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
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
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.
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
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?
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..
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.
Try doing it quickly when a pipe breaks in your house and it's below zero outside with 3 feet of snow over the meter box. I'd shut the thing off NOW and spend the $10 for a valve and install it whereever the water enters 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.
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