Avoiding Plumbing Disasters

By Court Lundberg · July 23, 2026

Master Plumbers recommend that you should exercise and turn on and off EVERY water shut-off in your home once a year to verify that it works in case of an emergency.

Last night I got a call after hours of a poor couple that was getting a washing machine delivered at 7:30 in the morning. She went to turn the water off to the unit and one of the sides started to leak. The other side she couldn’t even move. As a plumber this seems like a minor thing. But this lady had been up since 2 am to catch a flight home, had a long day, and this little disaster was incredibly disheartening. I raced over there and quickly replaced the shut-offs for her. In case you didn’t know plumbers are almost always the heroes in my stories. This may seem like a minor thing, but this was best case scenario. I have been to the same call where an ice line to a fridge blows up and the shut off under the sink doesn’t work so they must shut down their whole home. Or that a toilet is overflowing and the same thing! It’s all preventable. The other thing that would have caught every one of those calls is a smart water shutoff at the main. It watches the flow and closes the valve on its own when something lets go while nobody is home.

The Importance Of Routine Plumbing Maintenance

Pick a day in the year that you will remember to change your water filters, flush your water heater and exercise your water shut offs. I do it on New Year’s. But YOU should not do it on a holiday or going into a weekend… just in case.

Every fixture in your home should have an emergency shut off. Excluding the shower and the hose bibs. And there should be at least two major shut offs. The whole home and the water heater.

Some may be a multiturn, which I personally don’t like. And some will be a quarter turn, which I love! If it’s a quarter turn the shut off should be able to twist easy with no aid of any tools. There is almost no way to do this wrong. If it’s a major shut-off, make sure that the installer didn’t install it in such a way that it runs into something before it can be shut off all the way. I run into this more than I would like to admit.

If it’s a multiturn valve you should be able to turn it without the aid of pliers. If you see any corrosion on it don’t touch it and call your trusted plumber. If a valve is stuck, weeping, or will not shut the water off all the way, that is a valve replacement, not something to force. When you turn it on and off it may start to leak at the packing nut. Which is the nut that holds the handle/stem to the actual valve. Normally tightening this 1/8 a turn will stop the leak but we should probably replace the valves.

I have a few exceptions to this rule. If you have an all-plastic Manabloc system. And you do not have a softener. I wouldn’t touch it. Or you WILL be calling a plumber. I would only use it for an extreme emergency or have a plumber test it and recommend a replacement for all copper if needed.

Also if you have CPVC piping be very very careful exercising your shut offs. The CPVC is brittle and can crack under the smallest pressure. If you’re worried give your trusted plumber a call.

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