Don't have to be vacation. My cousins house got destroyed while they were at church. 2nd floor toilet supply line blew and ruined the breaker box.
Don't have to be vacation. My cousins house got destroyed while they were at church. 2nd floor toilet supply line blew and ruined the breaker box.
I have never shut off the water ....I should consider that next time I am out of town for more than one week.
I need a home remodel, so I’m leaving mine on. Lol
We left our Minnesota home for a winter getaway in the Caribbean. Came back to disaster. The house and pipes froze out due to...get this...a AA battery that powers our main thermostat going out. Change the battery in your thermostat before going on vacation!
Neighbor kids turned on an outside faucet of a neighbor that was on vacation. The kids left it on. Flooded their yard and leaked into the basement.
Originally Posted by Basscaster
I know 2 people who went away and water damaged their whole House. Upstairs toilet leaked for couple days and did Major Damage.. Best one +>> A Good Friend (from the past) change the hose on the Ice Machine on Frig from cold to warm water for clear ice cubes( I never confirmed). He went up to Wisconsin and hose leaked all Labor Day weekend. I Do Know a leak Soaked the whole first floor's wood and they were out of their house for 4 months while a Company replaced the whole first floor and fixed basement ceiling etc.... You can't make up a Story like that -->
I am currently living a nightmare similar to this...slow leak that went undetected. Going on 3 months and $50,000 in damage. Moral of the story....go in your crawl once a month!
Here's a nightmare story. Friends of ours were leaving for a week long vacation. You know how we take one last bathroom break before walking out the door. Well, he did, and they left. The toilet did not shut off. Out here in the country, we are all on septic tanks. They are on a crawlspace foundation with HVAC ductwork under the floor. Their tank eventually filled up, backed up into the house, and filled up the HVAC ductwork. They came home to a house full of septic water. They had to vacate their house for nearly a year while the cleanup and re-do took place. From then on, I always make sure the toilet stops before leaving the house.
We had a $40,000 insurance claim over a toilet running over. Sad thing is we had the water main turned off. Find out the water main valve was faulty and allowed a very slow trickle of water feed this particular toilet. Water seeped out for about 9 days while we were away. Happened in the middle of summer and was enough for mold to form. We had this valve swapped out to a totally different type which is next to impossible to be faulty.
To the OP, what's the downside of turning the water off and draining the water from the house? May take you 5 minutes to wait for water to drain. That 5 minutes could save you quite a bit of money should you not shut the water off and have an issue.
Steve
2006 Sylvan Expedition Sport
2006 Yamaha F150 TXR s/n 63P L 1041829
I realize this is probably a dumb question, but what's involved with shutting down the water heater?
You aint the only one---I wondered the same thing--ANYONE?????? Please step in--I have an electric
yes shut it off...local veterinarian went on vacation and came home to find water running down his driveway. On the second floor of his house something fell off the wall and broke the toilet bowl. Water ran for several days. It ruined the drywall in multiple rooms. The house had so much water in it that it ran out the garage door and down his driveway. I know this is a one and million freak instance but it was preventable.
Turn off main water supply line and flip the breaker to the water heater. When you get back home turn on the supply line and flip the breaker to the water heater back on. Worst case is you have to wait a couple hours for hot water when you return home.
electric better kill it at the panel, and make sure you run water thru it before you power it back up. No quicker way to fry the elements than run it without water in it.
Many years ago, I had bought the small house and piece of property next door to my house. The house was in sad shape and I was on the fence as far as whether to tear it down or fix it up to rent out. That winter I had the oil furnace/boiler running to keep the place about 55 degrees so the pipes wouldn't freeze. One frigid night there was a pipe for the heating system next to a basement window that froze and busted. I looked out the following morning and saw the windows to the house all steamed up. Made the decision to tear that POS house down and build a nice garage easier.
When we go on vacation, I have a pet sitter that comes to the house at least 3 times a day to take care of the dog and cat and she will let me know if there is an issue with the house. If there wasn't anyone going to be here, I would definitely turn off the water - preferably at the curb and turn off the hot water heater. The reason I say I would turn it off at the curb is that I also had a water main break in the 6 inch section between where it came through the basement wall and the shut off. Alternatively, you can get alarms that will notify you via your phone if there is a water leak detected but then it's too late. They also make valves that can sense water on the floor that will shut the valve off.
2009 Tracker Pro 170 TX - Mercury 40 HP EFI
We turn off normally when we are away for extended periods and especially if freezing is possible. As I type this I realize we did not turn the water off on our home in Jasper when we left.
Bryan McDonough
2023 Nitro Z21 XL
Nitro Team
We never shut ours off but if we’re gone for a week I also have my parents grab mail and check the house a few times since they live less than 10min away
1995 Ranger 481v
1995 Johnson Fast Strike 175hp
Cabins at Pickwick are shut off and faucets open. Forgot to shut down the hot water heater! I am 4 hours away for several days. Hope it doesn’t kill it! When we are at home we usually don’t cut it off. We leave heat going,have pipes wrapped good,and cabins are under pinned really well. If it gets in the teens for a few days I do shut it down. At home I leave water dripping when that cold.
After coming home from work one evening with a flooded house from a washing machine hose bursting......I never leave home for an extended stay without shutting off water and water heater.......
Shut it off with no water supply going in the tank, It will still maintain temp even though your not using water.
If its gas , just turn the cock valve off that's on the gas line. Turn the pilot valve to off. On electric just flip both (if 220) breakers off.
No need to turn gas off, just turn temp down to the low/vacation setting.
You never wanna come home to water coming out of the electrical outlets....
Theres one thats worse im looking for. Water pouring out of a house fuse box. water is terrible....it can and will get everywhere.
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