When the economics or aesthetics make sense, the folks at George Taylor Specialties will go even further. A stripped valve stem on a J.L. Mott valve is a typical complex job. Because the inside thread is all but destroyed, Chris will rebuild the thread by first building up the metal with silver solder. An expensive but very strong solder used in jewelry making, it bonds to the brass as if it were the same metal. When he has the bonnet cavity built up, he then rebores the stem hole and retaps the thread. Even this process is not as simple as it sounds. This valve stem has a double thread—two threads running inside each other similar to the double helix structure of a DNA molecule. This thread, typical for a lever faucet, allows the stem to close in less than a full turn. (Some old faucets have triple threads.) Chris and John also keep rubber and polyurethane sheets on hand for making washers for nonstandard parts.
What’s their advice to owners of antique plumbing? “If it’s working okay, don’t touch it!” chides Chris. “Brass has a practical life of about 50 years, and any plumbing older than that—be it faucets or even pipes—is living on borrowed time.” Old brass, he notes, becomes brittle through structural changes in the metal itself.