Do you turn water off when going on vacation?

[Faustdog]

I have seen someone have about $150K of damage because the hose feeding either their dishwasher or icemaker came loose and just poured water into their house for about a week. That was over a decade ago so I assume it’d be over $200k of damage today. Luckily insurance covered it but I’d be curious to know whether they have mold
Issues at this point.

I don’t turn my water off when I leave, but after seeing that, if you had an easy shutoff valve, I could see why people might do it.

On this note, it's wild to me how much companies like ServiceMaster, Servpro, etc charge for water remediation.

"Cut out these two walls and leave these six fans running for five days. That will be $30k. Go ahead and find yourself a contractor to put the wall back. That part's not included."

 

[HailStout]

And the gas, yes you better turn it off too. Oh heavens if the gas ever got a spark WHILE YOU WERE GONE the house would blow. Oh wait, it could do that too while you're in it, so never mind I guess????

I completely disassemble my house before vacations so there isn’t a catastrophic structural issue

 

[Pookieray]

Snap, I’ve heard of ninjas in the kitchen, but this is on another level.

oops, attic

 

[Motodawg]

No. If you have cast iron or PVC you will cause more problems by leaving pipes dry than wet. The only excuse would be if you expect temps 30-40° lower than normal for that time of year.

3+ months minimum for me to cut if my water.

You are completely wrong about this.

 

[Motodawg]

Pressure should not theoretically change if you just close the valve, but not drain the house?

This is correct, tho it will probably rise instead of fall due to thermal expansion and closed loop systems (modern meters)

 

[Ranchdawg]

I’m talking 3 days or more. I’ve never done, but many people do. I’ve replaced some pipes lately due to pinholes so it has peaked my interest.

On one hand, I do believe pipes reach a ‘homeostasis’ but if you just flip the shutoff (assuming you have modern valves and not 1960s shlt) and don’t drain the house, should be fine as far as pressure right?

Just a peace of mind sort of thing. If worst case happens, it could be bad.

We went on vacation years ago and got a call from my mother-in-law. She told us water was running out of of our garage door. The plastic on the connection to the toilet in our kid's bathroom failed and the water ran for a few days flooding both kids bedrooms and the garage.
Insurance paid for a company to pull the carpet up and dry it out but they didn't pay our water bill. Since then I've turned the water off and turned the water heaters off. Better safe than sorry going forward not to mention having the vacation upset with a call like that.

 

[vhdawg]

I've never done it, but I might consider it if I had a tankless....we knew some people who were gone for a vacation, and the hot water supply line to an upstairs sink broke, and the tankless kept the hot water running for about a week. The house was on a golf course but it was the winter so nobody passing by noticed the water running out of the downstairs. I think an in-law went over to check on things the day they were coming back and found it. The steam upstairs was so bad you couldn't walk up the stairs, and it destroyed everything and even melted the plastic blades on a kids ceiling fan. Just a complete nightmare situation.

 

[Shmuley]

so it has peaked my interest.

piqued.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

Another humble brag thread? I can't afford vacation or running water.

 

[Drebin]

I’m talking 3 days or more. I’ve never done, but many people do. I’ve replaced some pipes lately due to pinholes so it has peaked my interest.

On one hand, I do believe pipes reach a ‘homeostasis’ but if you just flip the shutoff (assuming you have modern valves and not 1960s shlt) and don’t drain the house, should be fine as far as pressure right?

Just a peace of mind sort of thing. If worst case happens, it could be bad.

A few years ago I took the family to Disney for a trip. On the Sunday I got home, I had a pipe burst. Just in the few minutes it took me to get everything shut off, it ended up creating a 75k insurance claim. I can't imagine how bad it would've been if it would've happened sooner while we were out of town. So, depending on that the weather is going to be, I always shut off the water when I'm out of town now.

 

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

On this note, it's wild to me how much companies like ServiceMaster, Servpro, etc charge for water remediation.

"Cut out these two walls and leave these six fans running for five days. That will be $30k. Go ahead and find yourself a contractor to put the wall back. That part's not included."

I get where you’re coming from, but there’s definitely more to the cost than just cutting out a couple walls and running some fans. The price tag includes a lot of behind-the-scenes work that people don’t always realize. For starters, these companies are providing 24/7 on-call emergency services. That means they have semi-skilled employees ready to respond at a moment's notice, even in the middle of the night or on weekends. Plus, the staff often has to deal with hazardous materials, including mold, sewage, and other contaminants. In some cases, the team is suited up in full hazmat gear for their protection, and the cleanup process requires specialized training to avoid any health risks.


Water remediation isn’t just about drying out a space—it involves making sure everything is done safely and to code, particularly in situations where the property is compromised by mold or other biohazards. It's a high-risk, high-liability job that can affect the health of the workers and the integrity of the structure. A lot of times, the charges reflect not just the labor but also the equipment, chemicals, and protective gear they use, as well as the need to dispose of contaminated materials properly.

 

[prdubya]

There are these "smart" water shut off valves now that you can plumb into your main water line and it detects water flow. They all use some sort of computer learning to "learn" your water usage and start to identify things that are out of the ordinary and then notify you via text, email or phone call to say "hey, your water is running, want us to catch it?"

Moen Flo shutoff valve example
Phyn Smart shutoff valve example

The issue is the devices themselves are pretty expensive (good ones like the Moen or Phyn above, all run ~$400-600) and unless you're quite handy it would require a plumber to install. Most of these devices require a power outlet somewhere nearby to power the device catch wifi to run the app & monitoring setup / power to actuate the motor to close the valve if something leaks.

My dad got one and it's pretty neat. If a toilet is running, it will send him a text, an email and call him to say "your water is running, push 1 if you don't want us to shut it off". In the event you were away from home on vacation, the device would shut off all the water to your house and prevent a big big disaster (although, it wouldn't unplug your hot water heater...).

The rub is that as many have mentioned... many view it as cheaper to just use your insurance in the small chance things go wrong and get a new kitchen / bathroom, etc. Insurers aren't offering discounts for having a smart shut off valve like they are for the "safe driving" tracker apps.

I did a bunch of work around this as a "subscription model" where old company I worked for would do the install and then you'd pay a smaller monthly fee to get monitoring. I didn't really think too many folks would be keen on a $20+/mo "subscription", but not sure it ever got any traction with consumers / insurers after I left.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

I thought this was about trying not to knock up your ole lady on vacation when yall get drunker than three petered goat

 

[Tall Dawg]

I turn it off at the street. And then I flush the toilets to empty the tanks after I've turned off the water.

I usually don’t but I have cut it off. If you do cut it off remember to cut your hot water heater off as well. You will burn a hot water heater up if it goes dry.

I’ve got 2 tanklesss h2o heaters so I don’t have to turn them off.

 

[Tall Dawg]

Why would you turn the water off when you go on vacation? Do you also turn it off when you leave for work in the morning? I would think any minimal benefit wouldn’t be worth the effort. I turn the thermostat up in the summertime and down in the winter when we leave, but that’s all.

Well, unless you go to work and don’t come back for 7 days no need to turn it off each day.. I’ve managed, leased and sold commercial real estate for 31+ yrs. All types including retail, office and warehouse.
In an 8 yr old, 7000/sf single story office bldg, in Madison I had a cold water line break about 4’ above grade behind a sheetrock wall. It went to a janitorial mop sink in a supply closet and had probably been used 5 times in 8 yrs. There are 3 suites in the bdlg and it happened in the middle suite (1250/sq ft) between 5pm on a Friday and was discovered on Saturday around 2pm. Thank goodness a tenant discovered it on Saturday afternoon and turned water off at meter! Flooded the middle suite and about 1/3 of one suite next door. It appeared to be a faulty “elbow” joint in the line. (Thank you China!) We had insurance of course. Our deductiable was $2500. The total cost of the restoration, sheetrock removal 1’ above grade, wood base board replacement and repainting all walls (from bottom to top) landed at $16,000+. It’s amazing what can happen at times.