cut out a section of the pipe long enough to fit the valve in, then tighten the nuts on each end to secure the compression nuts.

 

[CT-18]

That's not the valve you want. You want a 3/4" ball valve in which ever direction you want to go. You can get a sharkbite, compression, or sweat valve

 

[Hugh]

I don't know why I grabbed that image from the internet. Here's the valve that I bought. Is there a best practice as to which end is inlet and which is out?

Maybe it would be better to add this valve in the vertical run from the T-junction where the pipe goes to the outdoor spigots and the other branch goes to the water softener? I was fixated on the horizontal run under the joists, but that might not be the best.

 

[Geofd]

Thanks for the response. I don't get how a slip coupling will help, though. I'm planning to cut out a section of the pipe long enough to fit the valve in, then tighten the nuts on each end to secure the compression nuts.

You said you had no movement in the pipe , you would need some movement to pull or push back the pipe a bit to fit the valve in, if there is no movement you cut the pipe push one side in, then cut a few inches away,then slide that end in ,this is were the slip coupling comes in, move one side or the other away slide the slip coupling past the cut then line up the pipe and slide it 1/2 way back over the cut, if you still don't understand look up slip coupling

 

[Hugh]

Installed the valve, no problem. No leaks. Observations and lessons learned:
-I filled a five gallon bucket with water in case the job took longer than expected and we needed to flush a toilet.
-I had a five gallon bucket for the water that came out during the project.
-Glad I used a pipe cutter and not a hack saw. The cuts were straight.
-I had to use a carpet knife to clean the inside of the cut pipe because the reamer attached to the pipe cutter was really sized for 1/2", not 3/4".
-I used steel wool to clean the pipe exterior before cutting it, then emery cloth after the cut. The pipe was a lot sturdier before cutting.
-I made sure to account for the swing of the handle so it wouldn't bump into another pipe or a joist or something.
-I cut out 1-1/4" of the pipe to make room for the valve. I measured the overall length at 3-3/4, and used a small scale to see how deep the pipes should go; it was 1-1/2 on once side and 1-1/8 on the other. I wanted as much overlap as possible, but not for there to be interference since the pipes didn't have any play in length. If you do the math, that's a 1-1/8" gap, but the extra 1/8" would still leave a good fit because the ferrules don't go all the way into the valve body.
-The pipe was held to the joists in a couple spots with a nail-in hook (one in pic). I removed one, loosened another and had plenty of up-down and left-right play to get the valve on. Later, I put those hooks back. I bought some better pipe holders, but somehow wound up with 1/2 instead of 3/4, so I'll attach the pipe more securely to the joists another time.
-Tightening the fittings with a Channel-Lock and Vice-Grips was tough. Having done this job on a 1/2" pipe, I used regular wrenches. My set only goes up to 1", and I needed a 1-1/4" wrench. I'd tighten them down, take a little breather, then climb back up on the step stool and tighten a little more. There's no leak, so it must be tight enough.

 

[Geofd]

Nice job!!!!!!!!!!