Copper nipple coming out of wall just a hair short

I'm remodeling my bathroom and have purchased new cabinets. With the cabinets against the wall, the inside of the back cabinet wall (1/4" ply) is about 1" from the sheetrock. The problem is that the copper pipe coming out of the wall is short so when I put on the valve, it does not stick out far enough so that the water line is in the cabinet. The copper pipe is 1/2" bare and the valve is of the multiturn compression fitting type. My question is, can I safely move the valve maybe 1/4" of an inch further down the pipe or is that asking for trouble? What other options do I have? It is so close to the wall, I'd have to cut it off and sweat a new piece in the wall to stick out far enough. I haven't checked out my local plumbing supply shop, but will I find anything there to help me?

You could oversize the hole in the back of the cabinet so that the valve is out at the wall.

If there is any free play in the pipe mounting, you might be able to pull the nipple out of the wall another 1/2"

While there might not be enough pipe for a compression fitting, there may be enough pipe to sweat a valve on.

quote; there may be enough pipe to sweat a valve on.

Sweat a valve onto a copper line which is probably right at the back of the cabinet inside a wooden back panel? Sounds like a fire is in their future if they were to try it.

hj said:

quote; there may be enough pipe to sweat a valve on.

Sweat a valve onto a copper line which is probably right at the back of the cabinet inside a wooden back panel? Sounds like a fire is in their future if they were to try it.

Click to expand...

I was thinking more along the lines of sweating the valve on before installing the cabinet. People replace sink bases and lavatories all the time without removing the existing shut-offs.

why not just sweat a 1 inch piece to extend the pipe coming out of the wall?

The pipes should have been handled before the cabinets were installed.
This is like the Granite counter top post.
Before new cabinets come in, drain heights should be checked, and the shutoff situation looked at and fixed.
If shutoffs are older then 20 years, it's a good idea to replace them. The soldering should have been done before the wood cabinets were installed though.
For now, the safe bet would be to cut out around the shutoffs.

I think I'd probably just solder on a coupling and a piece of pipe before setting the cabinet, then cut it off, if necessary, to get your ideal length after the cabinet is installed. You might look at soldering on a threaded fitting, then use a valve with a pipe thread - that might make it long enough. Also, consider exchanging the shutoffs for 1/4-turn valves. Those are more likely to still work when you need them long down the road verses a multi-turn version.

Thanks for the replies. I should have been a bit more clear. I have the cabinets, but they are neither drilled out for the plumbing nor installed. So I can still change the plumbing, extend, shorten, etc. I decided not to sweat on a new fitting because I cannot have it too long. I looked at sweating another coupler on but that would put me over my limit. I could I suppose open the wall and cut the pipe back (it would be behind the cabinet anyway), but I didn't know if that was the best approach since it is an exterior wall with insulation inside.

If the entire assembly (pipe + valve) extends more than 2.5" from the wall, then it will interfere with the drawers in the sink cabinet. On the other hand, it needs to be out at least 1.5" so that it is easy to attach the hose that eventually goes to the faucet. Note that there are drawers only on one side of the cabinets, so the other valve can extend out quite a bit.

Move the 'offending' supply line so it doesn't come out behind the drawers...

I'm thinking that might be the best idea ... just to make an assembly in the garage and then sweat the entire assembly onto the nipple coming out of the wall ....

I went ahead and cut a slightly larger hole in the wall, cut it, and then sweated a new coupler and stem so I have a pipe of the proper size. The best I could come up with was to slightly enlarge the hole (it is maybe 1.5" diameter for 0.5" pipe) and the sort of stuff my asbestos rag around the perimeter of the hole. It worked, but was there a better way to do this?