Turn off water from the main to your house before vacation?

[Samm]

We recently learned form a plumber, the way to turn off water to the entire house from the main.  The key to the main is located near street level somewhere in a recess in the lawn.  The actual key is rather generic looking metal rod bought from Home Depot.

 

My q is:  Does anyone do this when they go on vacation -- turn off water to the house from the main?  We don't have any automatic ice makers.  We will probably turn down the water heater before leaving.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We do. 

[Arctic Bunny]

We turn our off inside the house, at the shutoff valve. Then we drain a downstairs tap to let off the pressure inside the house.

[SKL]

It probably would have been a good idea during some of our winter trips - we've come home to frozen water pipes despite taking the usual precautions.

[grantmeawish]

We do. We came home to a flooded house once

[SparklyUnicorn]

I guess you might want to know why.  LOL  Once we moved out of a rental.  The toilet had always been wonky so we always checked on it before leaving.  Well one of the movers must have used it (and obviously did not know that).  So when we went to return keys and get our deposit back we walked in with the landlord and the entire kitchen had been flooded.  The water came through the ceiling.  It was a mega huge awful mess.  At least the landlord did not blame us and even still gave us our deposit.  Freak accident really.  But now I'd just worry about leaving a house for a long period of time with that possibility.  Turning off the water is a simple thing to do. 

[Pawz4me]

Sometimes we turn it off at the shutoff valve coming into the house.  It's easily accessible in our garage.  I don't understand what benefit there would be of turning it off at the main?

 

(I say "sometimes" because it depends on how long we'll be gone, whether the boys are with us, how much water the pet sitter will need, etc.)

[kitten18]

Never.

[Julie Smith]

We turn our off inside the house, at the shutoff valve. Then we drain a downstairs tap to let off the pressure inside the house.

 

That is what we do if we are ever going to be gone over night. 

[Excelsior! Academy]

Never.

[Excelsior! Academy]

We had our water turned off once by the city. It was a misunderstanding due to moving in and date of occupancy...so, don't worry, we pay our bills! 😉 Anyway, after the repercussions of that and having the water turned back on the same day, there isn't any way we would without a good reason. We do drip the faucets a bit if it might freeze while we are gone on a short trip.

[Pawz4me]

We never used to do it, but in the past few years we've known of two people who've had massive amounts of damage from water leaks.  And DH's cousin started a business that cleans up after fires and floods and such.  From what he's said water leaks happen way more often than most people realize.  And in this house it's so easy and quick to do it would seem almost negligent not to.

[Julie Smith]

The reason we always turn the water off is the many stories of people coming home to a destroyed something due to water damage. 

 

For us turning off the water, and turning on a tap in the basement only takes a minute. Well worth the peace of mind.

 

[Cinder]

We've never turned off our water, though we have shut off the water to the outside water pipes. This house has cut-off valves under the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

 

[kristi26]

We just moved. We turned our water off here when we were away. DH wanted it done. ;)

 

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[Ann.without.an.e]

DH always does. 

[PeachyDoodle]

Always. We came back from vacation once to find our house completely flooded. A hose in the toilet broke and had been spraying water all over the bathroom for days. Because the house was on a concrete slab, the water had nowhere to go and spread throughout the entire house. We had to replace every inch of flooring and a good bit of the furniture, not to mention the whole process of drying out inside the walls, etc. The damage was upwards of $15,000.

 

It could have been worse. We had a six-week-old baby (our first) and we came home three days early because our vacation sucked.

[Acadie]

We turn off the water when we go on vacation, winter or summer.  Our plumber showed us where the shutoff is inside the house--it's just like turning off a spigot.  I also turn off the breaker to our electric water heater and drain the faucet in the basement, though the plumber said that's optional.

 

In winter, our steam heat guy (who's also our plumber!) comes once or twice when we're gone to turn the water back on, top off the boiler, then shut if off again.  It's a free service they offer to customers.

 

We do it for two reasons--our ILs came back from a trip to a burst pipe (this can happen winter or summer) and their house needed massive remediation for water damage and mold.  Just a nightmare.  Then when I asked our plumber about it, he said he recommends shutting it off because he's seen unbelievable damage from burst pipes.  One customer, who shut the water off as he suggested, had a pipe burst on the third floor.  The damage was minimal because all that came out was the little bit of water in the pipe.  If the water supply had been turned on, the pressure inside the pipe would've kept it flowing down through all three stories of the house!  

 

Do you have a shutoff inside the house?  If not, you may be able to get one installed fairly cheaply.  

 

Amy

 

 

[luuknam]

We didn't, but when we came back from visiting the in-laws in Alabama we found that he pipe to the washer had broken (it was winter in north Texas). The good news was that the laundry room and the rest of the house had a sort of gap between them, so the water just went into the yard. Plus, apparently it hadn't been broken long (probably just a few hours). I'm also pretty sure the city would've shut off our water if we'd stayed away another day (small town), but yeah. We had another pipe break once later that winter despite leaving faucets dripping (the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room weren't heated, so the pipes under the house froze relatively easily), and after that if it was supposed to freeze we'd shut off the water at the main and only turn it on when we wanted water (also, once the pipes under the house freeze, even if they don't break it really sucks because it means you won't have water until it thaws - we were without water once for a week because the water in the pipes under the house was frozen). The good news is that it doesn't freeze as often in TX as it does in NY.

[JennyD]

 

We debate doing this every year.  The problem is that we always leave in midsummer, and if the garden isn't watered (we've paid a local teen some years, but this year DH set up some kind of system), there is an excellent chance that everything will be dead when we get back.  

 

But we still fret about leaks.  

[Pink and Green Mom]

Never.

[redsquirrel]

It doesn't seem necessary so we've never done it.  And in the winter we need to leave it running. Our heat runs off a boiler and it needs water to work. If we shut it off all the pipes would freeze.

[MooCow]

No. We have a friend who feeds/waters our pet.

[creekland]

We do not, but we have critters that need daily water.  Our critter sitter watches the house while we're gone in case there are any issues.  We do the same for theirs when they travel.

[regentrude]

We always shut off the water at the inside valve.

The person who comes to feed and water our outside cat is instructed to bring water. The yard will need to fend for itself.

[Julie Smith]

When we had a pet sitter we told her that we were turning off the water and left a container of water in the fridge for water needs. 

 

But we had 2 rats, not a lot of water needed. 

 

[creekland]

When we had a pet sitter we told her that we were turning off the water and left a container of water in the fridge for water needs. 

 

But we had 2 rats, not a lot of water needed. 

 

This definitely won't work for ponies for our trips - esp those lasting longer than a week.   :lol:

 

We could just turn off the house water and leave the barn water on, but we've never had a need to do that.

 

The only issue we almost had once was when the sump pump stopped working in our basement, but that was only an issue due to excess rain.  Turning off any sort of water wouldn't have stopped a thing.  An alert house/critter watcher was necessary.

[MyThreeSons]

We don't.

 

One night, years ago, I woke up to a strange sound. On about my third step out of bed, I splashed, which brought me wide awake. It turns out that a hose feeding water to the toilet in the master bathroom had broken. I couldn't get that valve to shut off, and by the time I located the tool to shut it off at the main, we had a huge mess. The water had run through the master bath, master bedroom, down the hall, through the family room, dining area, past the kitchen, out the door to the carport, and was running down the driveway. 

 

We ended up getting a lot of new flooring. We avoided paying the deductible because I woke up the boys and had them help me move things out of the water and begin some cleanup. Our insurance adjuster said they would have paid for that work, so he wrote it off against our deductible. 

[Annie G]

We have turned it off where it comes into the house- during a winter trip when the weather was very iffy. We had enough water in the fridge for the cat feeder to use for kitty drinking water. 

 

Our city actually won't allow us to turn it off at the street. There's a city ordinance covering that and like if our plumber wants to cut it off there he has to call the city and get permission.  I think they have this ordinance to keep people from turning water on if it's been turned off for non-payment or to keep people from using it without setting up an account.   

[foxbridgeacademy]

My sister wishes she had when they came to visit us in NC for a week.  She left the dog to be picked up by my dad who just opened the door and got the dog..... had no idea the dog had destroyed the small piece of pipe going to the toilet when she freaked out trying to watch them leave. Luckily my mom went next day to feed and water the farm animals and there was no water pressure.  All the floors were ruined and so were most of the walls.

[PrairieSong]

We don't. In the winter we are normally only gone a couple of nights to visit family for the holidays, and in the summer I have a friend water my flowers and vegetable garden. I'm also giving her a house key so she can bring in the mail and take a quick look around to make sure there are no problems.

[Dmmetler]

We have pets that a friend comes in to check on/care for, and they need water, so no.

 

 

[Guest]

I would if I had a basement house.  My parents went away for awhile and I happened to stop by to find 3" of water in the basement and more coming in.  It was  a MESS.  

 

I'm not sure if I would bother with our current house as we don't have a basement and I THINK the water would go out under the crawlspace.  Still...probably it would be a good idea.  

[J-rap]

We don't, though we are sometimes gone for months at a time.  We do have a neighbor, a handyman, and one of our grown-up children who take turns checking it almost daily.

 

[skimomma]

I wish we could.  In winter we have a city-imposed run order in which we have to run a faucet at a pencil-sized stream at all times because the water pipes coming from the streets freeze if water is not moving.  It makes me very nervous to leave home for a week knowing there is water running in my house.  But if our pipe freezes up, we will not have running water until May so that is that I guess.  Watching several neighbors go without running water for months has convinced me to not take a chance and turn it off.

[Alessandra]

I don't usually shut off water if trip is only one or two nights, but after reading these posts, I may reconsider.

 

We had plumber replace the circular turn off faucet looking shut off with on that looks like a straight piece of metal with a handle that shuts off with about a quarter of a turn. Much easier to use in an emergency.

 

But in the summer, if we shut off water, plants cannot get automatically watered, because garden is on house water supply.

[Guest]

Our pipes are insulated and we keep our house heated when gone in the winter, so we have never bothered with turning off water. No damage thus far, and I'd be shocked if anything happened, honestly.

[Pawz4me]

Our pipes are insulated and we keep our house heated when gone in the winter, so we have never bothered with turning off water. No damage thus far, and I'd be shocked if anything happened, honestly.

Insulation and heat won't do a thing to prevent ice maker lines from developing a leak or bursting. Or washing machine hoses or toilet lines. Those are all very common culprits in water damage. Our former neighbor had thousands of dollars of damage occur when the line to her refrigerator's ice maker burst.

[Guest]

We don't have an ice maker. The toilet lines or washing machine could burst, and that would suck, but they can do that when we are home, too. I figure my house sitters would tell me if there was major issues, but the risk is the same if I leave the house and come back later, too.

 

I'm just not sure how someone could water our pets or water change the fish tank if the lines were off. And my husband is anal enough that if it made his personal risk assessment he'd do it, but he's never insisted on it.

[MomtoCandJ]

We don't but we are also on well water and live in a mobile home.

[Farrar]

Once my mother had a toilet break and flood water into the house for two days while they were away. It was covered by insurance, but they had to move into temporary housing and most of the house had to undergo a serious remodel as a result. It was a disaster and it happened as they experienced a serious medical crisis as well.

 

...Which is why my mother is appalled that we don't turn off the water to the house when we go out of town. I know. I'm horrible.

[Samm]

I guess I'll look into turning off the water and seeing if it even legal to do so from the main outside.  Is it okay to turn off the water and leave the water heater on (at its regular heating temp, not vacation mode) -- assuming its thermostat is in good working order?  

 

Somebody asked -- why from the mainland not the manual shut-off in the house?  I figure the main is supplying water and pressure up to that point.  So if something else burst, then it would still flood the house a bit.

[LucyStoner]

We don't have an ice maker. The toilet lines or washing machine could burst, and that would suck, but they can do that when we are home, too. I figure my house sitters would tell me if there was major issues, but the risk is the same if I leave the house and come back later, too.

 

I'm just not sure how someone could water our pets or water change the fish tank if the lines were off. And my husband is anal enough that if it made his personal risk assessment he'd do it, but he's never insisted on it.

If you are having house sitters stay there or come daily, it's not as big of a deal. If the house will be unoccupied, it's wise.

[luuknam]

Somebody asked -- why from the mainland not the manual shut-off in the house?  I figure the main is supplying water and pressure up to that point.  So if something else burst, then it would still flood the house a bit.

 

Depending on your house, a shut-off valve in the house is not a real option. Our house was pier-and-beam, and the water came out of the ground in the crawl space under the house, with all the pipes running under the house and entering the house in three different locations (bathroom, kitchen, laundry room). So, we could've put a shut-off valve where the water exited the ground, but then we'd have had to crawl into the crawl space to shut it off. Turning it off at the main is much easier. Or, we could've turned it off at each point it entered the house, but then the pipes under the house would still have frozen so that would've been futile.

 

I'm assuming that people who have a shut-off valve where the water enters the house have houses with a different plumbing situation. The main upside of our plumbing situation was that every time a pipe broke it didn't do any damage because it was under the house or in the gap between the kitchen and the laundry room. Not fun having to lie in cold mud to fix the plumbing, but no water damage.

[creekland]

Then there's me... wondering if we could get a break in a line while we're gone and have insurance pay for a remodel.   :lol:

 

TOTALLY just kidding as I'm sure we would lose some things and it'd be a PITA, but nonetheless...

 

We have had water lines break.  I think that's a given when one lives in an old farmhouse.  However, they've always happened when we're at home.  We had the pipes replaced a couple of years ago when hubby got tired of patching them over and over again.  We still need to get the ceilings and wall finished where they accessed them.  That part hasn't been a priority for us.  Maybe someday it will be - probably shortly before we move some time in the future!

[MyThreeSons]

I knew a gal online who had a friend who had suffered damage to her house when a washing machine hose broke while they were away. So this gal always shut off the water to the washing machine when she left the house, even if it was just to go grocery shopping. That didn't make sense to me -- there are so many other possible points of failure in the plumbing system.