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Health & Fitness

Summertime Water Woes?! How not to let your plumbing soak your summer plans

While it's impossible to prevent every possible thing that could go wrong at your home, knowing WHAT to do when you see water can save you from getting soaked. Learn from Mahoney Plumbing...

Water in the summer usually brings smiles & relief from the warm weather. Sprinklers. Pools. Beaches.

But when you greet water in your home unexpectedly it is less pleasure & more pain!

While it’s impossible to prevent every possible thing that could go wrong at your home, knowing WHAT to do when you see water can save you from getting soaked.

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Seeing water where it shouldn’t be often sends people into panic mode. In an emergency, the very last thing you want to do is struggle to stop water from damaging your home. While every home is different there are some generic tips I can share with you about plumbing that will help you stay cool in an emergency. In the event of a leak, this information can save you thousands in unnecessary water damage.

There are two types of shutoff valves – the main shutoff which controls the entire house & supply shutoff’s that control water to specific fixtures & appliances. While every home is built differently, the logic of these valves is usually similar.

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SUPPLY SHUTOFFS
Supply shutoffs are found near the fixture or appliance. To see an example, take a look behind your toilet at the knob on the left side as you face the toilet (most toilets have these but certainly not all do). Your toilet shutoff could look like your water hose shutoff or more similar to a pull lever. If you can’t see a shutoff behind the toilet, check your other fixtures like your kitchen sink or laundry machine. These should have 2 - one for the hot; one for the cold. In an emergency turning this knob to off will stop the water from reaching that area. For example, if a pipe under your kitchen sink breaks & water starts pouring into your kitchen cabinet, if you turned off that shutoff below the sink, you can stop the water from causing more damage.

MAIN SHUTOFF
When a leak is more major, then sometimes the supply will not stop the water. In these cases, you should know where the main shutoff valve is to turn all the water off to your house. The main shutoff is typically located near the water meter. Around the North Shore, the valve is typically inside in a basement. The shutoff will be on the water line coming into the house and will always be before the first fixture or appliance such as a water heater. As a starting point, check around your water main or in the mechanical area of your home.

If you have trouble finding either of these valves on your own, please ask your plumber to label your shutoffs the next time they perform a service call. At Mahoney Plumbing we have laminated tags we use to call out these shutoffs for you. Knowing how to stop water from flooding your home can be an extremely useful piece of information & takes just a few minutes to understand – especially with the help of a licensed, trained plumber.

While knowing your shutoff location will not fix the problem it will minimize the damage and ultimately the cost to you!

Need more help identifying your shutoffs? Check out www.MahoneyPlumbing.com for more information, links to popular plumbing websites & more.

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