How to Shut Off Your Water in 60 Seconds (Practice Today)

The single most valuable plumbing skill a homeowner can have costs nothing and takes one minute to learn:

• Find it: usually at the meter box by the street, or where the main line enters the house.
• Turn it: clockwise until it stops. Gate valves take several turns; ball valves a quarter turn.
• Test it today: a valve that hasn’t moved in a decade may not move when you need it. If yours is stuck, that’s a cheap fix now and a flood later.

Teach everyone in the house. The difference between a mop and an insurance claim is usually those sixty seconds.