" wrote in message
oups.com...
All,

After 15 years of using the house main water supply valve to turn off
water to the house it no longer completely shuts off the water. My
sense is that the seal inside is not fully functional and the outside
water pressure is enough to maintain a flow even though the valve is
off.

So, could anyone suggest the best plan from here. It looks like the
valve is soldered in. It's located just outside the house.

Do I have the city shut off the house water, hacksaw out the old valve
and solder in a new one? There is one nut between the body of the
valve, around the shaft. Is there any chance I could simply open that
up and pull out the guts of the valve and replace just that?

Quite frequently simply cranking down on the nut below the knob will tighten
things up so the valve works again. You can only play this magic once or
twice; so if it works, install a new full bore ball valve after the old
valve. I did that while my old valve was still working, cause they don't
last.

(tighten means clockwise when looking down on it; I don't want to think
about what will happen if you screw it off)