Unstuck Water Valve now turning the entire pipe?

[jewel801]

Hi there,

I need to replace a leaky cold water valve under my bathroom sink, but the nut was frozen. I hit it with WD40 and a hammer and finally got it to move. Only problem is i've been wrenching (lefty lucy) on it for a whole bunch of turns and it's not coming off. The nuts not moved, the entire things turning. I'm beginning to think the entire pipe is turning back behind the wall. Is this possible?
Is it time to call a professional yet?

 

[Geofd]

Show pics of what your working on

 

[Jeff Handy]

If the valve is attached to a galvanized steel pipe, the pipe might be partially unscrewed inside the wall, and could be leaking.

And if you unscrew it too much, it will come shooting out, releasing a huge leak of full house water pressure.

You also might just be spinning a valve that is attached to copper by a compression coupling.

Either way, turn off the main water shutoff before fooling with the shutoff valve.

You always need two wrenches to remove a valve like that.

Post pics, or call a plumber.

 

[jewel801]

Thank you so much for your reply!
I went ahead and wrenched it backward hoping that might screw it back into place just in case.
I watched a few more youtube videos and caught onto the 2 wrench technique. I turned the main water supply back on and nothing bad happened. Can't hear any water rushing behind the wall, but it's hard to hear with all the aquarium sumps in here. I'm getting ready to attack it again. I'm sure it's an easy fix as long as I don't screw it up.

 

[Jeff Handy]

It is hard to verify if your supply pipe is copper, because it is very short and nothing shows.

But I am guessing you have 1/2 inch copper pipe attached to your leaking valve.
Based on how it looks.

Now step back and start over again.

What exactly is leaking?

If there is a leak or drip from near the handle, just put one wrench on the main body of the valve, on those big flat sides.

Then another wrench on the big nut around the shaft of the handle, and tighten that big nut a tiny bit, maybe a tenth of a full rotation clockwise.
That will stop the leak 99% of the time.
Don’t tighten so much that you can’t rotate the valve handle with normal force anymore.

If this does not fix the problem, let me know.

It is pretty easy to change out the whole valve, if needed.

Also, that looks like a very common Brasscraft shutoff valve.
So fyi, they usually leak less when the oval handle is fully open.