Help...where do I find the main water shut off valve?

[exoticisabella]

Hubby and I have looked high and low for the main water shut off valve and can''t seem to find it! Something snapped when I tried to turn on the shower water and it now won''t turn on at all. My dad knows how to fix it and can walk me through it but first we have to turn off the water. Any thoughts on where it might be hiding at?

 

[D&T]

there should be a lever in my last few homes, they were always near the front of the house sometimes on the side where the pipe goes into the building from the ground on the outside

 

[mariel]

Ours is on the side of our driveway on the ground. There''s a small rectangular cover but check your lawn too - some of our neighbors have it in their lawn. Good luck!

 

[Kiley]

Mine is in the basement, good luck!

 

[Allison D.]

It could be any number of places, depending on which area of the country you live in.

In New England, most of them are located in the basement - just trace the pipe that comes in off the water meter, and you''ll see it. It typically looks like a flat lever.

 

[neatfreak]

If you have a basement it''s often in the basement. If not, it''s usually on the side/front of the house where all the pipes come in from the street.

 

[exoticisabella]

I''m off to the crawl space...*please no spiders*

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/8/2009 1:33:56 PM
Author: exoticisabella
I''m off to the crawl space...*please no spiders*

Did you check outside first? In my area of the country (CA) we don''t have basements but the shut off valves are almost never in the crawl space...they are usually outside or occasionally in the garage.

 

[Mara]

not sure where you are geographically, but we had to deal with this recently..when we came home after 2 weeks of traveling, our water was OFF. turns out the workmen on the street were doing some water main work and had turned off all the water a week ago but since we weren't home we didn't know! all our neighbors knew is it had been shut off but turned back on again. well they forgot our house.

we have TWO areas that can be shut off here in California bungalow-land...apparently right near the street there is the flat under the concrete cover area that has valves, and then we also have two levers near the front of our house at the end of the driveway. they are marked with red plastic on them. apparently, both of them turn the water on and off, both have to be on for everything to work.

it took us a few hours to figure this out AND an emergency visit from the water company at 4am. it's so fun coming home at midnight after 2 weeks and on 3 planes, when all you want is a shower. only to find your water's been off for a week in the middle of august!

 

[exoticisabella]

Date: 11/8/2009 2:02:10 PM
Author: Mara
not sure where you are geographically, but we had to deal with this recently..when we came home after 2 weeks of traveling, our water was OFF. turns out the workmen on the street were doing some water main work and had turned off all the water a week ago but since we weren''t home we didn''t know! all our neighbors knew is it had been shut off but turned back on again. well they forgot our house.

we have TWO areas that can be shut off here in California bungalow-land...apparently right near the street there is the flat under the concrete cover area that has valves, and then we also have two levers near the front of our house at the end of the driveway. they are marked with red plastic on them. apparently, both of them turn the water on and off, both have to be on for everything to work.

it took us a few hours to figure this out AND an emergency visit from the water company at 4am. it''s so fun coming home at midnight after 2 weeks and on 3 planes, when all you want is a shower. only to find your water''s been off for a week in the middle of august!

I live in Idaho land

. Still no luck

I bet it''s right under our eyeballs and we''re missing it!

Here''s what has been searched...

backyard - found the irrigation and sprinkler valves
Side of house by backyard - found that gas meter and emergency shut off for it
laundry room - nothing
crawl space - nothing
garage - has hot water heater, furnace and sprinkler controls. Nothing else.
frontyard - has small round metal thing marked water - my DH searched the inside of this one so results may not be accurate

but he claims nothing
I''m thinking I just need to take a break and resume the search later on.

 

[Mara]

isabella... i dont know if this helps but i googled idaho locate main water valve and found a few links that might be helpful, this was one of them, scroll down further and it gives suggestions on where to look:

http://articles.directorym.com/Home_Water_Shutoff_Valves_Idaho-r939270-Idaho.html

 

[exoticisabella]

Thanks for all your help! Still I''m having no luck so we''re going to try to get my FIL out here sometime next week to help us in our search. I don''t think leaving a broken shower valve will hurt anything as the water won''t even turn on.

 

[HollyS]

Normally, in most subdivisions anyway, they are near the street in your front or side yard. Ours has a metal grate that opens to reveal the valves.