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We live in a Pinterest and DIY world. Today, people have newfound confidence to tackle DIY plumbing projects because they can find videos, tutorials, and guides within a few clicks. Some of these DIY plumbing projects seem simple while others seem like daunting tasks. The reality is that messing with your water lines in your home is a bold move. Over the past month, we’ve had countless calls on our emergency service line because a DIY plumbing project went wrong. One customer called after he attempted to rebuild a toilet that had gone bad. Before starting the project, he turned off his water until he was ready to do testing. However, our customer didn’t know his main shut-off valve was bad. As a result, he couldn’t get his water turned back on when he was ready to test the repairs. Before you attempt a DIY plumbing project, you need to answer these two questions (at minimum):
  1. Can you easily and quickly locate your main shut-off valve for your water line?
  2. Is your main shut-off valve working properly?
water line shut-off valve Here is a picture of the main shut-off valve at Hope Plumbing, Heating and Cooling‘s office (in our basement). Without confirming the location and status of your main shut-off valve for your water line, you could run into the following plumbing issues:
  1. Racking up an expensive plumbing emergency service bill. People usually attempt DIY projects on nights and weekends (aka outside of business hours for plumbing companies). Most plumbing companies have an emergency service line, but the rate is significantly higher than non-emergency service rates.
  2. Ruining floors, furniture, and other home goods. If you drill into a water line or burst a pipe doing your DIY plumbing repair, you could encounter significant water damage. We’ve seen many customers damage or completely ruin furniture, flooring, and wood cabinetry, to name a few.
  3. Cleaning up after your basement or crawl space floods. Have you ever seen a water line burst? A ruptured water line is no joke. Water will start dumping onto the floor, basement, or crawl space quickly and instantly. If you don’t have a sump pump and backup sump pump, the water won’t have an efficient way to exit your home.
In a nutshell, do not attempt any DIY plumbing projects without knowing the location and status of your main shut-off valve. We are happy to help you locate your main shut-off valve if you can’t find it on your own. You can also schedule a service call for any plumbing projects you don’t feel comfortable tackling on your own. Call our office at (317) 300-6933 to schedule a service call. In the meantime, do you have any stories from your DIY plumbing projects gone wrong? Comment on this blog post or share your advice with our followers on social media @hopeplumbing.
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