Main Water Shutoff and Valve Replacement

Have ready

Know where the water enters the house and where the curb stop or the meter is, and make sure the meter pit or the basement is clear enough to work in. If the town owns the curb stop, we may need it shut, and that can take a call. The first three checks are whether the existing valve is a gate or a ball valve and whether it closes at all, the pipe material and size on both sides of it, and where the water meter sits relative to the valve. We also look for a pressure reducer and a ground bond.

• Shut off at the curb or meter
• Replace the main valve
• Angle stops on the same visit
• Label what controls what

The visit

A main water shutoff and valve replacement visit starts by naming the failure, not by selling the fix. We check what the problem touched, protect the floors and the rooms below, and leave a written scope. The work is done in one sequence by the same company, so the trade that caused the damage is the trade that closes it.

What fails first on the Shore is what we look at: salt-rotted fasteners, water finding the soft spot, and the 'quick fix' that never dealt with the cause. For main water shutoff and valve replacement, the tell is usually visible on the first visit, and we say what it means in plain English.

Permit

Replacing the main shutoff valve inside the house is normally a repair and usually does not need a permit, because no new piping is being added. A permit and often the water utility come into it when the service line or the meter connection is being changed, or when the valve is on the street side of the meter. Some towns also want a permit when the main is relocated. We check with the town and the utility before we touch the street side.

On the Shore

A main valve on the Shore fails in a particular way. A gate valve that is never turned seizes on the stem, and the packing dries out, so the first time you need it, it will not close. Salt air and damp basements pit the body and the bonnet, and a brass valve with a steel handle rusts the handle off. Freeze in an unheated crawl can split the body. That is why we replace a gate valve with a quarter-turn ball valve and exercise it after the install.

When we leave

After the new valve is in, we open it slowly and bleed the house at the highest and lowest fixtures, then check the valve body, the bonnet nut, and both connections with a dry towel. We cycle the valve closed and open twice to confirm the handle travels and the stops are where they should be. Then we label what it controls, and we do the same for any angle stops we replaced. You get shown the direction to turn it to shut the house off.

Built with

We install a full-port brass ball valve with a lever handle, rated for the line pressure, in the same size as the pipe so nothing is choked down. Connections are soldered copper, a press fitting, or a threaded brass union, depending on the pipe. We use lead-free brass and a new ground bond clamp if the old one is damaged. A gate valve is not a replacement for a ball valve here. We keep stainless or brass fasteners on the bracket.