Inside water main shutoff valve leaking

[Klearkoat]

My interior shut-off valve for the main is leaking when In the open position. I can turn it down and it will stop leaking but then I lose pressure. Are there any quick fixes that don't require me to get my yar dug up to shutoff the exterior main to have it replaced. The water company provided me the coordinates of the main, according to their records, but I would really hate to pay $100/hour for a little shut-off valve. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Mr T]

Is it coming out of the valve itself, on your meter assembly?
If so, not much you can do without having your water shut off by the city/county/other authorized person. Check with them to see who is responsible for repair of this.

[Klearkoat]

It's coming out of the stem where the nut is located. I called the water co. and I'm definately responsible. They only "own and maintain" service to the street. The coordinates they gave me place the outside shutoff about 6 feet from the house near the edge of my driveway. It could be under my driveway. It will be close. It's definately buried though.

[Mr T]

Look on the street for blue paint.. IF any construction work was done nearby, it will be marked. Grass may have grown over it. IF you know someone who has a metal detector, they can easily find it. I doubt if it is under your drive, unless you have had your drive resurfaced recently and they buried it. Its something that has to stay accessable.

You can also call and have your utilities marked (the call before you dig people), but I would call the city back first and see if they will come out and find it. Their records may not be correct. If your meter is at your house, you are looknig for a 3" metal/plastic cap, maybe painted blue. You can take a rake and rake over your yard pressing down hard. ITs alot of work, but you may find it, when you scrape over it. However, wont work if its below ground level.

IF your water line enteres from the front wall of your house, it most likley will be in a straight line from there.

[mdshunk]

You have a few options here. First, that nut where the stem of the valve goes in is called a "packing nut", since it binds down the packing seal for the valve stem. If it's not very badly corroded, you can carefully tighten up the packing nut a smidge with a wrench. That often stops the leak. Use care, because if you snap something off, you'll have your house being flooded until the water department can get there to turn off the water. :!:

In your yard, or in the sidewalk, there will be a small lid about 5" in diameter with a pentagon shaped bolt holding it on. This is the cover for a tube that leads down to the main shutoff for the water feed to your house from the city. Sometimes called a "curb stop". If you can find this, you can buy a "curb key" at the home centers, which is basicaly a very long wrench that goes down this tube to turn the valve at the bottom. If you can get that valve turned off, you can replace the shutoff in the house. (all this, assuming you can get that pentagon shaped bolt out of the lid. If you don't have a penta wrench, you can get vise grips on it).

If you're lucky enough to have your water meter in a meter vault in the yard (as opposed to in the house), you can lift the little 1' diameter man hole lid on the top of the water meter vault and use one of the valves in there to shut off the water to the house and replace that shutoff.

[Klearkoat]

I had already tried to tighten the nut without success. In fact it seemed to leak more after some gentle tightening. The most time consuming part was finding the outside main shutoff. It was the 5" type with the penta screw. After some WD-40, some gentle banging with a hammer and a 10 round battle with the lid, I succeeded and got it off. I bought the t-bar to turn the water off and proceeded inside to tackle the valve. I went to the famous "Home Depot" and needless to say I once again was disappointed when they never have anything you're looking for. I went to local hardware stores and the shutoff valve is a special order type. I don't even know what it's called. I called a buddy of mine who is a licensed plumber and he advised me to buy a traditional shutoff and install a 90' degree and raise the meter about 2'. "I have water again and now I have to replace the carpet in the closet. Apparently this has been leaking for a while. The most expensive part is the 20 pairs of shoes my wife threw away due to mold growing on them. She'll be shopping next week. I guess I saved enough by doing it myself. Thanks for your help. bow_1 bow_1

[mdshunk]

You did all that in the last few hours since my post about the curb stop? Wow... or maybe you knew about it already?

[Klearkoat]

No, I worked on that since about 9am this morning. I went over to my neighbor's yard, and unlike my yard, her water access was visible. It took me about two hours to find my buried shutoff but at least I had and idea of where it was at. It took about an hour to let the wd-40 soak in and get the penta screw out with a pair channel locks. About 2 hours dealing with Home Depot and getting the proper parts. It actually only took me about 45 minutes to cut the pipe, clean the pipe, flux, solder, etc... I had to wait a while before I could test it fully open though because I'm also working on a bathroom remodel that I mentioned on a different post. I always love it when I dry fit the copper fittings and then forget to solder one. I turned the water on and it blew out of that fitting. After cleaning the mess and then fixing that little problem, I tested the water and it worked perfect. In fact, I have better water pressure now due to this newer valve. I'll save what I spent in parts in 3 months. My water bill typically was about $60 for 3 months. My last bill was about $110. I knew I had a problem.