How to Shut the Water Off When Going on Vacation this Summer

Schedule Now

Are you taking a long vacation this summer? A week or longer? There’s a lengthy to-do list for before you go, and one of the main items should be to turn off the main water valve in your home. This will prevent flooding accidents while you’re away.

Why Turn Off the Water?

Lots of stuff can happen to your plumbing while you’re on vacation. If it’s winter, of course, the pipes can freeze. In all seasons, old, corroded pipes can perversely decide to burst a day after you go out of town, or a water heater can fail. Washer hoses can rupture, and pipe connections can lose their seal.

Any one of these circumstances can result in thousands of gallons of water flooding your home, damaging walls, floors, fixtures, furniture and belongings. This is why basic plumbing maintenance – shutting off the water supply – is a smart, proactive step to take.

How to Turn Off the Water

Every home has a main shutoff valve for the water supply. It’s a good idea for all home occupants to know its location, since you won’t always be around when a pipe or hose bursts.

Your home likely is equipped with either a gate shutoff valve or a ball shutoff valve. The gate valve is more common in older homes; it has a round handle that needs to be turned several times to shut the water on or off. Avoid leaving it partially open since this can deteriorate the metal and lead to valve failure. The ball water valve usually is found in newer homes.

It features a lever handle that must be turned 90 degrees in order to turn the water on or off. If the lever is parallel to the pipe, the valve is open; if it’s perpendicular, it’s closed.

Try testing your main shutoff valve by turning it off. Then turn on the water in a few different locations; the water should gradually stop. If it doesn’t, you’re doing something wrong.

For more information on basic homeowner plumbing maintenance, please contact us at Apollo Home Heating, Cooling and Plumbing.

"Ernie & Mike did a superb job on my new furnace and A/C installation. Despite having more than a day’s work to do, they came in and stayed until the job was done. They were organized, efficient, and protected the rest of the house well. Got both furnace and A/C installed the same day. Ernie was courteous, informative, and clearly knew his job better than anyone I’ve encountered before. The units look so good guests now get The Tour of our new system. Apollo is clearly not a fly-by-night company. I would recommend them to anyone in need of a new furnace and/or A/C."
- Jerry A.
"I called Apollo because of a water leak I thought I had in our upstairs shower going into the kitchen. Robbie came and assured me everything was fine & looked at all the other plumbing. He ended up changing a few pipes for our washer & clearing a drain. He was very nice & knowledgeable with all my questions. I ended up signing up for the care plan & was very happy with my service."
- Cassandra B.
"The team at Apollo exceeded my expectations. As a business owner, my attention to the details and commitment to providing excellent service is high. From the sales rep. to the installation team, everyone’s performance was outstanding. For example, the installation team went to great lengths to protect our floors, placing floor runners and across the wood floors and up the stairs. They even were spot washing walls upon their departure. I highly recommend this company."
- Randy B.
"We scheduled an estimate AND a tune-up. We knew something was wrong with our furnace, but hoped we could make it through the rest of the season. Upon telling Bill what our furnace was doing, he warned us immediately what the possible outcome was going to be; a cracked heat exchanger. He watched the flames roll backward, tested carbon monoxide levels, which were so high they meter’s last reading was 5,600 before saying “high”. He immediately shut it down, tagged it, and explained that with levels that high and children in our home he wanted off right away. He continued his inspection and showed us via a camera that not only was it cracked in multiple places, but had holes all over it. He gave us a few options for repairing it; his knowledge as well as genuine concern was beneficial and refreshing. Luckily we also scheduled an estimator, Micah, to come too and we were able to get costs between repairing and replacing (with several options). We decided to replace with a much higher efficiency furnace and one sized properly to our home. Hands down, not only did they both provide us great service and knowledge, but without sounding dramatic, they may have saved our lives. This was our first time calling Apollo, but it won’t be our last."
- Sarah B.
"Apollo is an excellent company. I always receive great service. Alex A. was professional and friendly. He kept me informed during the process of checking my furnace and heat pump to make sure they were working properly. The company makes sure you are notified who is coming and when they are on the way. All my interactions with the company have been wonderful."
- Beverly S.
    Image

    Financing

    Image

    Apollo Care Plan