We're gonna be gone for about 5 weeks and want to shut off water to the house. But worried about tankless water heater and pool water levels. Irrigation comes off meter, so no worries there.

Do y'all do this? Any concerns or recommendations?

Never have and really not sure why I would.

Our 2nd property I cut off all water whenever I leave

Cut off the toilets for sure, and turn down water heater.

Pool water levels dropping below the skimmer basket might burn up your pump. There might be a way to have the return only come from the bottom drain, but I don't know how.

Calling my pool builder today to see if that's possible. If I shutoff water to the house, I've also shut off the ability to fill the pool.

I turn off all the toilet valves, but have debated the same thing. Don't want to deal with my hot water heaters, but maybe leaving them on vacation mode would be fine with the water off.

Yes. I shutoff water to the house everytime we leave for more than 1 night. I've had a water heater failure (thankfully was home when it happened) so not particularly interested in coming home from a vacation to see water flowing out from under the front door.

I figure worst case, I have another water heater failure and I lose 60 gallons into my house. A big mess for sure, but not epic disaster.

I also have a pool but just top off before we go. Now, I've never been gone for 5 weeks before either. So not sure how I'd handle the pool if gone for that long.

Definitely turn off the toilet lines. We had one break upstairs and had water coming through the ceiling light fixtures. Thank god we were home but it was a nightmare. Not sure what I would do with my tankless heater.

To the point of shutting off toilet lines what about the sink lines?

80's house copper lines all reporting in Aggieland
Never have turned OFF but mostly someone was in house when on we on vacations ... long ago it seems

Only leak was water heater, some of the new carpet was covered by home insurance since it was limited to one BR & some hallway

All good ideas above

If escaping a big freeze coming then that's a horse of a different color
and there's some TxAgs threads on all that to search

Yes, usually when leaving for longer than a normal weekend stint.

It's easy to do.

We learned this lesson the hard way after our last vacation where we gone for a week at the beginning of this month. We came home to water bubbling up through the tile in our master bathroom. We have now been without Water since September 10th as plumbers work to fix the broken slab leak (which also is not covered by home insurance). It has been a very rough lesson to learn as we work to do repairs and salvage what we can after getting it dried out.

I always change the AC/heat and have the smart lights set but I've never messed with the water when we leave before. I get the reasoning behind shutting it off. I've just not made a habit of doing this and should.

Do you shut off outside the house? Do you shut off at each individual fixture? Does that effect what else you do? Or do you just shutoff? Do you drain the water heater? Do you drain the toilet tanks?

I haven't in the past but I probably will after reading this thread. Luckily, my house an inside loop I can turn off and still have the sprinklers/pool run.

aggieactor01 said:

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I always change the AC/heat and have the smart lights set but I've never messed with the water when we leave before. I get the reasoning behind shutting it off. I've just not made a habit of doing this and should.

Do you shut off outside the house? Do you shut off at each individual fixture? Does that effect what else you do? Or do you just shutoff? Do you drain the water heater? Do you drain the toilet tanks?

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In the wintertime (or when sprinklers aren't running) I shut off the valve in my house just prior to the meter but after the city shut off the valve in the driveway.

When the sprinklers are running, I shut off just downstream the sprinkler connection. I have a water softener so tons of valves.

aggieactor01 said:

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I always change the AC/heat and have the smart lights set but I've never messed with the water when we leave before. I get the reasoning behind shutting it off. I've just not made a habit of doing this and should.

Do you shut off outside the house? Do you shut off at each individual fixture? Does that effect what else you do? Or do you just shutoff? Do you drain the water heater? Do you drain the toilet tanks?

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I have 3 valves in my basement. One turns off everything, then just after that valve, it tees. After the tee, one valve is for my sprinkler, and the other is for the house, which is the one I turn off if I need sprinklers. Otherwise I'll turn off the main.

I don't drain anything; water heater is in basement by a floor drain. Toilets.. that's taking it a bit far. 1-2 gallons of water is not the worry, it's something busting/leaking for days while you are gone.

Look into a smart leak detection system. We have the DROP connect valve. I can turn water on/off remotely via app. I can also monitor water flow and system pressure.

limitedout said:

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Look into a smart leak detection system. We have the DROP connect valve. I can turn water on/off remotely via app. I can also monitor water flow and system pressure.

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My house has a smart meter, and the water company has an app so I can set notifications for water usage at certain times (say when we're asleep, or gone), but imo, nothing replaces simply turning off the water.

If I'm on a boat in middle of a lake, or in the middle of a national park, a smart system does me no good.

Quote:

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I don't drain anything; water heater is in basement by a floor drain. Toilets.. that's taking it a bit far. 1-2 gallons of water is not the worry, it's something busting/leaking for days while you are gone.

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My folks lived in CS near a water tower. Their pressure was extraordinarily high and the builder did not put in a pressure reducer. Once, while away on vacation, something broke inside their master bath toilet tank and the water pressure was enough to lift the lid off of the tank. They came home to inches of water throughout their house.

Their insurance did cover the damage o they got hardwood floor to replace their carpets, so there is that.

P.H. Dexippus said:

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I'd shut off the water. Just turn off the tankless water heater so it doesn't run.

Also a good reminder to replace your washing machine and toilet supply lines every 3-5 years.

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This. MIL was leaving for about a week to wife's grandparents. She was a couple hours late in getting out, and as she opened to the door to leave she heard a POP and ppssssssshhhhhh upstairs. She immediately ran up and found the supply line to the toilet had burst. She shut it off immediately, but it did some damage. Another 5 seconds and they'd have probably lost everything in the house by the time she got back. They were damn lucky with how everything played out.

For those of you that have had toilet supply lines fail, are they stainless steel braided hoses?

I've never heard of those failing catastrophically, and I don't understand how they would. Leaking? Maybe. But splitting?

Mine are braided steel. My failure was the plastic nut connecting it to the tank fill valve.

That's some great info - thanks for sharing!

We turn off our water where it enters the house/front of the garage any time we will be gone overnight or longer. Back in late summer 2001, we came home from a weekend getaway to find water soaked carpets throughout most of our house. A supply line under the bathroom cabinet to the sink got a pinhole in it and was spraying water out of that hole everywhere. My mom had been by the day before to feed our cat and didn't notice anything so it probably happened less than 24 hours before we got home. If you remember summer 2001, that was Tropical Storm Allison in Houston. Adjusters were so backed up with work, it took a month to get someone out and he was from out of town. Thankfully, we didn't have kids yet so the exposed concrete slab and tack stripping everywhere while waiting on an adjuster was manageable. After that, we changed all supply lines to metal (had only lived in the house for a year) and decided to turn off our water whenever we leave town. Through the years (23 in this house), we've had several different plumbing leaks. Thankfully, all were found relatively quickly since we were home. If we'd been out of town overnight on some of these, our house would have been a huge loss. (House built in mid 80s- copper pipes in ceiling, PVC under sinks,etc)

We have had plenty of pinhole leaks in our house the first 5-8 years after moving in, so we turn off the water if we leave for a few days or more.

I'm not the best dad at teaching the kids to be handy, but they have all had to turn off the water to the house while I finish loading the van, so at least they all are aware of how to turn off the water to the house.

Another thing to worry about while on vacation!

FWIW, I also turn off the water to the house when I know I'll be gone for a week or more.

Question for you fellas who do the same --

Is your shutoff valve (the one you are turning off) on the city's side of the meter, or on the house side of the meter?

I asked because I recently complained to the city (where I have some commercial property) that the meter shutoff valve was not completely shutting off the flow of water to the property and that I would pay if they would replace it.

Damn, you'd have thought I committed a capital offense. They told me that the valve on the meter was their property and that if I used it to turn off the water I would be guilty of 'tampering' with a water meter and subject to a $5000 fine and water disconnection.

They told me to hire a licensed plumber (yeah, right) and install a valve on my side of the meter.

So, do you have one or two shut-off valves? Thanks.

Ribeye-Rare said:

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FWIW, I also turn off the water to the house when I know I'll be gone for a week or more.

Question for you fellas who do the same --

Is your shutoff valve (the one you are turning off) on the city's side of the meter, or on the house side of the meter?

I asked because I recently complained to the city (where I have some commercial property) that the meter shutoff valve was not completely shutting off the flow of water to the property and that I would pay if they would replace it.

Damn, you'd have thought I committed a capital offense. They told me that the valve on the meter was their property and that if I used it to turn off the water I would be guilty of 'tampering' with a water meter and subject to a $5000 fine and water disconnection.

They told me to hire a licensed plumber (yeah, right) and install a valve on my side of the meter.

So, do you have one or two shut-off valves? Thanks.

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I guess it's clearly much different in denver, my valves are in my basement.

I have a city owned one and my own not far down the line.