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Turn off water main while on vacation?

Main water line

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 50.0%

  • No

    Votes: 10 50.0%
  • Total voters
    20
9integra2

9integra2

New member
Joined
Jun 19, 2003
Location
The ghetto valley
Moto(s)
Bikeless...for now
Sprinklers are off for the winter, tankless water heater, no swimming pool. Cant think of any reason to keep it on while im gone.
 
My in-laws had a small leak in their kitchen while they were away on a cruise for 3 weeks. 18 grand in damage.
 
I installed a secondary ball valve on the service entrance just outside the carport door, to make this easy.

No real reason to leave it on unless you have a fire sprinkler system.
 
Yakoo752 said:
typically those are differentiated



when I lived in HMB, we had 2 water mains... 1 for fire, the other for the house.
Click to expand...

Typically, but you never know, and hey, but if you have both, a leaky sprinkler system will flood your house just as good as a leaky sink.

:teeth
 
I have a vacation home that I go to every month. I did a little research and the word, if I remember correctly, is that if you are gone for a long time then turn everything off. If you are just going to be gone for a few weeks it's better to leave everything on and running.
I guess the main issue is that if valves and such are normally wet, when you shut off the supply it will dry/corrode and you'll have leaks when you turn it back on.
 
turn it off.

I know at least two people that got major water damage while gone out of town
 
Cmon, who really does this? What's the breaking point? 7 days? 3 days?

I have insurance.

I've turned off a few toilets, but I'm not too worried about it. The. Again my house is only 2 years old.
 
Ducky_Fresh said:
Cmon, who really does this? What's the breaking point? 7 days? 3 days? ...
Click to expand...

When I bought home insurance for my vacation home they asked if I was ever away from the house for more than 30 days. I don't know if that is significant or not. My neighbors were away for half a day and had significant water damage. I don't think you are ever safe from something happening to your house.
 
I had a pipe burst and my house flooded. I called my agent and he told me this story about what happened to him and how I'm not covered BUT when the claims agent told me the exactsame story I switched my insurance.
 
My inlaw's neighbors had a pipe burst overnight a week or so ago, which caused a bunch of damage while they were asleep, so you don't even need to be gone for things to happen. :dunno
 
wazzuFreddo said:
My inlaw's neighbors had a pipe burst overnight a week or so ago, which caused a bunch of damage while they were asleep, so you don't even need to be gone for things to happen. :dunno
Click to expand...

True, but at least they were there to take care of it in the morning instead of a few days later. The housemate and I went camping with some friends last summer. Came home a few days later to a leaking master bath toilet, flooded bathroom, and half his bedroom carpet soaked. Plus damaged drywall. Turn the water off.
 
The fire sprinkler should have a different shut off from the potable water system. If so, turn off the potable system.

We could have a rotating team of BARFers stay at your house while you are away to housesit...:laughing
 
My neighbors had a toilet supply line break when they were away on vacation. Over $100,000 worth of damage, and they had to relocate while their house was being repaired. We have also had a supply line break to a toilet upstairs, resulting in flooding in the kitchen/living area. Thankfully, we were only gone for less than an hour, so the damage was not as bad as it could have been.

If you do not want to turn of the water from the mains, at the very least shut off the supply lines to the toilet. I also highly recommend replacing your toilet supply lines with flow restrictors, that automatically shut off if the line breaks.
 
I had a toilet supply line break when I was away. I was incredibly lucky to get home right after it broke, and was able to turn it off and clean up the water with almost no damage. I turn off now if I am going away. Of course it doesn't prevent damage or breakage, just lessens the possibility.
 
if your are going to be gone for more than a full month.
turn everything off.
water, eletricy, mail delivery, newspaper delivery--do they still deliver them?

have a close friend check on the place every couple days.

.
 
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