Absolutely, I have always turned the water supply off. I also turn off the television power supplies. TV's are one of the most common causes of house fires.

I turn off the water supply to the house (at the water well tank), yes.

Unfortunately, if I turn off the water supply to the house, then I turn it off to the landscape irrigation, so the water stays on. I do turn off the water to the ice maker and turn off the ice maker. I have metal hoses on all water-related items.

The copper line to my water heater and my ice maker have sprung leaks. In both cases, I was home and caught them early.

Turn off the power to the water pump (and electronics, etc.).

Open a tap to reduce pressure in cold and hot water tanks and (old) pipes.

Good idea to turn off valves on both hot and cold lines to washers after each use, as well.

ole joyful

I don't, for two main reasons:

1) In other than wintertime, I don't want to turn off water to outdoor irrigation, and

2) I don't bother to turn off my two gas water heaters when we'll be away. Should a pipe or other leak develop when the main supply is turned off, that can drain a water heater and cause additional damage and problems.

The only problems I've had, and it's happened a couple of times, is that a sprinkler valve can break or otherwise get stuck open and one or more stations will run incessantly. I've been notified when that happened and was able to dispatch a friend to shut off the valve on the sprinkler supply pipe. But not always notified quickly. The last time, the water had run for several weeks and by the time it was turned off, the "damage" on my water bill was many hundred dollars. I know that if that happens inside, it's a hassle but covered by insurance.

Yes, if we're going to be gone overnight. The well pump is on a simple switch so it's easy to just flip the switch off. If there was any sort of leak it would be limited to what's in the pipes.

maire cate, what if a fire starts because the water heater has emptied and the safety controls on it malfunction?

I think many of you may have water heaters in basements and if so, the likelihood of a water leak causing a running or siphon out of the heater is low or maybe not even possible. As with most houses in the West, I don't have a basement and many of the pipes are lower than the water heaters so having a leak drain them is quite possible. I've even heard of some houses that have water heaters in the attic.

I could probably have a bypass put in as you describe but I don't think it would be worth the effort in my situation.

I have never turned off my water when traveling.......or much of anything else. Never had any leaks and no other issues either.

Have had a hot water heater sprink a leak but that was because it was old. And it was located in an unfinished basement so although there was several inches of water accumulated, there was minimal damage. Fire department came and pumped it out.

It never occurred to me to turn off water supply, and I need the sprinkler system to work when I am away, which I am right now. We turned off the thermostat and that's all. The hottest our house gets without cooling is 77-78 degrees. Without heat the coldest it has gotten is 65 degrees.

We have a new house in Cathedral City, and we turn the thermostat to 83 degrees when we are not there, but that's the only adjustment we make.

I neglected to mention that back in 2012 we returned from trip to find discoloration in the wood flooring and the presence of mold in the closet of an unused bedroom. Turns out the water line in the wall to an outside faucet had a small leak (maybe freeze damage?) and had run down the wall and under the flooring. No telling how long that had gone on. Insurance paid to replace the flooring in that room and down the hall, repair the sheet rock and dry clean all the clothing. I had to pay to fix the leak.

I noticed in renewing my HO policy this year that State Farm was now excluding coverage of damage from "continuous, repeating, gradual, intermittent, slow, or trickling seepage or leakage of water". I guess they were paying out for a lot of these events.

No, I don't travel, good idea to though.

Sue

Elmer - our water heater has automatic shut off (with a battery back-up) if water is detected in the pan that it sits on. But when we aren't going to be home we also shut off the water heater.

Had an instance years ago in a different house, stepping out the door for work, heard an odd splashing noise. Almost dismissed it but went to investigate, found the fill/dip-tube inside the tank on a toilet had split open. Water was both filling the tank to overflowing, and spraying full-force up toward the lid which was spraying out under the lid onto the wall. I wouldn't, of course, have turned the water off when leaving for work ... but memory of that incident always comes forth when leaving for a couple+ days.

My water heater is tankless, requires water flow to activate.

No and getting ready to go on a long vacation.

We do turn off the water. The only issue we had is a connector to the washer burst when the water was turned back on! Caught it immediately and no damage.

What I had in mind was a pipe break or a leak anywhere, not necessarily just a leaking heater tank.

Maire cate, my water heaters are also in containment pans but the drain lines drain to the outside by gravity. Again, I will guess your's is in a basement, it's a different animal. I have no risk of water damage if they leak, but perhaps fire damage if their safety sensors don't function and they're empty. I'll let the water run to avoid that problem.

Yes! We turn the water supply off. We do not have a sprinkler system at "this" house. It's a pine tree wooded .....acreage lot.

Yes, we do. A few years ago, we were gone for three weeks after my brother died suddenly and unexpectedly. While we were gone, the line to the ice maker froze, cracked and started leaking water. I don't know how long it was leaking after we left, but by the time we returned home, our kitchen floor was destroyed as was the carpet in the living room. Water had started to wick up the sheetrock in the kitchen and damaged the oak baseboard. The water also caused damage to the ceiling in the garage below the kitchen. The cost of repairs was over $15,000 and we were unable to live in our house for two months. We now not only shut off the water, we drain the pipes.

Like nicole, we live on a wooded parcel (no landscaping that needs to be watered) and we have a tankless on-demand water heater so we are not storing water in a large tank that could fail. For me, the peace of mind is worth the slight inconvenience of turning the water off and turning it back on again when we return.

My boss's husband is a stickler for following the rules. He says that your homeowners insurance requires that you turn off the valves to your washing machine when it is not in use, so they do that. I told them they must be the only people on the planet to do that.

I turn the water to the washing machine and toilet off, don't have a dish washer, and so far, hadn't thought of the ice maker. Have that on my list now.

No. Having good neighbors who have your phone numbers and also having someone check your house while you're gone will catch problems faster.

Elmer - our water heater and HVAC are in a closet in the laundry room which is on the first floor between the kitchen and the garage. The drain line does drain to the outside by gravity. We've had 2 different plumbing contractors work here and both of them said that the drain could handle a minor leak .They still recommended we shut off the water and power to the unit in case of a major leak which the drain line couldn't handle allowing the water to overflow and damage our hardwood floors.

It only takes a few minutes to shut off the water and power.

We've also discovered acorns stuffed into the drain line where it empties into the flower bed. Apparently the chipmunks thought it was a nice little storage space. So we had to put a wire screen over the opening.

Okay, bad guess.

You say you shut off water and power to the unit? My gas water heaters are the old fashioned/conventional atmospheric vent through exhaust stack ones and they have no power connections. That must mean you have a power vent gas unit or an electric heater. I'll guess this one isn't a bad guess. ;-)

As I said, my concern isn't leaks (which usually start off slow anyway) but rather operation when less than full. Or worse, empty.

Always turn off the well pump and turn down the temp on the water heater when leaving for on over night.

When we go to Florida we have a plumber come in after we have left and he shuts down the house. Drains pipes, puts in antifreeze, etc. So worth it. He reopens the hose before we come home. $115 for each time, but we have peace of mind.

DH's Aunt went to Florida for 2 weeks, a neighbor was checking the house every day. Well one day the neighbor went in and there was water running down the hall way, into the carpeted bedrooms, living room and kitchen (hard wood floors under all the carpet) and running down the basement stairs, which was finished.

Turns out the tank on the back of the toilet broke and of course it kept running! This was back in the 80's. The insurance paid for everything EXCEPT to replace the toilet!

I never want to go thru that!

The only valves I turn off are the ones to the washer. Sometimes. To me worrying about a disastrous plumbing incident occurring just because I am away for a week or two or even three is uncalled for anxiety. That could happen just by my being away for one day. I could also worry about an electrical fire. Should we turn off all power too? The neighbor's house could catch fire and a burning ember land on mine. There could be a massive earthquake while I am away. Nope. not going to let what ifs hold me back.

Good household maintenance is the best policy.

we do turn off the house . irrigation is separate.
ive had too many friends wirh flood stories to not follow our plan.

If I go for overnight or longer, I turn the water pump off. If a storm is brewing, I unplug the TV and laptop if it's plugged in.

Yes, we do. After having a flood last year (refrigerator line split) we had a valve installed so it’s easy to turn off the water.

One small child's sock caused a pipe blockage (don't ask me how it got there, the best guess is that it accidentally got flushed??) which led to a geyser coming up through the laundry standpipe, water damage to the carpet, water damage to the drywall/sheetrock, water damage to the insulation-stuff behind the drywall/sheetrock, and one homeowners insurance claim - we paid to have the blockage fixed by a plumber and our deductible, the plumber was helpful and put us in contact with a water remediation company who came out the same day to begin 'mitigating the damage' which our insurance company requires us to do as soon as the problem is discovered (we must mitigate the damage, and it must be an unforeseeable incident - thankfully they considered a kid's sock caused pipe blockage to be unforeseeable...and now we're more vigilant about where dirty socks and such go...which is NOWHERE NEAR THE TOILET OR OTHER PLUMBING LINE ACCESS. :P)...

Oh, and while the basement was being put back together after that, the water heater had had to be disconnected, upon reconnecting it once it had refilled - a valve blew and the thing started spewing water all over. I had to run across the street to get a neighbor because I wasn't tall enough to reach the shutoff and the mister was still at work. Workers came back, cleaned up the mess and set up the giant fans again for the weekend, no hot water until Monday (this happened on a Friday) which was the earliest that they could get a new water heater installed.

If we ever go out of town for long enough that the water needs to be shut off...okay (lol) that's unlikely to happen so that's all I've got. ;P

Nope.

I always turn off the water when I go on vacation. But, a lot of damage could still be done even if you are just gone for the day. Oh good, something new to worry about...HAHA!

We have a shut off valve on our washer which we use. We have water bugs in a few prime locations, but we can't turn the water off as we leave our cats in the house and a pet sitter comes to tend to them every day and needs the water on to wash their dishes and give them fresh water...but then she's here to check everything to see it's ok.

A friend was away for a week when her washer hose blew and flooded her whole downstairs...it was a real mess. She was on public water so it ran the whole time. Another friend was away and the kid who was caring for their dog forgot to turn off the outside water valve and the water running nonstop burned out his water pump.

So yeah, stuff happens.

Anything we don't use that plugs in (except fridge and stove) gets unplugged and water is turned off. Except this last vacation because my son housesat for us. :)

Experiencing a blown washer hose really opens your eyes. Fortunately we were home at the time.

How do you turn off the water to your house? I don't know how to do that. My washer and dryer are in a closet and the turn off valves are behind the units--impossible to get to. I have turn off valves for the toilets and kitchen sink but not the entire house. I also have either a pet sitter staying at my house or someone coming in twice a day for the cat.

satine, whether your water comes from a water system or you have a well, there must always be a valve on the main supply line that turns off the water to a structure. Everyone should know where that is.

If you can't find yours, maybe you can ask for help locating it the next time a handyman or plumber comes to your house. The shutoff valves need to be accessible and visible so yours must be around somewhere.

We were told we should, but somehow we never think of it. Thankfully, it's not been an issue for us. I do think it is wise to do it and maybe sometime in the future we will do that.

We've only turned off the water to the washing machine and had friends check on our place in the past... We're in the midst of a big renovation right now, though, and have decided to install the Moen Flo system (it's not in yet, so I can't vouch for it). It's supposed to monitor water flow, detect and identify the location of leaks, and will shut off the water supply in the event of a large event. Thought those on this thread might be interested in checking it out.

Satine, could your main water supply be at the water meter near the road, like ours is. I have a special tool, to turn the water off, if necessary. Also have a switch located right above the water heater to shut it off too.

Satine, depends on your location, if you're in a temperate climate that main shutoff valve is likely to be outside at a point closest to the water main. If you're in a cold climate it's probably in the basement.

I remember my parents turning off the water before trips so I just consider it the standard thing to do.

Annie - what are water bugs?

I always turn off water to the house when I'm away. It's true my insurance would cover any damages if something happened, but I'd hate to go through all that hassle when it could've been avoided. I'm never gone more than a couple weeks.

If we turned off our water at the main, we'd have to remember to turn off the hot water recirculating pump, too. (Water-cooled.)

We have two gas fired water heaters and a small boiler that feeds under-floor heat. I guess we'd need to turn off the gas to these, too?

Our only water problem has been due to a toilet where the flap failed in our absence. The toilet 'refreshed' itself constantly, resulting in a $500 water bill for that quarter.

We had another big bill one year when there was a slow leak in the irrigation system one summer. The bill was the first we knew of it.

YES--at the main. Coming to a flood or a $500 water bill would take all the joy out of my vacation.

When leaving for a trip, I turn the water off and turn the control on the gas water heater to pilot-only. When I return, I re-pressurize the water system and turn the water heater control back to full on. I also flush the water lines to remove air, debris, and stale water.

My wife's sister and her husband went away for a weekend to come home to a flooded basement and huge water bill. The water line to the washer burst and someone had left a towel over the floor drain. Water rose until it ran over the lip to the sump pump well, however, things sitting on the basement floor was thoroughly soaked. They pleaded with the City for relief on the water bill. The City did reduce, but not excuse all of the excess over their normal billing.

An associate of mine at work had water damage while he was at this day job. His wife was away and someone turned on his outside faucet and left it running. There was some erosion damage, but the worst was the water bill.

Thanks for all the responses. More do this than I thought. I guess I'm the outlier. I need to start and you've given me the impetus to do this on my future trips.

I believe the water turnoff is located outside in the court where I live. I believe it takes a special tool to turn it off. I will ask my handyman to check it out for me. As I said I can't turn my washer supply off because of where it is located. I live in a one floor home with no basement.

Bad situation for a washer's water supply faucets to be inaccessible.

Surely, there is a way to shut off your water. You need to shut off the water to change washer hoses, work on sinks and toilets, etc. Locate your water meter. There should be two shutoff valves, one in the feedline to the meter and another in the water line leaving the meter that supplies the house. These two valves are needed to change out the meter. In my town, meters are changed out every 10 years for calibration and/or updates.

In my state, there is a 3rd shutoff not accessible to the homeowner and it does require a special tool. This valve is buried at the lot line where your supply line connects to the city or association supply. Its at the lot line were city/utility employees may turn off the water without entering your property and do not have to get a court order.

About your washer hoses. Trace your washer hose from the back of the washer to its source. Normally, these hoses (hot and cold water) are connected to a faucet or valve and may be behind the washer. A nice installation places these valves above the washer so they can be reached without moving the washer.

I have two turnoffs after the inside water meter. I do not know why there are two within 4 feet of each other but the house came that way. A good reason to turn off things like washing machines is that if the valve is not opened and closed it may not be able to turn off if something needs to be fixed. When I replaced my washer the plumber was unable to close the faucet that the washer was connected to. I had a hard time turning off one of the valves and although the helper was able to close that one he insisted on closing the other one.

For those that turn the water off when they leave would you even hear the water running if a line did break if you were home? Dishwasher line broke once and until I stepped in the warm water had no idea that there was a problem.