Finding The Water Shut-Off Valve


One of the most helpless feelings for a plumber is to get an emergency plumbing call, and the homeowner does not know how to turn the water off in their home. Freezing weather, earthquakes, and basic wear and tear over time can cause the pipes of your home to burst or leak. In the time it takes a plumber to reach you, a considerable amount of water can flood your home and cause substantial flood damage.
Knowing how to shut off the water to your home is extremely important. Everybody in your home should understand how to turn the water off in case of an emergency. Further, test these shut-offs at least once a year to make sure each is in proper working order.

Types of Shut-Off Valves

There are going to be many shut-off valves in your home, but only one that shuts off all of the water to the entire house. The other ones are going to be on the pipes that lead to major appliances, like the dishwasher, toilets, water heater, and sinks. These are usually knobs that are located under or behind the appliance, and turning them will shut off the water directly to that appliance.

Water Meter Shut-Off

The water meter for your home is typically located between the street and your house. The meter is in the ground inside a water meter box with a blue cover. The valve adjacent to the meter is called a “curb stop”. You will need a water meter key or emergency water/gas wrench to turn the stop clockwise a quarter turn and shut off the water. You can purchase a water meter key for $16-$20 or an emergency water wrench for $10-$16 from a local hardware store or online. Keep these tools where you can quickly get to them in an emergency.
In addition to the “curb stop” at the water meter, you may have another shut-off near the meter box. This shut down will be found in a small meter box closer to your house. If the valve is a gate valve with a round metal handle, you might need to turn it clockwise numerous rotations to completely close the valve. If the valve is a ball valve, with a little metal deal with, turn the deal with until it is perpendicular to the water system pipeline. You might require to employ a set of pliers or channel locks to turn the deal with on the valves if they have not been operated in an extended period. This shut off will turn the water off to both the underground water line and your house.

Main Water Supply Shut-Off

The location of the main shut off varies according to the type of foundation you have; slab, crawl space, or basement. If your home has a slab foundation, your shut off will typically be located adjacent to the water heater. If you have a crawl space or basement foundation, the shut off would most likely be found where the water line comes through the foundation masonry wall. Again, the shut-off may be a gate or ball valve. Turning the valve clockwise will turn off the water to your entire home.

Fixture Shut-Off

Each toilet and sink in your home has a shut-off. This allows you to turn the water off to just one fixture instead of the whole house. This shut off is a quarter-turn ball valve or more commonly called a “brass stop”. The supply lines are constructed of PEX or rubber tubing with braided stainless steel. Older homes may have chrome-plated brass supply lines.

Water Heater Shut-Off

Your water heater has a shut-off on the cold water supply line going into the cylinder. This valve will allow you to turn the water off to the water heater for regular service or to replace the heater. Make sure you do not use any hot water when the water supply to the heater is shut off. Doing so could cause your water heater elements to burn up if the water level in the tank drops below them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plumbing Tips That Can Help You Save on Plumbing Costs

Image
Most of us are very concerned about saving money these days. Perhaps more so than ever before. Yes, most of us are, and if we can find new ways that can help us in saving money, then we are going to try that out. A significant reason why we are all so concerned with saving is because of the high costs of almost everything that you can think of. So if we can somehow save money by cutting down on some costs, then that is undoubtedly a very good thing. At home, there are so many things that we can do to cut down on costs, resulting in savings that could be used for other essential items in the future. There are things that you can do yourself so that you would no longer need to hire the services of professionals that need to be paid, and most of the fees that they charge do not precisely come cheaply. Plumbing is one of the things at home that you could save some costs on and thus help your finances. Even though we know that fixing or replacing plumbing fixtures might require
Read more

Top DIY Plumbing Mistakes

Image
We all love a good “DIY” project. That is until, of course, something goes incorrect. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with making a proactive effort to repair small pipes problems or perform easy setups around your house, many do-it-yourselfers make minor, however important errors that can end up costing them a great deal of money to repair. Here are a few DIY errors plumbing technicians experience regularly. Incorrect Toilet Placement Changing the toilet may look like a basic project, and it usually does not present a lot of problems. Offered that you remember to turn off the water lines (more on that in a moment) and empty the water currently in the toilet, the process is relatively easy for an aspiring do-it-yourselfer. In many cases, nevertheless, you might discover that the new toilet doesn’t quite healthy as neatly into the area your old toilet occupied. The offender is usually an irregular “rough-in,” the measurement that determines the distance from the fini
Read more

Top 10 Reasons To Become A Plumber

Image
Number One : you'll always have a job. If you're a hard worker and you do what you're supposed to do, you learn well, but number one become good at it, you're always going to have a job okay? I see a lot of people in the trades that say: well you know I can't stay busy, or I can't keep working, I can't do this.  They may not be very good at what they do, or they may not be the best at what they do. Study hard, learn well, try to become the best and make this something that you want to do.  You can be really good at it. Number Two : no student loans, okay? You do not have to go to college to become a plumber .  Now you can go to work for an open shop company, and you learn from other plumbers in your career that you work with or you can join the United Association , plumbers and pipe fitters union.  You'll go to school a couple of nights a week, and after five years you get your plumbing license.  It's a great way to go, you learn some good th
Read more