Why You Should Know the Location of Your Shut-Off Valve

If you are a new homeowner or renter, then you should figure out where your shut-off valves are located in your home. Even if you have lived in your home for a while, if you don’t know where they are, you should. A shut off valve will stop water from entering into your home, so all your plumbing fixtures can’t run water while it is closed. So it’s best to know where it is in case of emergencies, like trouble with leaking or broken pipes. Especially when winter weather hits, any exposed pipes are open to cracking and freezing. And if that terrible fate of burst pipes falls upon you, then you are in for a big mess of water everywhere. So if you find yourself in that horrible situation, you’ll need to know where your main shut-off valve is located so you can turn the water off quickly!  It’s also good to know where the main shut-off is located if you need to do work on any of your plumbing.

To locate your home's main water shut-off valve, you’ll want to look on the perimeter of the inside of the house, since that is where the water will first enter your home. Search for the valve on your lower level, they are typically found in a basement, if your home has one. If you don’t have a basement, try looking inside a crawl space (again, if you have one). The valve is usually located within three to five feet of where the water main enters the home. It should enter your home from the side facing the street. If you can’t find it on that wall, then you’ll want to check near the furnace and water heater, or in a mechanical room. It could also be hidden in a closet on the perimeter wall, so don’t forget to check those. The main valve is the one located next to the water meter.

Once you’ve located it, you should know how it works. If you have a handle on your valve, and it is parallel to the pipe then the valve is open. And if the handle is perpendicular to the pipe, then the valve is closed. Or if there is a handwheel on the valve, then the old “righty tighty, lefty loosey” adage works. Just turn the handwheel left to open and then right for the closed position. 
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If you happen to find yourself in the unfortunate situation of burst pipes or any other cause that has you running for the main shut-off valve, give us a call today at Tony’s Plumbing and we’ll help you get it all fixed up so you won’t have to think about your shut-off valve again.

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