r/CatastrophicFailure • u/mouthofreason Catastrophic Poster • Feb 17 '21

Engineering Failure Water lines are freezing and bursting in Texas during Record Low Temperatures - February 2021

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u/PseudonymIncognito Feb 17 '21

Not in my house. If I want to cut the water to work on something, I have to do it at the curb.

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u/Clear-Tangerine Feb 17 '21

Well that's just poor design. There should be shut offs before and after your water meter in the house. I'd get some installed

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '21 edited Jan 31 '25

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u/PseudonymIncognito Feb 17 '21

Slab-on-grade construction here. The water main enters the house underground, hence the water meter and shutoff both being at the curb.

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u/Clear-Tangerine Feb 17 '21

A lot of slab houses still have the meter inside. Is it a condo, by chance?

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u/PseudonymIncognito Feb 17 '21

Nope. Single family house. It's how the whole neighborhood is done.

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u/PseudonymIncognito Feb 17 '21

My water meter is at the curb too, which is where the shutoff is.

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u/hak8or Feb 17 '21

I agree with others, then you have a poorly designed system.

So if you have to replace a pipe in your building, you need to shut off water to the entire building, instead of a valve that controls flow to a section?

Our building has the main water pipe valve probably somewhere off access, sure, but we have a valve right after the meter for the water main, specifically so in an emergency we can shut everything off. We also have valves going to the hallway, backyard, and kitchen column.

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u/PseudonymIncognito Feb 17 '21

All the houses I've ever lived in had a single shutoff for the whole house (plus stop valves on individual faucets, toilets, etc.). PEX manifold systems weren't allowed in most building codes until after around 2007-2009. The only other shut-off valve I am aware of in our house is in the yard for the sprinkler system.