Off topic but Budget related, Help with Plumbing question?

[PammyPoppins]

Hi! You people here on this Budget board are awesome and I am hoping someone can help me with this plumbing question.
Our tub in the kids bathroom is running and running at the facet, our water bill has been so, so high and it is hot water dripping and I think the electric bill was really high It was dripping at first and now it is a stream. We stopped using it and the kids are using my bathroom. I just want to turn the water valve off for the faucet in the tub. There is a access door in daughters bedroom, I opened it up and there is a red and a blue key to turn off the water like a hose would have. I turned it and I thought it was closed but the tub is still dripping, better, but still dripping. Do you think I just have to go back in the access door and turn it tighter?, I was afraid to try to turn it any tighter, I thought it was closed when I turned it.Also, I turned to the right. I know I could try the faucet in tub and see if water comes out but the other night I could not even get the faucet in tub to turn it just spinned.
Thanks for any advice to turn the valve off in tub.
PammyPoppins

 

[BrettS]

Unfortunately you may have a visit from a plumber in your future. The valves behind the access door are most likely the correct valves to shut water off to that tub, however, unfortunately older valves can have deteriorated seals and it's quite likely that those valves will no longer be able to fully shut off the water. You can try to turn them a bit tighter or even open and close them a few times, but there's a good chance that they just don't work anymore.

Depending on how handy you are, however, you might be able to repair the valve in the tub yourself. Most of the valves come apart with simple tools and you should be able to find replacement parts at lowes or home depot. If you post some pictures of your valve in the forums at http://www.terrylove.com/forums/forum.php the wonderful people there will probably be able to help diagnose the problem and help walk you through doing the repair.

Good luck,
Brett

 

[PammyPoppins]

Thank-You, Brett so much for this info.
PammyPoppins

 

[cglaura]

If the faucet is just spinning is sounds as if there is no way to fully tighten/turn it off.

Is it the kind of faucet that has a little pop off on the front? Usually it is a disc like thingy w/ H or C on it.

If so, try popping it off and seeing if anything looks busted or if maybe just the screw needs to be tightened.

You might just need new replacement handles/knobs. If so, take the old one with you to the hardware store, there are a ton of minor differences. I mistake I learned the hard way and many trips back and forth