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When replacing the leaky toilet gasket I was reminded of another problem said toilet has: the valve on it sticks, and doesn’t really open all the way. That is, once closed the valve is very difficult to open again, without shutting off the water, removing the valve stem, and reassembling it with the valve all the way open. When I last had this problem I contemplated replacing the valve with a new ball valve, but never got around to it.
Well, today I did. After purchasing a BrassCraft (made in Novi, MI!) sweat-on ball valve I desoldered the old builders-grade globe valve, cleaned up the metal, sweated (soldered) the new fitting on, hooked it up, and was content with how things worked. While they are good allowing one to adjust flow, I don’t feel that this is needed for toilets and other places where valves can stick in place after being open for years or exposed to weather, and I seem to regularly have problems with gaskets and seats corroding leading to valves that either don’t shut off or won’t open all the way.
I also replaced the gasket on the other toilet today, and thankfully that valve worked just fine. I may replace it as well, but the effort required to drain the house to a few feet below the floor may preclude this, especially as that toilet doesn’t have any other problems.