water dripping from main inside house valve

[micky]

I just got back from a trip. Had turned off the water and drained the pipes so no chance of pipes freezing. I've done this at least twice before, but this time, when I turned the main house valve on, water dripped from the valve. Quite a bit.

Is there any way out of this other than having the city turn off the water to the house so a plumber can replace the valve?

Like putting bread or cheerios in the water pipes, or leeches, or at least maybe temporarily there's something I can wrap around the stem and where it comes out of the valve. House built in 1979,

I just got back and other things have piled up. Not a good time to hire a plumber.

Valve is in the basement, behind a warddrobe full of stuff with stuff piled on top of it with a heavy box of medium length pieces of wood, metal, etc. in front of that.

If it's just stem packing, can I replace it myself, with something that will work better than this did? Will the city turn the water off for me, or will they insist that a plumber call?

[Bill Jackson]

Not a big deal, had that happen to me.  The city's off/on fee was $125 and the plumber was $480.

[trader_4]

For sure I'd call the water company first, it may be free for them to shut it off. And is there no risk of freezing the pipe busting it? I guess with plastic which is used today it would be OK, but how about old steel? What happens if it comes unfrozen while you have the pipe apart? Doh! And last time I bought dry ice, it wasn't so cheap as I recall either.

[Dan Espen]

Yes, I can imagine that can happen. In my case I had about 2 inches. Since all I had to do is unscrew the bonnet and drop in a new gate valve I suppose I could have put the ice right on the valve.

There was quite a bit of water flowing from the leak. The ice stopped it "cold".

[gfretwell]

As spoken above you can close the valve and replace the packing but there should also be a shut off at the street connection. You will need a special wrench if it is very deep in the hole but HD sells them.

[TimR]

Maybe, maybe not. About a month ago I had the plumber over to fix a leak I couldn't find in the ceiling. I've always turned the water off out at the meter by the curb. After one bad experience I'm careful never to be without that special valve wrench.

But when the plumber and I were in the basement, we noticed the house did have an inside shut off. I never knew that and I'd lived there ten years. Anyway, we closed it and it started spurting water. I turned water off and he fiddled with the valve and got it to stop leaking, and he recommended we never touch the inside valve again. He didn't want to open the wall to get to it. There is no way to repack or replace that valve without removing major drywall.

[micky]

Because I know that turning off the water is the least of it. I'm trying to see if I can avoid hiring a plumber too.

And because calling any agency can take 10 to 20 to 40 minutes. Here it takes me 2 minutes to ask a question and then read answers a few hours later.

If it were any other valve, I could repack it, turn the water back on, test it, turn the water off again if I did a bad job, and repeat. But I can't expect the city to wait while I test it, or to come back over and over.

OTOH, maybe they would come back soon. The electric company has guys with a geographic region and if you don't pay your bill enough, they disconnect you. But they'll come within 2 hours, certainly before the end of the day to reconnect you. I know the electric guy just works in this area. I don't know how the city water guy works.

[trader_4]

So, it's better to get a lame guess here as to what YOUR water company does instead of a call to the water company and to get the correct answer to your question? And IDK how screwed up MD is but around here a call like that usually takes just a few minutes. Or go to their website, it may have the answer right there.

As someone else pointed out, you should be able to replace the stem packing in a gate valve without turning off the water. You may get some leakage, but it should be able to be done.

Neither do we.

[Clare Snyder]

Did you try tightening the packing nut? Did you open the valve ALL THE WAY? On most dhutoff valves they don't leak even with a bad packing if they are ALL THE WAY open - but will leak like a sieve if 1/4 turn from fully open.

I'd try tightening the packing nut 1/4 turn or so if possible (with the shutoff NOT fully open) and see what happens.

[Clare Snyder]

FORGET the flex seal tape!!! you want to solve the problem,not hide it

[Anonymous]

Micky asked a question: "maybe temporarily there's something I can wrap around the stem and where it comes out of the valve.

I just got back and other things have piled up. Not a good time to hire a plumber"

I gave him an option. Others can, and have, provided other alternatives.

[Vic Smith]

Try fully opening the valve and then tightening the packing nut. When you close it you'll have to loosen the nut until it's closed, and retighten it. My hose bib shutoff is like that - twice a year I have water running down my arms. Valves are cheap enough that I'd replace it before I'd repack it. As far as your city goes, it all depends on their plumbing code enforcement. I suggest you move all the stuff blocking the valve and call a plumber in for an estimate to replace the valve. Might be less hassle and worth it.

[micky]

The last time was just a year ago.

What is wrong with you? Are you combative all the time, or is it that you couldn't get me to swallow your strange views on political commentary.

Did you not notice that the question about the city turning off the water was the last (2nd) question in the last (6th) pargraph of the original post.

It's the least of my concerns and it was the least important question I asked. Added on at the end when I was ALREADY asking another question.

You're guessing. And even you say "usually". It took less than a few minutes to ask here, and I got a range of answers, which I find worth hearing regardless of what the situation is here.

It doesn't.

Finally, an answer, one which as you point out someone else had already said, but still, it is agreement with what he said.

[Bob F]

If I wanted the water off outside my house, Id go to the meter and turn it off there. It's just a valve.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Hundreds of thousands of homes have the meter inside and the main valve right ahead of it. The outside valve is the one the city has, usually near the street.

[TimR]

All the places I've lived for the past 60 years or so have had a valve at the meter box just inside the property. It takes a special wrench usually about 3 feet long, might be deeper some places.

But where I worked, shutoffs for larger buildings were a bit different. There was a similar valve just off the main, but that one was usually in the street and quite deep, it took an 8 foot wrench, down a narrow pipe so you had to feel for the valve. (and often took two of us on the handle to turn it) Frequently - more than half - that valve didn't hold tightly enough to do a repair, so we'd be looking at the utility drawings chasing the pipe upstream shutting off more valves. Get about three valves shut off and usually the flow stopped.

So, IF the city has to do it, which I doubt, it may not be a simple task and they might have to charge for a couple hours of time.

[Clare Snyder]

You obviously live where it is warm. Our shutoff valve isa MINIMUM of

4.5 feet below the ground - ours is over 6. The meters are ALL indoors

- and since we have basements that's where the meters are located - with a shutoff valve on the HOUSE side of the meter. Used to be the meter reader had to get into the house to read the meter - then they went to remote readouts on the exterior of the house - now they have a remote wireless device with no numbers on it.

Here they use "frostproof hydrants" burried under ground with a long telescopic stem coming up to ground level where they still need a special wrench. Some plumbers carry the wrench. Others call the city. BEST to call the city because if THEY screw it up, they pay. If you or your plumber screws it up YOU pay.

[micky]

I did try this btw, again but harder, and it didn't help.

Tnx

[Clare Snyder]

The few times I've had mine turned off (they changed the meter twice) they have never done ANY damage. The valve head is less than 6 inches under the sod.

[micky]

Not when I first posted.

Yes.

I've noticed that.

That worked. It turned quite easily!