Plumbing emergencies can happen at any time. As your plumbing ages, leaks can form, and pipes under pressure could burst causing flooding into your home. Whenever you face a serious plumbing problem, the first thing you should do is shut off your water supply to the affected area in order to prevent and endless supply of water from flowing through and continually damaging your property. However, it might surprise you to learn just how many people don’t actually know how to do this.
You can shut off the water to individual plumbing features, such as your sinks, toilets, water heater, washing machine, or dishwasher, through a shutoff valve located near where these devices connect to your plumbing lines (usually found on the wall near their water connection). However, when the problem is in your plumbing lines themselves, you’ll probably need to shut off the water connection to your entire home. This is done through an emergency shutoff valve. Surprisingly, many people aren’t actually aware of where their emergency shutoff valve is located, so on this blog we’ll go over a few of the most common places you can find it so you can respond quickly in an emergency.
In Your Garage
One of the most common places you’ll find an emergency shutoff valve in Los Angeles area homes is in the garage. Garages are usually located near the front of the house, and that makes them a great place to run your main water line. Your emergency shutoff valve will usually be installed on an exposed plumbing line, and can usually be seen on a wall in your garage near your garage door and is either a small wheel or a lever. In some cases the shutoff valve is red, but it can sometimes be blue or another color as well.
In a Closet Near the Front of Your Home
If your water shutoff valve isn’t in your garage, then there’s a chance it may be in a closet near the front of your home as well. This may be something as simple as a small coat closet or linen closet, but it will almost always be in a space which has a wall that faces the street your house is located on. It will have a similar appearance to one in your garage, but may also be located up slightly higher in order to keep your closet as a functional space.
Underground In Your Front Yard
Finally, your emergency shutoff valve may also be located in your front yard under a cover. In some cases this cover is in the sidewalk in front of your home under a cover that may be labeled “shutoff valve” while other times it might be in a covered hole in your front lawn. Sometimes you may need a special tool or key to unlock your valve in order to prevent people from tampering with it, but not always. These valves are not particularly common in California, however, so there’s a good chance that your valve is one of the first two options on this list.
If you have a serious plumbing emergency that needs immediate attention, the team at Moe Plumbing Services can help you with 24/7 emergency service availability! Call us at (818) 396-8002 now and let us take care of that major problem for you.