Angle Stops & Water Shut-Off Valves

Ninety-two angle stops and straight stops - the small shut off valve under every sink and toilet - from BrassCraft (38), Legend Valve (28), Dahl Valve (19), LSP Products (4), Grohe (2) and BK Products (1). By body: 44 angle, 22 straight and 22 dual-outlet or tee, plus 4 kits and service stops.

Angle or straight is decided by the wall, not by preference

An angle stop turns the flow 90 degrees, so it is what you use when the supply pipe comes out of the wall and the fixture is above it. A straight stop passes flow in line, for when the pipe comes up out of the floor. That is the whole distinction, and it is the single most common ordering mistake on this category - the valve is otherwise identical inside. Look at the stub-out before you buy, not at the fixture.

The inlet is the decision. The outlet almost never is

Nearly every one of these ends in 3/8" or 1/4" compression on the fixture side, because that is what a supply line expects. The inlet is where the choice lives, and it has to match the pipe already in the wall:

• Compression - 43 of them, for copper stub-outs
• FIP - 17, threaded onto a male adapter or nipple
• F1960 expansion PEX - 11, cold-expansion PEX-a
• F1807 crimp PEX - 5, copper crimp ring PEX-b
• Push-fit - 8, including Legend's Insta-Loc II
• Press - 3 LegendPress, for a press tool
• CPVC - 2, solvent weld

If you are on PEX, the inlet has to match your system: see F1960 expansion fittings and F1807 crimp fittings for which one you have.

Quarter-turn versus multi-turn

A quarter-turn stop is a ball valve - a chrome ball with a hole through it, sealed by two PTFE seats. A multi-turn stop is a compression washer on a rising stem. The difference matters after ten years, not on day one: the multi-turn washer hardens, bonds to the seat, and shears off when someone finally tries to close it during a leak. That is why a plumber replacing a faucet replaces the stop too. Twenty-nine of these are explicitly 1/4-turn ball type; the Legend 114-201NL is the one deliberate multi-turn in the range.

A compression ferrule is single-use

The brass ring that seals a compression inlet deforms permanently when you tighten the nut. It has taken the shape of that pipe at that depth. Pull the valve off and reuse the old ferrule and it will weep - not immediately, which is worse. Cut the stub back and start with a new ferrule, or use a push-fit or press inlet where the seal is a captured O-ring rather than a crushed ring.

Push-fit and press inlets

Eight push-fit stops, including Legend's Insta-Loc II (114-903NL, 114-904NL, 114-943NL) and BrassCraft's G2PS and G2QPS series, go on a clean cut stub with no tool at all. Three LegendPress stops (114-903PNL, 114-904PNL, 114-913PNL) take a standard press jaw - see press tools and jaws. Both cost more per valve than compression and both pay for themselves the moment you are working in a cabinet you cannot get two wrenches into.

Dual stops and tees

Twenty-two dual-outlet stops and tees, for one stub-out feeding two things: a toilet plus a bidet seat, a sink plus a reverse-osmosis unit, a dishwasher teed off the hot side. BrassCraft's CR1900DVX and R1700DVX families and Legend's 114-801NL and 114-802NL give two independently controlled outlets, usually 3/8" and 1/4". The BrassCraft CT2-664X P and BK 993-016NL are plain tees with no second valve - cheaper, but you lose the ability to shut one branch without the other.

Loose key stops

The BrassCraft KTSCR19X and SCR19X have no handle. They take a removable key, which is what you want in a rental, a school restroom or anywhere a handle would get turned by someone who should not be turning it. Order the key separately and keep it on the truck.

No-lead is not a marketing line

Legend's "No Lead" and LSP's "Lead Free" markings refer to the federal limit that has applied to every potable-water valve sold in the US since 2014: a weighted average of no more than 0.25 percent lead on wetted surfaces, certified to NSF/ANSI 372. Older rough-brass stops from before that rule are still in millions of houses. If you are replacing one on a potable line, the new one has to be certified.

Related

A stop is half of a pair - the supply lines that thread onto it are on their own page. For what sits at the other end, see toilet tanks, toilet repair parts, centerset faucets and pull-out kitchen faucets, or the full bathroom department.