My kitchen faucet started leaking at 2am and I had no clue where the shutoff valve was

I was up late (like 2am) last Tuesday and heard a drip that got worse fast - turns out the old compression fitting just gave up. Had to scramble with a flashlight in the crawlspace for 20 minutes to find the valve, but once I did it was a simple $12 washer swap the next morning. Anyone else ever have to learn their plumbing layout in the middle of the night?

2 comments

2 Comments

karenm498d ago

Did you have to turn off the main water valve or did you find a dedicated shutoff under the sink after you got into the crawlspace? I'm asking because my house was built in the 70s and I swear half the shutoffs were installed backwards or in the weirdest spots. My dad was a plumber and he always said the first thing you do in a new house is map out every valve with a diagram, but I never listened until I had a pipe burst at 3am on a holiday weekend. Now I keep a little cheat sheet taped inside the cabinet door under the kitchen sink and another one in the utility closet. It sounds like your washer fix worked out fine, but that middle of the night searching is no joke. Did you mark anything down afterwards so you won't have to do it again?

the_piper8d ago

Agree with everything except the cheat sheet under the sink - you really want that in a central spot everyone knows, not hidden inside a cabinet you might not think to open in a panic.