Adding main water shutoff
 

The only water shutoff valve for my house is located in a recessed box
at the front curb, some 50 ft away. Using it requires a special
long-handled "tool" which is kept in the garage 80 ft in the opposite
direction. Adding to potential for confusion, the valve itself is very
unclearly marked as to on/off, plus there's another valve for the entire
street just a few feet away, which this tool also operates. With +100lbs
water pressure this makes me very nervous about how much water could
potentially spill should something disasterous happen.

It looks like the pipe runs underground up to the footings, either under
or through the footings, and vertically up on the inside of the
foundation in the crawlspace. Can a pumber add a shutoff at the house,
by drilling through the foundation? Are permits usually required for
this kind of work?

Axial wrote:

The only water shutoff valve for my house is located in a recessed box
at the front curb, some 50 ft away. Using it requires a special
long-handled "tool" which is kept in the garage 80 ft in the opposite
direction. Adding to potential for confusion, the valve itself is very
unclearly marked as to on/off, plus there's another valve for the entire
street just a few feet away, which this tool also operates. With +100lbs
water pressure this makes me very nervous about how much water could
potentially spill should something disasterous happen.

It looks like the pipe runs underground up to the footings, either under
or through the footings, and vertically up on the inside of the
foundation in the crawlspace. Can a pumber add a shutoff at the house,
by drilling through the foundation? Are permits usually required for
this kind of work?

Put the shutoff *in* the crawlspace by just cutting the pipe
which runs vertically up the wall of the crawl.

And if the crawl is difficult to get into when you need
to operate the valve, move it further downstream or maybe
come up with a clever remote operator using cable or chain.

Jim

Axial wrote:

The only water shutoff valve for my house is located in a recessed box
at the front curb, some 50 ft away. Using it requires a special
long-handled "tool" which is kept in the garage 80 ft in the opposite
direction. Adding to potential for confusion, the valve itself is very
unclearly marked as to on/off, plus there's another valve for the
entire street just a few feet away, which this tool also operates.
With +100lbs water pressure this makes me very nervous about how much
water could potentially spill should something disasterous happen.

It looks like the pipe runs underground up to the footings, either
under or through the footings, and vertically up on the inside of the
foundation in the crawlspace. Can a pumber add a shutoff at the house,
by drilling through the foundation? Are permits usually required for
this kind of work?

Check with the local building department about permits.
If OK, wherever you put it, you're going to have to close and open that
street shutoff at least once. :-)
If possible, I would put the new shutoff more readily available
somewhere inside the house above the crawl space.
I would use a 1/4 turn ball valve for the new shutoff.

Faster accessibility to the shutoff is what I'm aiming for -- the main
water pipe comes in at the opposite side of the house from the
crawlspace entrance, about 60 ft away and down two 3ft levels, so access
will have to be outside the crawlspace.

The main pipe runs vertically about 12-16 inches from the inside of the
foundation wall, and the first pipe leading off of that is very close,
so major relocation the incoming line isn't an option, but a plumber
could probably move the line closer to the foundation wall (right?).

Is it possible to have a shutoff valve & handle assembly that could
span the distance from the outside of the foundation (6", 8", whatever
it is), plus whatever few inches the pipe is inside the foundation?

Putting the shutoff further up vertically, inside the house, isn't an
option, either, as above this area is living room, nowhere for a shutoff
valve to be hidden as it possibly could be if it was a kitchen cupboard
or something.

THx.

Concerning your desire to shut off the water quickly when the pipes rupture.
Did you think you would be home when this happens? HA!

"Axial" wrote in message
...
Faster accessibility to the shutoff is what I'm aiming for -- the main
water pipe comes in at the opposite side of the house from the
crawlspace entrance, about 60 ft away and down two 3ft levels, so access
will have to be outside the crawlspace.

The main pipe runs vertically about 12-16 inches from the inside of the
foundation wall, and the first pipe leading off of that is very close,
so major relocation the incoming line isn't an option, but a plumber
could probably move the line closer to the foundation wall (right?).

Is it possible to have a shutoff valve & handle assembly that could
span the distance from the outside of the foundation (6", 8", whatever
it is), plus whatever few inches the pipe is inside the foundation?

Putting the shutoff further up vertically, inside the house, isn't an
option, either, as above this area is living room, nowhere for a shutoff
valve to be hidden as it possibly could be if it was a kitchen cupboard
or something.

THx.

Point taken g. But seriously, even if I was home, dashing up hill and
down dale to get the handle thingy, then out to the street and trying to
find the curb shutoff in the dark & pouring Seattle rain (no
streetlights here), plus trying to remember which way is "off" ... or,
imagine trying to leave instructions for a plumber about where the
handle is, where the shutoff is, etc etc, all in all the current setup
is unsat.

Joe Fabeitz wrote:
Concerning your desire to shut off the water quickly when the pipes rupture.
Did you think you would be home when this happens? HA!

Axial wrote:

Faster accessibility to the shutoff is what I'm aiming for -- the main
water pipe comes in at the opposite side of the house from the
crawlspace entrance, about 60 ft away and down two 3ft levels, so
access will have to be outside the crawlspace.

The main pipe runs vertically about 12-16 inches from the inside of
the foundation wall, and the first pipe leading off of that is very
close, so major relocation the incoming line isn't an option, but a
plumber could probably move the line closer to the foundation wall
(right?).

Is it possible to have a shutoff valve & handle assembly that could
span the distance from the outside of the foundation (6", 8", whatever
it is), plus whatever few inches the pipe is inside the foundation?

Putting the shutoff further up vertically, inside the house, isn't an
option, either, as above this area is living room, nowhere for a
shutoff valve to be hidden as it possibly could be if it was a kitchen
cupboard or something.

THx.

You didn't say where you lived, but where I live in the NE, putting any
water shutoff or pipe out side in the winter air would require a lot of
closing and opening of that curb shutoff in order to make repairs to
freezing pipes.

Axial wrote:

Point taken g. But seriously, even if I was home, dashing up hill and
down dale to get the handle thingy, then out to the street and trying to
find the curb shutoff in the dark & pouring Seattle rain (no
streetlights here), plus trying to remember which way is "off" ... or,
imagine trying to leave instructions for a plumber about where the
handle is, where the shutoff is, etc etc, all in all the current setup
is unsat.

Where is the meter? That would be really good place for a shut off.

In fact, when the village re-did my water connection, they installed a
pair of shutoffs, on each side of the meter, "the village meter plumbers
don't like to get their hands wet".

Agree with quarter turn ball valve.
I had a gate valve and it was a pain to open/close

Would it be worth running some extra pipe to a convenient space like a
kitchen cupbord?
JD

"Axial" wrote in message
...
The only water shutoff valve for my house is located in a recessed box at
the front curb, some 50 ft away. Using it requires a special long-handled
"tool" which is kept in the garage 80 ft in the opposite direction. Adding
to potential for confusion, the valve itself is very unclearly marked as
to on/off, plus there's another valve for the entire street just a few
feet away, which this tool also operates. With +100lbs water pressure this
makes me very nervous about how much water could potentially spill should
something disasterous happen.

It looks like the pipe runs underground up to the footings, either under
or through the footings, and vertically up on the inside of the foundation
in the crawlspace. Can a pumber add a shutoff at the house, by drilling
through the foundation? Are permits usually required for this kind of
work?

Where's the water meter? Mine has a ball valve on each end and it's easily
accessable.
Ray

"JD" wrote in message
news:z0Xdd.17649$%t3.16137@lakeread01...
Agree with quarter turn ball valve.
I had a gate valve and it was a pain to open/close

Would it be worth running some extra pipe to a convenient space like a
kitchen cupbord?
JD

"Axial" wrote in message
...
The only water shutoff valve for my house is located in a recessed box at
the front curb, some 50 ft away. Using it requires a special long-handled
"tool" which is kept in the garage 80 ft in the opposite direction.
Adding to potential for confusion, the valve itself is very unclearly
marked as to on/off, plus there's another valve for the entire street
just a few feet away, which this tool also operates. With +100lbs water
pressure this makes me very nervous about how much water could
potentially spill should something disasterous happen.

It looks like the pipe runs underground up to the footings, either under
or through the footings, and vertically up on the inside of the
foundation in the crawlspace. Can a pumber add a shutoff at the house, by
drilling through the foundation? Are permits usually required for this
kind of work?