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Locating Water Shut Off Valve
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:29 am
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:29 am
Morning H&GB, we recently moved into a new to us home and I preemptively would like to find the water shut off valve BEFORE needing to find the water shut off valve. During inspecting we ran a sewer camera and located our sewer clean our buried under an adjacent gravel drive. I have found our water meter near the street in a buried box but have had no luck finding the shut off valve. Does anyone have any suggestions for locating this?
This post was edited on 10/22/21 at 8:31 am
Posted on 10/22/21 at 8:32 am to PolarPop5
quote:
I have found our water meter near the street in a buried box but have had no luck finding the shut off valve. Does anyone have any suggestions for locating this?
It should be on the same side of house as meter. Normally the are on a hose bib coming out of the ground, I guess it's possible it is buried in a box. In an emergency, you can shut off at meter.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:30 am to Major Dutch Schaefer
quote:
It should be on the same side of house as meter. Normally the are on a hose bib coming out of the ground,
Yep. Look for the hose bib closest to the meter.
Sometimes it looks like this, a lever type:
> Sometimes it's a turnable valve type:

This post was edited on 10/22/21 at 9:31 am
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:47 am to PolarPop5
You can probably get a key from HomeDepot for the meter. There is a shutoff inside it. You may need a wrench to turn it off.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 9:56 am to PolarPop5
While inside the house, you can sometimes find one near the water heater. I had a home that had it in the crawl space that you could access from the bathroom lavatory... as in a little hidden access panel in the bottom of the cabinet.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 10:09 am to PolarPop5
code says you need one where it comes out of the ground and goes into the house
there is also a shut off on the meter itself but some areas like mine also require a shut off valve buried in a box just after the meter as a backup in case the valve at the house is bad
there is also a shut off on the meter itself but some areas like mine also require a shut off valve buried in a box just after the meter as a backup in case the valve at the house is bad
Posted on 10/22/21 at 10:21 am to keakar
quote:
code says you need one where it comes out of the ground and goes into the house
I'll just add if this is an older home with a basement, it may not be up to code. Ours comes into the house through the ground into the basement, and there are two valves there. One for turning off water supply, and one with a hosebib on it. I've actually used it a few times when pressure washing the driveway or washing the cars. I keep s short hose inside, like a little 25 foot one, and hook it up to that when I need it.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 10:37 am to TU Rob
quote:
Ours comes into the house through the ground into the basement, and there are two valves there
this is also the code if it has a basement, i was only thinking in terms of a house in louisiana
code says just before entering the home or living space and the unfinished basement is considered as storage utility area and not the homes living space
the code basically just requires a way to shut off all water to the home in case the valve at the meter isnt accessible or malfunctions
Posted on 10/22/21 at 11:07 am to keakar
quote:
code basically just requires a way to shut off all water to the home in case the valve at the meter isnt accessible or malfunctions
So does it have to be located on the outside of the house?
Posted on 10/22/21 at 11:55 am to ConfusedHawgInMO
quote:
you can sometimes find one near the water heater
Those are usually dedicated specifically for the water heater FYI
Posted on 10/22/21 at 11:59 am to lsujunky
quote:
So does it have to be located on the outside of the house?
Mine is located on the inside of the house. The water line comes up through the slab and the shutoff valve is in a wall box in a closet.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 12:21 pm to LSUtigerME
How old is your house?
My house is 12yrs old and on a slab (outside of Memphis, so codes will be different). My shut-off is in the cabinet at the butler's pantry.
My house is 12yrs old and on a slab (outside of Memphis, so codes will be different). My shut-off is in the cabinet at the butler's pantry.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 12:32 pm to lsujunky
quote:
So does it have to be located on the outside of the house?
individual codes may vary but for the most part it has to be easily accessible so if you dont have a basement its mainly going to be outside where it enters the house unless some special provision is made to put it inside the wall with easy access to it
Posted on 10/22/21 at 12:54 pm to LSUtigerME
quote:
Mine is located on the inside of the house. The water line comes up through the slab and the shutoff valve is in a wall box in a closet.
Same thing I did with mine.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 12:58 pm to PolarPop5
quote:
Morning H&GB, we recently moved into a new to us home and I preemptively would like to find the water shut off valve BEFORE needing to find the water shut off valve. During inspecting we ran a sewer camera and located our sewer clean our buried under an adjacent gravel drive. I have found our water meter near the street in a buried box but have had no luck finding the shut off valve. Does anyone have any suggestions for locating this?
If you've got an old house, you might not have an outside shut off valve (not talking about the one at the water meter).
I speak from experience, 'cause I had to have a plumber install one - I guess originally not having one was grandfathered in or something like that.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 1:08 pm to PolarPop5
The only shutoff valve that I know of for my home is inside the box at the meter near the street. Is that normal? My house is 50ish years old.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 1:27 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:
The only shutoff valve that I know of for my home is inside the box at the meter near the street. Is that normal? My house is 50ish years old.
For a house that age, it can definitely be normal.
But you're only talking like $200 to get a shutoff valve installed right outside of your house.
If a pipe bursts at 3am, the last thing you wanna be doing is trying to shut the water off at the meter, so it's a very worthy investment.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 1:37 pm to PolarPop5
After digging around for awhile and tracing my pipes from the house. I surmised the only shutoff is at the meter (which confirmed works) house is 75+ years old.
Posted on 10/22/21 at 2:21 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:
The only shutoff valve that I know of for my home is inside the box at the meter near the street. Is that normal? My house is 50ish years old.
thats probably fairly common if the line is original to the house that is that old
when i bought my house in lafourche it had no shut off valve so they required me to add two shut off valves, one within 3ft after the meter and another one within 3ft of where the line enters the house. wasnt a big deal any way since the original line was rusted to hell and leaked any way so it was all getting replaced. they also made me install a gas shut off within 3ft of where it enters the house
This post was edited on 10/22/21 at 2:25 pm
Posted on 10/22/21 at 2:23 pm to Mandocello
quote:
If a pipe bursts at 3am, the last thing you wanna be doing is trying to shut the water off at the meter, so it's a very worthy investment.
not only that but the valve on the meter requires a special tool to turn it because there is zero clearance to get a wrench in there, if you dont have that fork like tool you aint shutting it off and will need the water company to come out to do it and by then you can imagine the shite that gets flooded
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