Water Shut Off Valve Outside The House

This guide reviews the types of water shut off valves how they are used and where to find them inside and outside your home.

Water shut off valve outside the house.

The street side valve is designed for city use only. These fixture shutoff valves can take many appearances but a very common one is a small silver colored valve with an oval handle with ribbed edges for gripping. You ll need an adjustable wrench a bucket and slip joint pliers. If you have trouble reaching the valve.

An old gate valve can break so be gentle when you re handling it. One that the city controls outside of your house and one that you can control inside the house. All water flow should stop. In all homes you can shut off the water at the main water cut off valve.

This turns off water to the entire house even outside spigots. This allows water to be shut off for small repairs or replacements to the fixture itself without interrupting water flow to other areas. Turn on a faucet somewhere in the house and shut off the main water valve. If you have a water leak or just need to turn off the water in your home for remodeling or repairs you must turn off your water upstream at some point.

The main water shut off valve stops the flow to the entire home from the water meter while other water valve types shut off the water at individual appliances fixtures and faucets. The city s valve is always located on the street side of your water meter often near the edge of your yard. The main shutoff valve allows a full flow of water through the pipe when it s open. If you ve never shut off the main water valve before test it before you leave on vacation.

Details and alternatives. Turning off this valve by turning it clockwise cuts off the water supply to the entire house. This valve is usually in the basement or on an outside wall in a utility area of the house. Water faucets on the outside of a building still use a valve assembly to regulate the flow of water in a similar way to how indoor faucets operate.

It s simply a matter of locating the outside faucet which is the point where the water is accessed outside of the house. For typical city dwellings there are actually two main shut off valves. Shut off water in your house. Test the valve s operation most shut off valves feature a round knurled handle that s easy to access.

Simply turn it clockwise to cut off the water supply flowing to your home. It will likely be below an access panel buried in the ground. To keep the neighbor kids from running your hose when you re on vacation or to keep the pipes from freezing over winter it is necessary to shut off the valve to the outside faucet. Like indoor faucets an outside faucet valve that has worn out can come to the point where faucet will not shut off completely.