Bill’s Blog

Shut off valves

As a homeowner you may from time to time turn the water off to your house, maybe for peace of mind during a family vacation, or, maybe like the rest of us your trying to fix a drippy faucet or other issue yourself to save a little money..WORD OF ADVICE FROM BILL- IF YOUR MAIN SHUTOFF VALVE HAS A ROUND KNOB INSTEAD OF A LEVER- I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO NOT USE IT. This type of valve is notorious for seperating internally. what that means to you is when you finish the task you needed the water off to fix and go back out to turn your water back on the knob just turns and turns as it has become seperated inside not allowing the flow of water through. So now its Saturday night and your wife is giving you one of those looks as you reach for your phone to call an after hours plumbing company.

  Instead, plan ahead. check to see which type of shutoff valve is on your house. If it is a levered handle( ball valve) then your fine , feel free to use it and good luck with your repair. If it is a round knob, call us to replace it during normal business hours, You”ll be glad you did.