How to Keep Shutoff Valves Working and Avoid Disasters

Whether you’re a homeowner or a renter, you should know where the shutoff valve is for your home. For every appliance, every sink, every toilet and your hot water heater, there is a shutoff valve that will shut off the water to that appliance. If you have a faucet break and it starts spraying water all over the room, you’ll realize how important it is to know exactly where these shutoff valves are. 

What if You Need to Shut Off Water and the Shutoff Valve Doesn’t Work?

If you can’t turn off a water source immediately, you could have a serious problem with damage to floors, furnishings, cabinets and carpets. For that reason, it’s important to test your shutoff valves from time to time. You want to know that they will work when you need them. 

About once a year, you want to test them all, from one end of the house to the other. It’s very simple. Just do this: 

  • For sinks, you have one valve for hot and one for cold. Open up each faucet full blast so the water pours out. Go underneath the sink and see if you can turn them both off all the way. If they work, great. 
  • Repeat this step with every plumbing fixture and appliance equipped with shutoff valves. That includes dishwashers, washing machines, water heater, ice maker, toilets, faucets and garbage disposals. 

Just by exercising them, turning them off and on, you’re keeping them working longer. But if you have some shutoff valves that you can’t easily turn off, they need to be replaced. Getting that work done promptly can save you from a flooding disaster. 

Identifying and Working with Two Types of Shutoff Valves

When you go find your shutoff valves, there are two different types that you may find. There is a ball valve that’s just a quarter turn on, quarter turn off. They’re the best. The older style is called a gate valve. And if they’re 20, 30, 40 or more years old, those valves have a hard time turning off all the way. I couldn’t even tell you how many times people turn it off as hard as they can, and then they get a wrench and they turn it a little more and they break it in the off position. At that point, they have to call a plumber to come replace the valve.

It’s the same with the main shutoff valve that shuts off all the water to your house. Most houses have one. Sometimes it’s next to the hot water heater or in the laundry room. Sometimes it is underneath the kitchen sink. But it is very, very important to know where it is and how to shut it off. 

Get the Peace of Mind of Knowing You Can Shut Off Water When Needed

When you know where the valves for your whole house and your appliances are and you know that they are in good working condition, there’s a certain peace of mind that occurs. In the event of a water disaster in your home, you can be spared a lot of damage. 

I suggest you find all your valves and ensure that they are in good working condition. If you have any that aren’t working well, give us a call and we’ll come out and take care of it. You can reach Rocketman Plumbing 24 hours a day at (505) 243-1227.