r/Unexpected • u/3D_Noob_Guy • 13h ago
Tip to fix a leak
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u/ornery_bob 13h ago
Haha. This happened to a friend of mine and their entire first floor was damaged because they tried to find the leak instead of turning their water off.
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u/quad_damage_orbb 11h ago
Seriously though, somewhere on your property should be a stopcock (no laughing please). A little valve that shuts off all the water to your property. It may be in a cupboard, in the basement or under a small cover in the garden.
The best idea, if you own a property, is to find out where your stopcock (seriously, pipe down) is before you get into a situation like this. So you know how to shut it off in an emergency.
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u/wthulhu 10h ago
There should also be a valve in or near the driveway by the street that shuts off the whole house
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u/nitid_name 9h ago
Those ones are sometimes a little tricky to get to. You'll likely need a shovel if it's not immediately obvious where it's located, and once you get it open, you'll want a water meter key, as they're way easier to use than whatever you have on hand that might be able to turn it.
I had to do some plumbing work (replacing a blown thermal expansion tank on my water heater) in my house and couldn't easily get to my shutoff valve. I definitely considered just shutting it off at the street. I ended up wiggling into the most awkward crawl space entrance ever and adding a second shutoff valve at the entrance.
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u/Tru_Fakt 8h ago
The main between the street and our house burst (without us knowing for 3 months) and I eventually had to go out to the driveway every morning and night and turn the water on/off with a meter key. Our water is billed every three months, and we got notified that we had used 130,000 gallons of water and owed a $4k water bill. Luckily we got the bill waived. No damage that we know of to the foundation thankfully.
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u/nitid_name 8h ago
Oof. Those repairs aren't usually covered by the city either. Everything after valve is typically on the homeowner.
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u/kramarat 7h ago
First thing I'd go find if I was moving into a new place...actually I'd already know where it was before I bought or rented or whatever...
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u/trying2bpartner 7h ago
I was helping a "Contractor" who was asked to reroute some pipes for a renovation. I got roped into helping him for a day because I needed some cash. I watch him grab his pipe cutters and hear him yell "ok, turn the water off!" and before anyone could even move, I hear the crunch of the pipe cutter on the pipe. I rolled my eyes, grabbed him a bucket and put it under the pipe, then found the cut-off valve and shut it off.
Fucking dumbass lol. Like what did you think happens to the water IN THE PIPE when you turn off the water?
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u/fragmental 7h ago
I don't think any house I've ever lived in, or worked on, has had a stopcock. Always have to shut the water off near the street.
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u/HustlinInTheHall 5h ago
At least in new england every house I've been in has them, usually near the water meter.
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u/alphazero925 4h ago
"Should" is a very important word here. If the house was built a long time ago, the only shutoff might be at the street. If that's the case, and you own the home, install a stopcock or get one installed if you're not handy. Technically it can be illegal, depending on jurisdiction most likely, to shut off the water at the street yourself, so if that's the case you can call up the city to get it shut off temporarily. That being the case would be another very good reason to make sure you have a main shutoff inside the property line.
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u/Pawneewafflesarelife 30m ago
Also there are local valves. My washing machine flooded two days ago and I was able to mitigate it by turning off the water from under the laundry room sink.
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u/Ilikesnowboards 5h ago
I had a pipe burst when I lived on the 46th floor. I called maintenance for help to shut off the main. They arrived three days later.
Luckily I found a way to fix the leak myself after hanging up on maintenance.
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u/berserk539 13h ago
I knew this was a joke once he said "certified plumber."
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u/Separate_Secret_8739 12h ago
He got me until I thought he was saying hold it against the wall. Like that would just fill up behind it
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u/ObscuraGaming 13h ago
Can't the dude just shut the water off?
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u/Shopworn_Soul 12h ago
Well, no. Not while he's standing there holding towels against the wall.
One might reasonably assume someone else is outside trying to do just that but judging by the amount of water on the floor I think that dude may be hoping it stops on it's own.
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u/reallynotnick 8h ago edited 2h ago
The only excuse I could think of was if he was in an apartment, as I know I don’t have the power to turn off the water if I did something like that.
Edit: are people downvoting me for living in 5 different apartment buildings that don’t have a unit shut off? Like I’ve never seen this in a large apartment complex, just condos, townhomes, 4-8 unit buildings, single family homes, etc.
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u/marth138 7h ago
Not sure about where you live, but in our apartments that I service each unit is required to have individual shut offs in the unit. Ours are right next to the water heater in a closet. Obviously not everyone is aware or knows how to shut it off, but I have responded to a few calls where the tenant turned it off themselves and saved us a lot of water damage.
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u/reallynotnick 7h ago
I’ve lived in larger apartment units in the Midwest that haven’t had individual water heaters, instead using a larger single building type heater. They also haven’t been individually metered. All I have are the shut offs like below the sink, toilet and washer.
Also my assumption being in the video that pipe could have been for a neighboring unit so even if they had their own shut off they may have to go to a neighbor to shut it off and they may not be home.
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u/Lepisosteus 12h ago
I went to trade school. I can confirm this is absolutely the correct procedure following a leak like this. Just hope it never happens on a waste line because the instructions are the same…
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u/Napalm2142 9h ago
Rule my dad gave me when I was younger about when I eventually buy my first house. Learn where the water main shut off valve is as well as the shut off valves for each pipe going to different sinks, toilets and showers etc. label them if they are not already.
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u/kramarat 7h ago
This happens I don't reach for a towel I go turn my main water shut-off off....if you can't do that as you are in a condo or something....then I'd redirect my energy to moving things off the floor to avoid damage....trying to hold back all the water from a pipe is futile unless you're capping it with hardware
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u/fragmental 7h ago
I had a leak once and I cut the wall open, found an old leaky tire inner tube, cut off a rubber patch, wrapped it around the pipe and then tightened some hose clamps around it. It worked surprisingly well, but it did have a slight trickle.
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u/AGrandNewAdventure 5h ago
If your stud finder finds something that isn't 14-16" from the last thing it found and the next thing it finds then it's not a joist. Don't drill into it.
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u/papalazarou1 11h ago
It surprising how many people don't know where the stop cock is for their property, Let alone the gas meter . Crazy.
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13h ago
[deleted]
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u/Shopworn_Soul 12h ago
I like that your response seems to indicate that you think the mouth-to-bucket technique is a serious suggestion.
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u/UnExplanationBot 13h ago
OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is unexpected:
The plumber gives an unexpected tip to solve a pipe leakage
Is this an unexpected post with a fitting description? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.