Delta bath/shower valves "with stops". Not sure if I need "with stops" or not

[JOHN_P]

I called Delta to figure out which version of their valve body to get. They said "with stops" is better than "without stops" because you can shut off the water right at the valve. That's all they had to say. Nothing in their product brochures or literature tells you what this stuff really means, and I've looked at a lot of it.

Is there any benefit to being able to do that?

I could see one advantage in that I could hook everything up, test it out, and then turn the water back off at the valve while leaving the rest of the house water on while I finish up things. Or am I seeing the purpose of this wrong?

Thanks!

[Terry]

It's nice having the stops.
When I was doing a lot of apartment plumbing, more like a necessity.

[JOHN_P]

Thanks Terry, and thanks for all of the great advice you've made available on these forums!

[Basement_Lurker]

Basically if your valve ever starts leaking or needs servicing, you can isolate it from the rest of the house via the shutoffs and still be able to use water in the rest of the home...which is important as it's not always easy to get a hold of a plumber. Some plumbers don't like to use valves with stops in them because they feel that by the time it is necessary to actually use the shutoff valves, that they won't seal properly anymore, but I don't share that opinion.

[hj]

I am waiting for replacement stems for some intergral stops because they ARE frozen and someone broke the ends off trying to turn them with a screwdriver. In the case of Delta valves, they are repairable without removing the trim plate, so I would not have access to those stops, or need them, for repair purposes.