Turn off the water!

[GoodTimes]

Everyone has their checklists and routine when getting ready for a trip. I thought that after these past few years, we had our routine down to a 'T'.

WRONG!

A few weeks ago, we had hoped to go on a short weekend camping trip but things fell apart and we didn't end up going. No big deal. I had planned on sleeping late (for a change) on Saturday morning since DH was going to be fishing that morning. Unfortunately (or not!), I woke up w/ a headache and headed to the kitchen for aspirin and a glass of water. Before I got there, I heard it. WATER!

The water line on the refrigerator had broken and there was WATER all over the kitchen floor. DH had only been gone about an hour and it was fine when he left. Long story short, we had minor damage in 3 areas (kitchen, pantry, half bath). All of that in only an hour......GOOD THING WE HADN"T GONE CAMPING!

After seeing how much damage could be done in a short amount of time, we realized we needed to add something to our checklist: TURN OFF THE WATER TO THE HOUSE BEFORE LEAVING FOR A TRIP.

Does anyone else do this?

[rocknrun]

I often do this when we are going out of town. We came home one night after going out to dinner to find water pouring out of a line in the upstairs bathroom. When I shut off the water I also flip the breaker on the water heater so if it should somehow drain I won't wind up with burnt out elements.

[scenic route]

Yes, we do...it's turned off at the water meter. We bought this manufactured home to do just that, water off and air set to 80 F. All appliances are unplugged except the refrigerator and A/C. We have two vulnerable windows and we have plastic corrugated shields that wing nut on and we're good to go for the trip. It's a small over 55 community that looks out for one another, so no worries there. Now, if only we could do something about those pesky hurricanes. Bob

BTW, with the RV, we also turn the water off at the CG faucet whenever we leave for the day or for just a few hours. We saw one camper with water running from the bottom because of a broken water line in the bathroom...that convinced us.

[Sky_Boss]

YA know...I was told to do that at the campground when I leave it for the week...didn't think about applying that to my house.

[Bruce C]

Always now, after a burst pipe. Lucky I was home at the time.

[GoodTimes]

Originally Posted by scenic route

Yes, we do...it's turned off at the water meter. We bought this manufactured home to do just that, water off and air set to 80 F. All appliances are unplugged except the refrigerator and A/C. We have two vulnerable windows and we have plastic corrugated shields that wing nut on and we're good to go for the trip. It's a small over 55 community that looks out for one another, so no worries there. Now, if only we could do something about those pesky hurricanes. Bob

BTW, with the RV, we also turn the water off at the CG faucet whenever we leave for the day or for just a few hours. We saw one camper with water running from the bottom because of a broken water line in the bathroom...that convinced us.

Learn something new everyday here! Never even thought about the camper. Thanks for sharing!!! So much for thinking we had our routine down pat.......my mama was right: it's always SOMETHING!

[tooltrdr]

I turn off the feed to the ice maker and have a dialer alarm in the basement to call me and a buddy if the floor gets wet, or if temp drops below a set point or if electric is out for more than a specified time. Gives me peace of mind when going south for 3 months

[slickest1]

We had a toilet tank break once for no reason and there was water everywhere. DW was home at the time and was able to shut the water feed off to the toilet. It was an upstairs bathroom and if she wouldn't have been home it would of been major damage. I had never heard of a toilet tank just breaking for no reason but apparently it is common on older toilets. When we go for more than a day we shut off the main water supply.

[two2go]

It's on the checklist and we do it. When we have been home, and luckily not even out of the house somewhere, we have had two water "incidents." 1-The water softener tank burst open dumping resin pellets all over the floor and partially flooding the basement within 5 minutes when I finally heard the water running. 2-The water heater tank gracefully split open at the top and was just starting to let water out when I just happened to be going to the basement.
I have heard of too many cases of ruptured washer hoses and failing heater tanks while folks were gone, and we are paranoid. I'm even considering a water alarm for the basement.

[MartySQ]

That water softner thing is a mess... not only do you have water all over, but salt water, and if it dries, you get salt crystals that take forever to get cleaned up!
One more thing on my list!

[Bondad]

A friend of mine was out of town RVing with his family at a reunion. His neighbor was watching the house and was walking over one morning and saw water pouring out from under the garage door. The washer supply line had burst during the night and flooded the entire mian level and the newly finished basement.

The had to move into an apartment for six weeks while the hous was being fixed. They had to gut the main floor and basement down to the studs, let them dry out and rebuild.

[grafxman]

Many of the old houses in my neighborhood have suffered burst pipes. The houses were built in the '50s and used black iron pipes, not galvanized, so they are rusting from the inside. As if that isn't bad enough our local water utility used to allow the water pressure to skyrocket during the wee hours. That's when every burst pipe occured, never in the day time. I put a water pressure gauge on a hose and started checking it. The pressure was usually 80psi during the day. However I could get up at 3 AM for a drink of water and the water would come blasting out of the faucet like a Saturn moon shot rocket. The pressure then was, IIRC, over 120 psi.

There's actually a slightly funny component to this. I complained about it but of course I was ignored. Then one morning I didn't have any water at all and neither did anyone else on my street. I walked outside, looked around and a few doors down the street at a hydrant there was water shooting up out of the ground. The water company had actually burst their own pipe! This happened several more times and after enough screaming at them they finally replaced a major section of pipe and lowered the pressure a bit. They left the ruptured piece of pipe laying at the curb so I collected and I still have it. I asked them what their standard water pressure was supposed to be and I was told they have no standards for pressure! So I suppose the moral to this is that the water company may be prone to allowing the pressure to get very high at night when no one is running any water.

Flickr: grafxmangrafxman's Photostream

[Diwizi]

Goodtimes, love your Westie...... 10 years ago DH was in hospital after having had surgery, the day before he came home i got up to go downstairs in condo and stepped down into at least 8 inches of water..... Hose on washer had busted.... I sat down cried then got the shop vac out and started sucking wter up....... Ended up having restoration people in to dry it out and had to get all new flooring....... Btw, we had only been married for 6 weeks..... Second times. Good times.... Smile and we have an 11 year old westie..... Mannie, who was my old man.....

[GoodTimes]

Originally Posted by Diwizi

Goodtimes, love your Westie...... 10 years ago DH was in hospital after having had surgery, the day before he came home i got up to go downstairs in condo and stepped down into at least 8 inches of water..... Hose on washer had busted.... I sat down cried then got the shop vac out and started sucking wter up....... Ended up having restoration people in to dry it out and had to get all new flooring....... Btw, we had only been married for 6 weeks..... Second times. Good times.... Smile and we have an 11 year old westie..... Mannie, who was my old man.....

We love Westies! This is our 2nd. He was a rescue. Our first, came years before we had kids so he was our 'practice baby'. Had him for 16yrs. Enjoy!