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New house can't find the water shut off
wrote in message ... I bought a house this month and have been unable to locate a main water shut off other than the one in the meter (under the sidewalk) that takes a special tool. I've followed directions from my home inspector and looked in entrance to the crawlspace, master bathroom, all around outdoors and in the converted garage.. no luck. The house was built in 1973. The meter in the sidewalk is on the side of the house that the master bathroom is on and opposite the side where the converted garage is. I'm thinking this house does not have a shut off. How much will it cost to have a plumber come out and install one.. I dread to think. But I will have it done if I can not find a shut off. Can anyone offer other suggestions as to where the shut off might be? It's right over there, you dumb SOB!!! |
If you cannot find the shut off just buy the special tool.
btw I just use two 12" adjustable wrenches not special tool required Bob |
If you cannot find the shut off just buy the special tool.
btw I just use two 12" adjustable wrenches, no special tool required Bob |
wrote in message ... I bought a house this month and have been unable to locate a main water shut off other than the one in the meter (under the sidewalk) that takes a special tool. I've followed directions from my home inspector and looked in entrance to the crawlspace, master bathroom, all around outdoors and in the converted garage.. no luck. The house was built in 1973. The meter in the sidewalk is on the side of the house that the master bathroom is on and opposite the side where the converted garage is. I'm thinking this house does not have a shut off. How much will it cost to have a plumber come out and install one.. I dread to think. But I will have it done if I can not find a shut off. Can anyone offer other suggestions as to where the shut off might be? Contacting the previous homeowner is pretty much out of the question. The shutoff valve is right where the water line enters the house. |
I bought a house this month and have been unable to locate a main water shut off other than the one in the meter (under the sidewalk) that takes a special tool. The tool, often made of re-bar with a slot-head, needed to shut off the water at the meter is cheap and readily available at hardware stores. An ordinary adjustable wrench will also work, just turn it 90 degrees to the pipe direction, to turn it off. There may also be a shut off valve where the service pipe enters the house.. if you can find that. The valve should be just outside the wall of the house. |
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In alt.home.repair on Sun, 27 Feb 2005 00:18:54 -0500 Joey
posted: If your house is like mine, the cutoff at the meter is the only cutoff that you have and that special tool is something you definitely want. They are not expensive and can be found at HomeDept or Lowes. You'll be glad you bought one the first time you need it. Also, it would be a lot cheaper than paying a plumber to put in a cutoff near the house. In my area, it's not the valve that needs a special tool (well maybe that too.) but I need a special tool to open the lid on the water meter. In the sidewalk that parallels the road. The bolt head has 5 sides. I've never seen one for sale, afaicr. They decided long ago not to read the meters in our n'hood, because we would have to pay for it, and so they only read the meter that feeds all 109 homes, and we divide the cost evenly. wrote: On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 20:35:12 -0800, in alt.home.repair "Roger Taylor" wrote: I bought a house this month and have been unable to locate a main water shut off other than the one in the meter (under the sidewalk) that takes a special tool. The tool, often made of re-bar with a slot-head, needed to shut off the water at the meter is cheap and readily available at hardware stores. An ordinary adjustable wrench will also work, just turn it 90 degrees to the pipe direction, to turn it off. There may also be a shut off valve where the service pipe enters the house.. if you can find that. The valve should be just outside the wall of the house. Ok thanks.. I'll look again when it gets light. Meirman -- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary. |
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"meirman" wrote in message They decided long ago not to read the meters in our n'hood, because we would have to pay for it, and so they only read the meter that feeds all 109 homes, and we divide the cost evenly. If it is very cheap, that may be OK, but I'd rather not pay for the slobs up the street with 10 kids, eleven cars to wash and the lawn sprinklers going 20 hours a day. As it is, we pay about $400 a year for the two of us. When the kids were home it was about $500 a year. |
If you actually have no shut off, other than the one that takes a special
tool, it is easy enough to put one in. I am no plumber, but have put in two, and can do it in under an hour; assuming the other shut-off is tight. If you do that, check your water pressure first and see if you also need a pressure regular installed (or replaced). |
It's possible that samfred is right, and that there's no water shutoff
inside the house. There was none in our 1888 house when we bought it 33 years ago. The water pipe came in where the cellar wall & floor met, went through the meter, and then headed for the various water using things (heater, furnace, washer, etc.) We paid a plumber to install one in 1975. |
And who says Socialism isn't alive and well in the US? MAN that would seem
to ivite careless abandon in your water usage. DJay "meirman" wrote in message ... In alt.home.repair on Sun, 27 Feb 2005 00:18:54 -0500 Joey posted: If your house is like mine, the cutoff at the meter is the only cutoff that you have and that special tool is something you definitely want. They are not expensive and can be found at HomeDept or Lowes. You'll be glad you bought one the first time you need it. Also, it would be a lot cheaper than paying a plumber to put in a cutoff near the house. In my area, it's not the valve that needs a special tool (well maybe that too.) but I need a special tool to open the lid on the water meter. In the sidewalk that parallels the road. The bolt head has 5 sides. I've never seen one for sale, afaicr. They decided long ago not to read the meters in our n'hood, because we would have to pay for it, and so they only read the meter that feeds all 109 homes, and we divide the cost evenly. wrote: On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 20:35:12 -0800, in alt.home.repair "Roger Taylor" wrote: I bought a house this month and have been unable to locate a main water shut off other than the one in the meter (under the sidewalk) that takes a special tool. The tool, often made of re-bar with a slot-head, needed to shut off the water at the meter is cheap and readily available at hardware stores. An ordinary adjustable wrench will also work, just turn it 90 degrees to the pipe direction, to turn it off. There may also be a shut off valve where the service pipe enters the house.. if you can find that. The valve should be just outside the wall of the house. Ok thanks.. I'll look again when it gets light. Meirman -- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary. |
wrote in message
... How much will it cost to have a plumber come out and install one.. I dread to think. But I will have it done if I can not find a shut off. You may be overestimating what it will cost to get the valve installed. Unless your pipes are in an unusual configuration where they enter your house, or are particularly inaccessible, you are looking at less than one hour's labor for a plumber plus any trip fees, plus the cost of the valve. That should be well under $100 in most places. For something as important as a main water shut-off valve, it is more than worth the price. By the way, I commend you for even looking for the valve. Too many people buy houses and don't bother to find the important utilities until a problem occurs. Don't forget your smoke detectors and fire extinguishers... C. PS: If you have a neighbor who is experienced with such things (this is not a high-skill task), you might get off with the price of a pizza and the valve. |
"Collin" wrote in message ... wrote in message ... How much will it cost to have a plumber come out and install one.. I dread to think. But I will have it done if I can not find a shut off. You may be overestimating what it will cost to get the valve installed. Unless your pipes are in an unusual configuration where they enter your house, or are particularly inaccessible, you are looking at less than one hour's labor for a plumber plus any trip fees, plus the cost of the valve. That should be well under $100 in most places. For something as important as a main water shut-off valve, it is more than worth the price. Wish I knew a plumber who would come out and do a little work for a hundred bucks. |
Kathy Feb 27, 1:37 pm show options Newsgroups: alt.home.repair From: "Kathy" - Find messages by this author Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 16:37:47 -0500 Local: Sun, Feb 27 2005 1:37 pm Wish I knew a plumber who would come out and do a little work for a hundred bucks. How little? cheers Bob |
In alt.home.repair on Sun, 27 Feb 2005 13:17:10 GMT "Edwin Pawlowski"
posted: "meirman" wrote in message They decided long ago not to read the meters in our n'hood, because we would have to pay for it, and so they only read the meter that feeds all 109 homes, and we divide the cost evenly. If it is very cheap, that may be OK, but I'd rather not pay for the slobs up Well, I think it is cheap, but now that you mention it, I'll check. the street with 10 kids, eleven cars to wash and the lawn sprinklers going 20 hours a day. Well there is no one like that in the n'hood, because the townhouses all have one big bedrooom and two little ones. Quite a few single people and those with one or two kids. Most households have two cars, none more than 3, and the ones I see washing them really don't use much water. Both use a bucket, and one uses the hose to rinse it off when he's done, but only for a couple minutes. Another guy would wipe it down every morning using the dew. I'll pay more attention to this maybe when it is warmer. I have one car and never wash it, except at the car wash. I only go to the good car wash after it snows, to get the salt off the underside of the car. When the top is leaking, which is 2 years out of every 7, I don't wash it at all. Most people don't water the lawn much either, I think, since it rains every month of the year here. I watered one year after I planted some bushes and another year after grass seed. Last fall I watered new sod every day for more 2 month (because I put a few pieces in every week for 4 or 6 weeks.) And most of us have the same size lawn. Actually I'm at the end of a group and my lawn is 3 times the size of the people in the middle, 3/4ths of us. (I have a 20th of an acre, counting the land the house is on. :) ) I take baths, usually a bath every day, which probably uses as much water as 2 or 3 showers, but I wouldn't change that even if I were paying for exactly what I use. I have to remind myself what size water heater I have, and then I'll ask a question about my water heater. I can only get a little more than one bathtub-full of water out of my almost new water heater before the water turns cold. I run the dishwasher no more than once a week. And the washing machine the same. Hey, I'm losing money. The people who came up with this plan didn't have large families or lots of cars or water their lawn much. I don't know how much they were going to charge us for reading the meters, but I think that was their only motivation for not having it done. As it is, we pay about $400 a year for the two of us. When the kids were home it was about $500 a year. Meirman -- If emailing, please let me know whether or not you are posting the same letter. Change domain to erols.com, if necessary. |
"Your local building department might have construction drawings for
the original building permit, which might show where the shutoff is. " How many building plans for a house would show that level of detail? Usually, this is up to the plumber doing the work. And why even bother? It's not rocket science you know. In a new house it should be very easy to just follow the cold water pipe and see if there is a valve or not. |
"I can't find where the water service comes into the house and I'm WAY
too claustraphobic to do more than just poke my head into the crawlspace. All I see in the crawlspace are plastic drain pipes. I think I'll just buy the tool at home depot and turn the water off at the meter if I have an emergency and while I do plumbing repairs. The meter is less than 40 feet from the front door. " I wouldn't rely on that as the primary shut off. Definitely not if you live somewhere in the north, where ice and snow occur. Imagine the water heater springs a leak or a washing machine hose were to burst. Maybe your not even the one home when it happens. Is someone else going to be able to find the key, figure out where the street valve is, dig through snow/ice, etc? I'd trace the pipe, find out if you have a valve, and if you don't, get a quarter turn valve put in. |
"Kathy" wrote in message
... Wish I knew a plumber who would come out and do a little work for a hundred bucks. We've got plenty of them. The best one in town just charged me $60 to fix a pipe under my kitchen sink. That was more work than it would take to install a main cutoff valve. I would have done the work myself if it wasn't so affordable. There are some benefits to living in a small town. Not many, but some. C. |
Collin wrote:
.... There are some benefits to living in a small town. Not many, but some. I'd reverse that, myself... :) |
Hey! You're the Kathy the cute blond that used to live next door to me
a long time ago, that I got so attached to, but later who moved to LA and broke my heart? No matter, wadda ya need done? |
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Andy Hill wrote:
.... Shoot, even if he has (or has installed) a inside shutoff, it's gonna be down in the crawlspace. That's where mine is, and I can guarantee if a pipe bursts, it's gonna be a lot faster to shut off at the meter than to do the G.I. Joe belly crawl (probably right through the water from the burst pipe) to the main shutoff. Never having to deal w/ house w/ only crawl space, would definitely be a pita if isn't where readily accessible (and sorta' defeats the purpose, for sure). I'd surely strongly consider making it where it was accessible if it were mine... |
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