water valves and doorknobs...

[Account Closed]

Feb 20, 2009: Two questions one in, one out:

Security door: the men who installed my security bars yesterday (Thurs) also removed, painted, and reinstalled the (Home Depot) security doors. I say HD because they are really not the best, but only adequate. Both have deadbolts as well as locking doorknobs. Both knobs are/were the problems. Previously, the front door DB locked, but not so much the knob. Now, both are pretty solid. I guess the door was moved slightly to side to make that happen. The back door, both locked and held. Now, only the deadbolt in the back locks. The doorknob lock does not hold at all, one can just pull the door open, with very little effort. The men are coming back tomorrow-Saturday. Should I complain about it? It would be nice to have it, but,

The storm door has 2 locks, deadbolt and doorknob. On my other house in the back, I had just one lock on the security door, and one on the sliding glass door.

Re-setting the metal door requires a LOT of work, and he already installed a nice doggie door for me at no charge.

Do doorknobs come with longer tongues? (Is that the name of the part that sticks out?) Can I just get a longer tongue for this off the shelf, probably cheap knob?

2: Washer hookup: When installing the clothes washer, the men commented on the rust on the base of the lever that controls the water going into the hoses. This is the valve that is attached to the plumbing, NOT the washer itself. It sits above the washer, and I (Choose to) open the valve (Pull the lever) when I want to wash clothes, and push the lever closed when I am not using the washer. The valve is in a plastic bay above and behind the washer, the drain hose also goes into the drain through the bay.

I would guess there was a pretty constant leak for rust to have formed, (It's 15 years old), or maybe a leak and it just sat in water as the washer was being used. At any rate, Should that valve be replaced? I don't know the construction of the plastic "bay" the plumbing comes up through and the hoses connect to. Why is it leaking, and could that water have leaked down into the wall or is it molded plastic that would require evaporation for the water to dry up?
It looks like if the water to the house is off, that valve could be removed and replaced. Is It that simple?
There is no mold and no discoloration on the wall or floor behind the washer, so can I assume any leak did NOT go down between the studs and into the wall?

Thanks.

OfGift