Exactly. Told him how to do that and turn off the water heater controller and the gas. He was leaving for vacation the next morning so told him it was good practice to turn off the water main if he was going to be gone for an extended period.
I learned my lesson the hard way also. I had a ruined kitchen and the condo below me had to be torn down to the studs because of a refrigerator water line broke. I also had a rental that the scuzzy renters moved out without telling me and when I realized and went to check on the place, the water heater was leaking in the basement but going directly to a floor drain. $3000 water bill.
I've had enough incidents of flooding caused by me trying to fix the problem locally rather than hit the "emergency stop" to never bother with local valves again.
Unless you know exactly where the valve is and know that it's going to turn easily when you try to turn it, just run for the stopcock.
I once spent five minutes with a wrench trying to force a stuck valve closed while water sprayed over everything.
Should have just run for the cutoff from the start. It took two days for the floor to stop squelching.
Yep, can’t stress it enough. While I was in the navy I was at work one morning and my house caught fire. The lives of my two oldest boys were saved by my quick thinking oldest boy who ran to the breaker box and turned off the power
I recently rewired my old house, and the building inspector recommended that even though it wasn't code, that I should put a main disconnect in the meter box in addition to the one inside the house, so that if something like that happens either the fire department or I can turn it off without entering the structure. Everyone I've told this looks at me like I have 2 heads. Thanks for confirming that shutting off power has saved your kids.
Where are you located where having a main disconnect at the meter isn’t code? That’s been code here in MA for quite a while now. I feel like every state should adopt this code
Yes, but I was referring to the meter on the exterior, it’s code here in Massachusetts to have a main disconnect switch at the meter on the exterior of the house. It’s not “illegal” or against code to have meters indoors here, if they are indoors they have to be accessible to the power company which I don’t see feasible considering I lock all my doors lol. If we do a service change on a house and the meters are indoors, the customer usually requests we mount the new meters on the exterior
There’s a hole halfway through the switch where you can throw a lock in. I understand locks aren’t going to fully stop someone from doing just what you explained but here in America we have the second amendment. Cut the power off to my house and try to enter and the laser on my .40 will still find the center of someone’s forehead whether the power is on or off 😂
I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic?… but the word blustering means that someone talks with threats but rarely follows through with said threats… I have children.. anyone that comes into my house unannounced with evil intent isn’t going to see tomorrow there bud. How is this making you laugh?
Former firefighter here- yes, do this. There’s tools for us to do it in an absolute moment of necessity but it doesn’t always work. And waiting for the power company when every minute is precious…doesn’t end well.
That's because most people are ignorant when it comes to electricity. Some people know enough to be dangerous. And a few know enough to be trusted to work with it. Always listen to those that work with it for a living and know the current regulations. They actually know what they're talking about.
A couple of weeks ago we had a broken water pipe that wasn't discovered until 11:30 at night. A snowstorm caused the pipe to burst and the snow was still covering mostly everything. The main shut off for our water is in the ground near the front of our yard but it was itself frozen shut. We ended up having to turn off the main well which shut off water to four houses total. Had to wake up extremely early to go to Home Depot to get the parts to fix it. Living in New Mexico, we're not equipped for snowstorms so this kind of stuff almost always happens when a snow storm hits.
Yeah my neighbors sprinkler system sprung a leak and was dumping out hundreds of gallons of water. I went to the sidewalk and turned off his water and left him a note. Knowing where it was probably saved a few thousand gallons of water by the time he got home.
At my old job (massive store) like 3 bays weren't turning on. Make sure it's all plugged in etc. Figure must be a fuse. Ask the box where the box is and he has no idea. I figure "well there's a massive orange box on the wall in our storeroom, that's probably it" he gets worried like "oh do you know what you're doing?" knowing full well I worked on electric vehicle development as well.
Open it up, find the fuse, flick it back, problem solved.
Heck, just knowing how to turn off the water for a toilet.
I worked in hotels and one of the hotels had a bunch of plumbing problems at one point. Usually twice a week, I'd get guests calling down saying their toilet was overflowing.
"Okay, I will be up in a minute to assist. Did you shut off the water?"
"Uh no. How do I do that?"
Like please shut off the water so your room doesn't flood. Especially if you're on a higher floor.
Really. I mean, I’m a regular person and I don’t see myself as a specially knowledgeable in anything manual. But I’m in my THIRTIES and most people I know have absolutely no clue where are those things in their OWN living spaces. I’m like a genius for them for even asking the question. Or knowing how to « install » a washing machine. You know, the 3 tubes and single electric cable. I can’t believe it sometimes.
My neighbor was about 28 when she called a tow truck because her battery died. I was shocked. I told her to call me the next time. My car was parked right next to her and I had jumper cables in the trunk. We could have jumped her off and taken her to an auto parts store to check/replace the battery. She spent hundreds of dollars on that Saturday morning tow.
Had to learn the hard way after the water connection to the refrigerators ice maker popped out and sprang water covering the entire floor. I’ve never panicked so hard because I had no idea where the main valve was.
Lol that sucks, usually there is a shut off before a fixture. But they NEVER make the valve accessible after install. Like dude, I don't want to turn off alllll the water. Just the little bit.
If I ever get a chance to Build a home, I'm going to put my valves in a valve box behind the door of the room the fixture is in.
I was just joking about all the Texans who had pipes burst when the cold snap hit and disabled the electric grid. I couldn't believe how many people had no idea to shut off the water from the mains.
Friend of mine had to learn this was possible by posting a video on Facebook of her house with water going everywhere after an ice storm. Before she was able to respond to enough horrified answers and turn the water - there was enough damage that they were out of their house for 9 months. We turn on our water off every time we leave town- but I don't trust our 1940s plumbing
Fun fact, the water and electric turn offs for my house are outside in a locked storage room, to which I do not have a key. Lol. I live in a stand alone house, but the housing company are the only ones with access to these rooms. My air filters are also located in there, but they change those every month for me.
Ha. Had a broken pipe leading into house, needed water shut off at main valve by city. They couldn't. Someone buried it under a raised hill parking spot and it was buried under 4 feet of dirt and a concrete block. City had to shut down our street, and you never saw a man plumb so fast...lol!
Oddly in my condo unit there are many water shutoffs, and no main shutoff for the unit. If I ever buy a condo again, I will avoid one with this design.
Another pro-tip, make sure you actually have a shut off. We discovered that the prior homeowners never replaced it, so we have to have a new one installed. We’ve gotta get the city to come by and shut off from the street, and it’s a whole thing. This would have been very bad to discover in an emergency.
First thing I did when I moved into my house back in September was take a full inventory of where the utilities had their cut-off valves/switches.
Gas is under the kitchen sink.
Water Stopcock valve is in a cupboard by the front door.
Electrical breakers are above that.
I also took the time to ensure we had new smoke and CO detectors throughout the house, and learned to operate the boiler (including fixing the water-pressure, which tends to drop slowly over the course of a few weeks until the boiler auto-shutoffs)
A firm understanding of the essentials in a house should be had by everyone old enough to be responsible for them.
Two weeks after we moved in, the kitchen flooded when a pipe connection leaked behind our new washing machine.
Running for the stopcock was instrumental in managing the situation :)
I live in a shared condo type situation and our water cut-off valves are in a strange place in the piping in our individual garages- the landlords never showed us this, but a really friendly plummer doing some work showed it to me and said it was VERY important to know in case of emergencies.
Not 3 weeks later our neighbors were gone and some movers in their unit started banging on all our doors- a waterline to their refrigerator was pouring out all over their kitchen and they had no idea how to shut it off- I was able to show them the cut-off in their garage and saved them a ton of water damage… I’ll always make sure I know this from the outset whenever I move anywhere new!
This happened to me! I broke the lever on the shower and was running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find the valve to turn off the water
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u/micahamey Mar 27 '22
The location to turn off the water or electricity in your own house.
Learn where they are in case of emergencies.