Where the main water shut-off hides

Where to look

• Detached houses and semis: basement, front wall, where the pipe from the street comes through the foundation. The water meter sits right after it.
• Side-splits: often in the lower level or crawlspace near the front, sometimes behind a panel in a finished rec room.
• Townhouses: utility room, near the water heater or furnace.
• Condos: suite valves near the water heater, laundry or under the kitchen sink. Building staff control the risers.

What it looks like

Older houses have a round wheel handle, a gate valve, which takes several turns to close. Newer installs have a lever, a ball valve, which closes with a quarter turn so the lever sits across the pipe.

Older houses have a round wheel handle, a gate valve, which takes several turns to close.

From the counter

Test it

1. Open a cold tap upstairs.
2. Close the main fully.
3. Watch the tap slow and stop. If it keeps running, the valve does not seal.
4. Reopen the main slowly and close the tap.

If it is seized

Keep pipe wrenches off a wheel handle. The stem can snap and leave the valve stuck open or leaking. Old gate valves near North York meters are often in this state. A plumber can replace it with a ball valve; Toronto Water closes the curb stop out front so it can be swapped.

Other valves worth knowing

• The small stop behind every toilet
• Sink stops under each vanity and the kitchen sink
• Cold inlet valve above the water heater
• Outdoor tap shut-offs inside the basement

Questions

Next on the shelf

• Main shut-off valve replacement
• Burst pipes, cut out and rejoined
• When it cannot wait: emergency plumbing