Jennifer, Good for you for wanting to 'do it all'! Your biggest sin may be only that you overfilled the water tank, and the excess water spilled to the ground. Not sure what your 'washer valve' is, but if its one of the shut off valves for the washing machine, the valve can be replaced with relative ease. So give yourself a pat on the back, we've all overfilled the water tank a time or two.