Main water valve

[Marni Jackson]

Turn off the main water supply but water is still flowing in the house

[Ed Pawlowski]

Valve is probably worn out or will not seal because of mineral buildup. Common problem as the vales are often not used for years. Solution is usually to have the town come out and turn the water off at the street. replace main valve.

[philo]

Yep.

Or if you call a plumber they can turn it off at the street as well.

One thing to try though would be to open it up and try again.

[Kurt V. Ullman]

Had a friend one time lightly tap the valve with one of those rubber hammers. He did it twice and the second time it worked. His theory was that he dislodged whatever was causing the problem. Mine was that it was

5-6 time he had moved the valve back and forth and that is broke it up enough. Anyway.. one of those things that might work and there appears to be no good reason not to try it.

[gfretwell]

Anyone with a water meter wrench can do it. My father in law got his at Home Depot. He turns the water off at the street whenever he leaves the house for a few days.

[philo]

snip>

One day the water company was to replace the water meter. When I came home from work to take a shower, the water was off. I figured the guy just forgot to turn it back on.

When I went down in the basement the valve was tagged "out of order."

It was off, but due to stripped threads could not be turned back on.

Since it was summer, I said, "what the heck" I put on my swim suit, took it apart and at least got the valve open again.

With water squirting all over the place, I think the Three Stooges would have been proud of me.

I eventually had a plumber replace it as the pipe coming in was lead and I did not know how to deal with it.

[Dan Espen]

I once had the main water shutoff start to leak. A plumber came and gave me an estimate of 3K to open the street and shut off the water. (This was in NYC in the 70s.)

A neighbor helped me fix the valve. He spent $5 and bought a chunk of dry ice which we put on the pipe just before the leak, while it was squirting water. The water froze solid, and I opened the valve and replaced the gate with a gate I had lying around.

So, fixed it myself for $5 instead of the plumber for $3000.

The lesson is, there is more than one way to shut off the water.

As for this leak, if the water is leaking out full force, you should say so. Something would be wrong. If it's just a drip, it may be residual water in your pipes.

It always helps if you describe the problem with as much detail as you can provide.

[philo]

Wow that was worse the the $2000 toilet replacement I was quoted.

Went to Home Depot and bought one for $84

took an hour or so to replace

[catalpa]

And why not just use the normal main water shutoff valve?

[gfretwell]

He had a leak once on the street side of the valve

[breqavy]

Mental Illness !!!