This shutoff was easy to find because it had a nice panel in front of it that helped identify it.
When my wife and I were in our first year of marriage we had a “water incident.” I was at work and my wife was walking by our closet where the water heater was located. She felt a spot on the floor that was wet. She opened the door to look and saw a small pin-hole leak shooting up from the supply line of the water heater. Her first reaction was to reach in, push the pipe toward the connection and see if that would help. Except, it didn’t help. The pipe was brittle and completely disintegrated when she applied the pressure. Now we have a geyser in our closet from the supply line to the water heater.
Unfortunately, I had never shared with her where the shutoff was–it was in a pit outside our home. She was frantically trying to locate it while water from the supply line was gushing out and flooding our home.
The water shutoff is something you don’t think much of until you need it. But, once you need it, you become keenly aware of the need to know in future homes.
In the KC area the water shutoff is usually in one of three areas:
This shutoff was not only low, it was actually hidden behind some storage. Keep an eye out for what’s behind stored stuff.
- The utility room
- Next to the wall in the basement (behind a cover if the basement is finished). This is often located on the front wall of the home.
- In the crawlspace
When doing a showing on a home try to identify where that shutoff is. If you don’t locate it, let the inspector know you’d like more information about where the shutoff is located.
