Find Your Shut-Off Valves Before Anything Leaks

The main valve at the water service

In most Brampton houses the copper or PEX service from the street enters at the basement wall facing the road, and the meter hangs just inside. A valve sits on the downstream side of that meter. Older homes in Peel Village and the early Bramalea sections often have a round-handled gate valve; newer houses in Springdale, Castlemore and Mount Pleasant usually have a lever-handled ball valve. A ball valve is closed when the lever sits across the pipe. A gate valve closes clockwise and can take many turns.

Gate valves that have not moved in twenty years often seize or snap their stems. If yours will not turn with firm hand pressure, do not put a pipe wrench on it; book a swap to a quarter-turn ball valve while the pipes are still dry. In a finished basement the valve can hide behind a removable panel or inside a closet under the stairs.

Fixture stops

• Sinks and vanities: two angle stops under the basin, one hot and one cold, feeding braided supply lines to the faucet.
• Toilets: one stop on the wall or floor behind the bowl, feeding the fill valve.
• Washing machine: a pair of valves or a single-lever box in the wall behind the machine.
• Dishwasher: a branch off the hot line under the kitchen sink, often a tee on the angle stop.
• Refrigerator line: a small saddle or quarter-turn valve near the sink or in the basement ceiling.

The water heater

A tank heater has a cold inlet valve on the pipe entering the top. Closing it stops new water reaching the tank, which matters if the tank itself is leaking at the base. For a gas tank, also set the gas valve dial to its pilot position. Do not open the drain valve unless a hose runs to the floor drain.

Tag, test, repeat

Wrap orange flagging tape round the main valve handle and show every adult in the home, basement tenants too, where that tag hangs Turn each fixture stop off and on once a year; valves that sit still corrode in place. If a stop drips at the stem after turning, it needs a new packing nut or replacement, which is a quick visit.

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