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New House with No Main Water Shutoff Valve
Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular
community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank |
The only place I have ever had a second shut-off valve at the house
was when we had a basement. None of the other houses had one, including the one we are living in now. On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank |
just wondering....does 'modular community' = trailer park???
"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message ... The only place I have ever had a second shut-off valve at the house was when we had a basement. None of the other houses had one, including the one we are living in now. On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank |
"frank1492" wrote in message ... Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank Didn't think my house had a water shut off valve either, but it does. Mine is located in front of my house, in a well about a foot down in the ground. It was a devil to find because it was grown over with flowers and plants. A local plumber told me all the shut off valves here are below ground because of the freezing weather. Could yours be underground also? |
It may be like in Eastern NC, where some new communities are set up and
zoned strictly for modular construction housing, to keep the community consistent. I know of one where the houses are 2 story, 170,000 range, half acre lots, and that isn't a cheap home around here. A stock 3 bedroom brick ranch around here can be had for, say, 75 to 150 K, depending on location, of course. I just bought another brick ranch in rural farm country, and it has water cutoff at the meter enclosure at the street only. RJ " wrote in message ... just wondering....does 'modular community' = trailer park??? "Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message ... The only place I have ever had a second shut-off valve at the house was when we had a basement. None of the other houses had one, including the one we are living in now. On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank |
On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492
wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank if a home owner got a chance to sit down with the builder and the plumber before they built his house they would definitely agree that a cut off valve needs to be installed in the line just inside the house where the water line comes in...if you buy your house from a huge house construction corporation...taking bids from plumbers to work for them they cut out the little "frills" like cut off valves inside the house...you can go to the street and open the meter box and turn the valve off...in zero degree weather or pouring down rain... It's very bad to remain an ignorant person while dealing with contractors... Bill |
On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492
wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank None of the 5000 homes in my division have shutfoff valves except at the street water meter. 1980 to 2005. Many of the communities require calling the city utility company to shut off the water. Then they started charging a fee, so lots of people like yourself installed their own shutoff. |
"JimL" wrote in message None of the 5000 homes in my division have shutfoff valves except at the street water meter. 1980 to 2005. Many of the communities require calling the city utility company to shut off the water. Then they started charging a fee, so lots of people like yourself installed their own shutoff. I just cannot imagine NOT having one when an emergency problem arises. The cost of installing one when the house was build would probably have been $20 or so. That puts $100,000 in the hands of the builder. You can be sure I'd put one in. |
On Sun, 15 May 2005 13:22:51 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote: "JimL" wrote in message None of the 5000 homes in my division have shutfoff valves except at the street water meter. 1980 to 2005. Many of the communities require calling the city utility company to shut off the water. Then they started charging a fee, so lots of people like yourself installed their own shutoff. I just cannot imagine NOT having one when an emergency problem arises. The cost of installing one when the house was build would probably have been $20 or so. That puts $100,000 in the hands of the builder. You can be sure I'd put one in. I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. |
"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. It is not a big deal if everything works OK. When you have to do a repair at night, in the cold, in the rain or when something lets lose, finding that shut-off tool can take an agonizingly long time. I want to be able to do it quickly, from inside the house. |
Many thanks for all your replies! The house does
have a basement. We will look for a shut-off just outside the house but I am pretty sure none exists. I am still surprised that so few newer houses have an in-house main shutoff valve. What if a catastrophic leak were to develop? The basement could fill up before the water company arrived. And how about going away for a prolonged period? Also if I want to do a little plumbing project on a Sunday afternoon, I have to call the water company, then get them back? Life is a great teacher. I always think I understand the world pretty well until I run into stuff like this...:) Frank On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank |
I've seen worse than no shutoff inside.
I recently moved from a townhouse I rented where the entire unit, 4 townhouses, shared a single shutoff. Working on plumbing was a nightmare as you had to let everyone know you were going to shut the water off and sometimes neighbors would get irate about it. Fortunately it only came up twice during my time there. ml |
Why was I of the impression that homeowners were not supposed
to tamper with the town's valves? (The house is in CT.) We do know where the valve is, and it is accessible. Are keys readily available to deal with these? On Sun, 15 May 2005 06:49:44 -0700, Dick LeadWinger wrote: On Sun, 15 May 2005 13:22:51 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote: "JimL" wrote in message None of the 5000 homes in my division have shutfoff valves except at the street water meter. 1980 to 2005. Many of the communities require calling the city utility company to shut off the water. Then they started charging a fee, so lots of people like yourself installed their own shutoff. I just cannot imagine NOT having one when an emergency problem arises. The cost of installing one when the house was build would probably have been $20 or so. That puts $100,000 in the hands of the builder. You can be sure I'd put one in. I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. |
On 15-May-2005, frank1492 wrote: Also if I want to do a little plumbing project on a Sunday afternoon, I have to call the water company, then get them back? I don't know what your streetside shutoff valve is like but mine is easily operated by hand. The valve just has a lever type handle. No tools needed. Ok the first time I used it it was a bit tough to get moving but elbow grease did the job. I just stick a big screwdriver in the slot in the concrete plug and lever it up and out, shut off/turn on the valve and put the concrete plug back. Exactly what the people from the water company would do. ml |
That is another thing that worries me. The street valve is in an odd
location, almost exactly on the property line bewteen the two houses! No lever here, seem to recall a recessed hex, but will have to look again.. On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:58:38 GMT, wrote: I've seen worse than no shutoff inside. I recently moved from a townhouse I rented where the entire unit, 4 townhouses, shared a single shutoff. Working on plumbing was a nightmare as you had to let everyone know you were going to shut the water off and sometimes neighbors would get irate about it. Fortunately it only came up twice during my time there. ml |
On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:53:29 GMT, frank1492
wrote: Many thanks for all your replies! The house does have a basement. We will look for a shut-off just outside the house but I am pretty sure none exists. I am still surprised that so few newer houses have an in-house main shutoff valve. What if a catastrophic leak were to develop? The basement could fill up before the water company arrived. And how about going away for a prolonged period? Also if I want to do a little plumbing project on a Sunday afternoon, I have to call the water company, then get them back? Life is a great teacher. I always think I understand the world pretty well until I run into stuff like this...:) Frank When you have a basement the shut-off valve is typically inside the house, not outside. Look for it on a wall. |
There is none.
On Sun, 15 May 2005 09:34:30 -0700, Dick LeadWinger wrote: On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:53:29 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Many thanks for all your replies! The house does have a basement. We will look for a shut-off just outside the house but I am pretty sure none exists. I am still surprised that so few newer houses have an in-house main shutoff valve. What if a catastrophic leak were to develop? The basement could fill up before the water company arrived. And how about going away for a prolonged period? Also if I want to do a little plumbing project on a Sunday afternoon, I have to call the water company, then get them back? Life is a great teacher. I always think I understand the world pretty well until I run into stuff like this...:) Frank When you have a basement the shut-off valve is typically inside the house, not outside. Look for it on a wall. |
"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message ... On Sun, 15 May 2005 13:22:51 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote: "JimL" wrote in message None of the 5000 homes in my division have shutfoff valves except at the street water meter. 1980 to 2005. Many of the communities require calling the city utility company to shut off the water. Then they started charging a fee, so lots of people like yourself installed their own shutoff. I just cannot imagine NOT having one when an emergency problem arises. The cost of installing one when the house was build would probably have been $20 or so. That puts $100,000 in the hands of the builder. You can be sure I'd put one in. I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. Call your local water company and find out who would be required to pay the cost of repairs if the valve at the street broke while you were turning it off or on. The local plumbers will not even touch that valve unless it's an absolute emergency and I agree in writing to pay the cost, instead of them, if something happens with that valve when they're working with it. They makes an appointment with the city water department to turn the water off and on. The city water department also recommends this procedure on each month's water bill. |
How are you billed for water used? You must have some sort of water meter.
Maybe the cutoff valve is located on the supply side of the meter????? It could even look like a large allen head fitting, that you insert the allen wrench in to turn off. "frank1492" wrote in message ... Many thanks for all your replies! The house does have a basement. We will look for a shut-off just outside the house but I am pretty sure none exists. I am still surprised that so few newer houses have an in-house main shutoff valve. What if a catastrophic leak were to develop? The basement could fill up before the water company arrived. And how about going away for a prolonged period? Also if I want to do a little plumbing project on a Sunday afternoon, I have to call the water company, then get them back? Life is a great teacher. I always think I understand the world pretty well until I run into stuff like this...:) Frank On Sun, 15 May 2005 02:36:19 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Some friends have recently acquired a new house in a modular community. I was surprised to find that the only way to shut off the water supply to the house is from the street! All the houses on the street are set up the same way! My question is this: Is this common practice? And, if so, is the only reason it is done is to save 10 bucks on a valve? Help much appreciated. Frank |
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. It is not a big deal if everything works OK. When you have to do a repair at night, in the cold, in the rain or when something lets lose, finding that shut-off tool can take an agonizingly long time. I want to be able to do it quickly, from inside the house. Not if the shut off valve is located at the far end of the crawl space and access is through a hatch in the floor of a closet with about a zillion things piled on it, like at my house. I've never turned the inside house valve off, always used the valve at the street. Besides it only requires a Crescent wrench. Now if I needed a special wrench, I would paint the handle RED and would hang it by the garage door and always replace it whenever I used it. Course that would keep some idiot child or spouse from moving it, but if I had an idiot child or idiot spouse (or an idiot me) I would buy a second wrench and hide it in a special place that I would not likely forget. What I can't imagine is having a flood from a broken pipe or valve and waiting for the water company to come turn the water off. |
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On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:13:46 -0500, "Hound Dog"
wrote: "Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. Call your local water company and find out who would be required to pay the cost of repairs if the valve at the street broke while you were turning it off or on. The local plumbers will not even touch that valve unless it's an absolute emergency and I agree in writing to pay the cost, instead of them, if something happens with that valve when they're working with it. They makes an appointment with the city water department to turn the water off and on. The city water department also recommends this procedure on each month's water bill. There is one valve before the water meter. That's the city's responsibility. There is another valve after the water meter along with a pressure regulator. That's my responsibility. I own everything after the meter. Everything is in the same underground vault. |
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"Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message ... On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:13:46 -0500, "Hound Dog" wrote: "Dick" LeadWinger wrote in message I don't see it as any big deal. I bought a long sprinkler shut-off tool from Home Depot. If I need to turn off the water, I just pop off the meter box cover near the street and turn the water off. Would take me just as long if the shut-off were next to the house. Call your local water company and find out who would be required to pay the cost of repairs if the valve at the street broke while you were turning it off or on. The local plumbers will not even touch that valve unless it's an absolute emergency and I agree in writing to pay the cost, instead of them, if something happens with that valve when they're working with it. They makes an appointment with the city water department to turn the water off and on. The city water department also recommends this procedure on each month's water bill. There is one valve before the water meter. That's the city's responsibility. There is another valve after the water meter along with a pressure regulator. That's my responsibility. I own everything after the meter. Everything is in the same underground vault. Don't be too sure. Had the city shut off the main in the street so that my house shut off valve could be replaced. Guess what? The street-to-valve extension shaft snapped in two. City gets Back hoe--dig up street--replace extension shaft--fill hole--hot top over dug up street.------- Now, you don't want to get involved in all of that do you? MLD |
On Mon, 16 May 2005 18:50:10 GMT, "MLD" wrote:
Don't be too sure. Had the city shut off the main in the street so that my house shut off valve could be replaced. Guess what? The street-to-valve extension shaft snapped in two. City gets Back hoe--dig up street--replace extension shaft--fill hole--hot top over dug up street.------- Now, you don't want to get involved in all of that do you? MLD No, and I wouldn't. If the city breaks it, the city fixes it. Anyway, if your shutoff valve is defective, what choices do you really have? Got to shut it off somewhere. |
On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:59:11 GMT, frank1492
wrote: Why was I of the impression that homeowners were not supposed to tamper with the town's valves? (The house is in CT.) We do know where the valve is, and it is accessible. Are keys readily available to deal with these? yes keys are available to deal with water main cut off valves...go to the Home Depot hand tool department and ask for a "Crescent Wrench" or any other brand of "Adjustable Wrench"...stick it down in your water meter box and turn the water off. Bill |
"Bill" wrote in message ... On Sun, 15 May 2005 15:59:11 GMT, frank1492 wrote: Why was I of the impression that homeowners were not supposed to tamper with the town's valves? (The house is in CT.) We do know where the valve is, and it is accessible. Are keys readily available to deal with these? yes keys are available to deal with water main cut off valves...go to the Home Depot hand tool department and ask for a "Crescent Wrench" or any other brand of "Adjustable Wrench"...stick it down in your water meter box and turn the water off. Bill Not that simple. Where do you live? The poster is in CT. Our water mains are 48" or deeper. That takes a mighty long arm to reach down that far with an adjustable. I'd not be surprised to find them even deeper as you go farther north. |
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