Install a shut off valve with a handle

A neighbor recently knocked on my door as she could not turn off the irrigation system which had been running for hours. Turning off the controller did nothing. Could not find the shut off valve. An irrigation guy came out and the valve was in the ground underneath a cover. A 2004 villa. Mine is in the garage because a water filtration system had been installed.

I am a Licensed home inspector. I have inspected a LOT of homes in the Villages, including quite a number of courtyard villas.

The oldest CYVs north of 466 have a shutoff valve located outside and it's typically buried under whatever landscaping has been added in the last 20-30 years.

Pretty much everything south of 466, specially further south near 466a has a shutoff valve in the garage. I have been to one home where I could not find the valve down there and it had extensive landscaping and mulch piled up everywhere so I suspect it was outside and not in the garage.

Just because the inspection report says "shutoff valve not found" does not mean it does not exist.

I have a friend who lives in El Cortez. He spent various time all summer this year on a quest to find the shut-off valve and eventually he found it.

Look for a box in the garage wall, typically closer to the garage door, but it depends on the way the house is oriented.

If there is no box in the garage, it's outside. To find the valve, stand on the black metal utility meter water box. Create a 30 degree arc with your hands and aim to closest point of the house. The valve will be inside of the arc within about 2 feet of the home.

would a metal detector find it?

To answer the original question, yes there are remote shut off valves. I have installed an Econet valve in our Spanish Springs Courtyard Villa. Gives me the ability to turn the main supply feed on or off from anywhere. I did not add any water sensors, but they are available.

Most of the older outside boxes had a metal lid and the valves are metal gate valves.

The newer ones are a plastic ball valve in a plastic box.

So the answer to your question is maybe and it would certainly be the first thing to try and save a lot of frustration if you found it right away.

I'd like to know which building inspector was hired that couldn't find the shut off.

Wash your hands? Bring some sanitizing gel or large wipes from the store and clean your hands. Problem solved - leave the water off!

Im in Sumter, I have one!

My house has one in the garage, on the outside wall, a couple feet up. I had an automatic shutoff valve installed for my sprinkler system a couple months ago. I think it cost about $600. I don’t think most do-it-yourself people are up to installing them.

I have a CV in Sumter. The water shut off is outside in front of the house in the ground underneath a cover.

In garage behind plastic door in wall

Do you have a water softener? I do and it supplies the whole house. Put a shut off just in front of the softener and you should be good to go.

Buried
 

I took out an old shrub this spring to make room for a nicer one. It was close to the sprinkler box. While removing it, I found the sprinkler water shutoff. It had been buried by the previous owner. The whole house shutoff is located in the line that feeds the water softener in my home built in 2006.

[QUOTE=dewilson58;2222214]Been in 50 Sumter County homes in TV...................they all have shut-off valves in the garage.
No they don't. My house was built in 2005 and the shut off valve is outside, next to the garage, in the ground. It's in a small box.