Water Shutoff
 

I always turn our water off whenever we leave for an extended period. I also shut off the water heater and ice maker.

I do have my home watch guy turn the water back on each visit and run water in all the sinks with drains. This keeps the bugs from coming up.

If we are gone more then 5 days I turn it of and relieve the water pressurre at any available faucet. Since the water runs for about 15-20 seconds after it is shut off , Im thinking that is a lot of water still in the system if you have something leak. Turn on of system is done by just cracking the main shut off untill sysytem is full back up to pressure and then open it up all the way. Very easy to hear when it is back to full pressure because you will not hear any water running at the main valve.

It's more common sense than asking for others opinion.
Who will you blame should you not shut off water and have a major leak if you are away?

After purchasing our home,, we found out from the homeowner insurance company that the cold-water hose for the washer ruptured, and the water ran for several days. There was no declaration by the previous owner. All the carpeting and flooring had to be ripped out and replaced. Molding, drywall and trim had to be replaced also. Fortunately, we have not experienced any residual mold. Thus, we always turn off the water and relieve the pressure when we leave the area.

I always shut off the water heater also

A leak is no more likely on a connection to a metal valve than a plastic one. In fact, the connection itself is plastic -- it's exactly the same, because the plastic connection is molded onto the metal valve, and that gets glued to the the pipe. Go look at one at Lowes, if you don't believe me. However, a leak is almost guaranteed on a plastic valve that's used all the time. And there's a very good chance that if you don't use it regularly, it will break when you actually do need to shut it off in an emergency. They're just junk, and need to be replaced.

Don't tell your insurance company. Half the sink hole problems in Florida are related to undetected water leaks.

I don't disagree that the plastic push-pull Accor valves are cheap. But, there are tens of millions of them being installed around the country and they do comply with the National plumbing code. They are even installed in multimillion dollar houses. I have had 12 of them in my house for 8 years, and have had no leaks or other issues. I only use them occasionally when I need to fix a toilet. If it isn't broken, I probably won't fix it. But, I don't fault someone who wants to replace them. But, any valve you install can fail.

Precisely!

Anytime we we leave town we shut off the water, the water heater, raise the temp of the AC to 80 and lock the garage door. Never open a faucet after shutting it off.

I have an automatic shut off valve that I can turn the water main on or off via an app. Or geofence the control autonomously.
It will also detect unusual water flows and shut itself down.

A few companies make such. Mine is Phynn.

Love it.

Leave it off at the valves. Rubber gaskets can dry out if left dry too long.

We just shut off the main, no need to open faucets.

I went to get my paper and noticed water running down the driveway from the garage. Hot water tank problem.
We always turn the water off and trip the breaker for the water heater.
Works for us.

I learned a lesson regarding shutting off the house water and then relieving the pressure. As a handy neighbor, I agreed to replace the expansion tank on the top of a water heater. Normally a very easy task, but it needs to be done in a particular order. First, shut off the water, second, open a faucet to relieve the pressure, third remove and replace the tank, fourth, turn on the house water, fifth, close the faucet. Unfortunately, I did step three before step two. The 65 pounds of pressure that remained in the lines sprayed all over me, the closet, and my friend as I loosened the threads. We were very wet. Had I opened a faucet, there would have been very little water that dripped from the tank.