In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 28 May 2019 06:48:55 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Monday, May 27, 2019 at 10:07:00 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 26 May 2019 07:25:46 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 6:47:11 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 22 May 2019 13:08:55 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 3:06:45 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 22 May 2019 09:08:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 11:15:39 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:
I just got back from a trip. Had turned off the water and drained the
pipes so no chance of pipes freezing. I've done this at least twice
before,

The last time was just a year ago.

but this time, when I turned the main house valve on, water
dripped from the valve. Quite a bit.

Is there any way out of this other than having the city turn off the
water to the house so a plumber can replace the valve?

Like putting bread or cheerios in the water pipes, or leeches, or at
least maybe temporarily there's something I can wrap around the stem and
where it comes out of the valve. House built in 1979,

I just got back and other things have piled up. Not a good time to hire
a plumber.

Valve is in the basement, behind a warddrobe full of stuff with stuff
piled on top of it with a heavy box of medium length pieces of wood,
metal, etc. in front of that.

If it's just stem packing, can I replace it myself, with something that
will work better than this did? Will the city turn the water off for
me, or will they insist that a plumber call?

Why are you asking us instead of calling the water company and asking
them?

Because I know that turning off the water is the least of it. I'm
trying to see if I can avoid hiring a plumber too.

And because calling any agency can take 10 to 20 to 40 minutes. Here
it takes me 2 minutes to ask a question and then read answers a few
hours later.

So, it's better to get a lame guess

What is wrong with you? Are you combative all the time, or is it that
you couldn't get me to swallow your strange views on political
commentary.

Just factual and observant. It's pretty dumb to ask what the policy is
for YOUR water company to turn off your water here, instead of just
calling them.

You just don't get it.

I get it.

No. You don't get it.

Time spent calling them, even reading their webpage, would have been
almost totally wasted, because I never had to turn off the water anyhow.

The information would have been interesting, as is the information about
Oshkosh and every other location.

I would much rather be able to turn off the water myself, on my own
schedule than rely on the city or a plumber. Of course I only need to
do that if my main valve isn't working, and it's fixed now.

You'd rather have an answer about what a water company procedure
and charge is to turn the water off in Oshkosh or the UK, rather than the
answer for what YOUR water company does, which is the answer you need.

It took 30 seconds to type the question in the first place, but you've
made it take 10 minutes to rehash it. Still probably less time than if
I had called them and been put on hold.