[GoinAllTheWay]

PSA.....

Test your main water shutoff to make sure it works.

Especially if you're in an older home that has a gateway valve as the main shut off.

Had an incident with the valve that controls the flow of water to our hot water tank (also a gateway valve). I turned that sucker a quarter inch and water starts spraying out of it. Normally not a huge deal but after closing the main valve, water continued to fill the line making soldering impossible.

Tried finding a new stem for the existing valve body with no luck. Changing out the rubber washer also didn't work, seem like the leak was coming through the stem.

Luckily we found out about this issue in an area that was not in a finished area. If we had a blown water line in the walls with no way to fully shut off the water, a small problem would have gotten real big in a hurry.

Check your valves, operate them at least once a year to make sure they aren't seized up and fully shutting off the flow of water.