Water Main when house is empty
 

Do people turn off the water main to the house when leaving for a couple of months. I have a toilet that sometimes doesn't seal and continues to flush, should I shut off the main before I leave?

Shut it off, you never know when a pipe could burst or the seal in a fixture could begin leaking. Our neighbor had a feeder line to a toilet bowl spring a leak and run for several weeks before being discovered. The damage was extensive, disruptive, and very expensive. If you have a cheap plastic throw valve, replace it with a quality brass fitting. Turning off your H2O when not there takes all of about 5 seconds and the peace of mind is well worth the effort. Just remember to turn off the power source to your hot water heater as well so you eliminate the risk of frying a dry tank.

Yes, turn it off. But, don't wait until the last minute. You should test the valve to make sure it is not stuck, or if it leaks.

From a snowbird....Always cut off your water heater and your water supply line. If you cut off the water supply line and you do not cut off your water heater, you could create an explosive situation.

We not only turn off the water but we also flush the toilets several times to clear the lines. Also run water down each drain to fill the traps. If you’re gone for extended periods it’s not a bad idea to have a home watch service come out and run each faucet on a regular basis.

In Mass our water bill jumped from $800 for a year to $1,800. I called the water department to tell them the bill was a mistake. The woman said, "Let me ask you a question- do you have a toilet the trickles all the time"? I told her we did and she told me that was why the bill was so high. I fixed the toilet and our water bill went back down.

Always. I had the misfortune of not turning it off once and returned to a mess

i think he means , to turn off or shut off. i can see someone with a hacksaw cutting off the water line.

Hmmmm, if someone is that stupid then they deserve the damage that would cause.

First, fix your leaky toilet. Then, shut off the water main when you leave.

Always, then run the water in a sink till no more water comes out in order to eliminate pressure in the system due to the expansion tank on the hot water heater. Then turn off your hot water heater circuit breaker. Also put Plastic wrap over all drains plus toilets (reduces chance of sewer gas coming into house if a p-trap were to dry up due to lengthily a sense)

I shut it off at the house and the main valve at the street.

Agree and shut off your water heater.

A toilet that leaks will cost you $$$, just fix it!

If you have a plastic water shutoff valve, you need to test it to see if it turns easily and it is not stuck. If it is stuck, you can replace it with a metal valve, or buy a special wrench that will allow it to turn without breaking off the plastic handle. Here is one that I bought in the 3/4 inch size and it works very well. If you have a sudden leak, you need to be able to turn off the water quickly.

Amazon.com

Or get the toilet fixed maybe.

We purchased a pre-owned home. In the disclosure package, it was noted that 5 years prior to our purchase, the water hose on the washer burst flooding the house. As we understand, all the floors, rugs and some drywall had to be replaced. The owner's homeowner's insurance did not cover the cost of repair. Buried in their policy was a clause that required the homeowner to turn off the main water and gas valves in the house if it would be vacant for 2 weeks. They were snowbirds.

I certainly do not know if all policies carry such a clause, but it might be worthwhile checking. It is so easy to close the valves for both the main water valve in the garage and gas valve in the attic. It gives us a sense of comfort knowing we won't return to find a mess even though our insurance company would cover the cost of repairs.

Fix the toilet!

Yes

Absolutely turn it off!

While I was at home, a hot water pipe under the concrete slab sprung a major leak causing flooding of the floor of the master bedroom, etc. I shut off the main water valve as quickly as I could. The cost impact was $17,000+. It took several months to recover, and it caused a lot of personal stress.
If this hot water leak had occurred while I was out-of-town, water would eventually flow out my front door. If the electricity to the hot water tank had been on, there would also be very high electric bills and water bills to deal with.

When you say "cheap plastic throw valve," are they those small one that you simply push or pull, but there's no handle to turn?

Slightly off topic, but that seal in the toilet tank is a real easy fix.

What people are you wondering about? If it is me - no.

Thank you all for the replies, I was leaving on the day after I posted this so I didn’t have time to fix the toilet, which is the obvious answer. Now while I agree with all of you I called Mike Scott plumbing and they told me NOT to turn off my rheem tankless water heater, therefore I defaulted to not Turing off the water main, but just the toilet for now. I’ll be back in a couple of months to fix the toilet and assess what to do next time

Did they give you a reason for not turning off the water heater? We turn ours off whenever we leave for more than a couple of days. We’ve never had an issue.

If that is what they told you, it is totally opposite from what the Rheem manual says for tankless water heaters. It says:

"If the water heater is to remain idle for an extended period of time, the power and water to the heater should be turned off."

I think you either got bad advice or you misunderstood the instructions.

Correct. Leaving the water and the water heater on when you go away makes no sense.

in another life when we would shut off a water heater say for spillage, co backing up due to chimney blockage or improper vent line, when repaired often times the thermal lead which was constantly fed by the pilot flame would go cold. Upon restart they would fail i'd say one to two times out of ten. Soark ignition foes not have that issue
good luck

Yes. Why not? It's easy to do and provides peace of mind.

Yes and fix the toilet.

Same here.

Ah, finally a response that doesn't simply tell you to do something but actually tells you how to do it. Thanks! :BigApplause:

We always shut ours off. It’s easy and offers peace of mind. Have had friends whose ice maker line leaked and flooded their house.

If you shut off the water at the street, you will not have any going to your sprinkler system.

Not true for most houses. Most houses in The Villages have two separate water systems, one for irrigation water and the other for potable water. There are two separate valves for these systems. There are some houses on the north side of The Villages that only have a potable water system.

I recommend turning off the water, turning off the water heater, fixing the leak. Google it, it's a very easy DIY project.

Turning off the power to the hot water heater will negate the explosive situation and save money on the electricity.

Sounds like a lot of water tricklng out. Our water bill is only high when the sprinklers are on.

The three things I do when I leave the house is turn off water in garage, turn off hot water and set AC to about 80-82.