Reference
How often should you test your main water shutoff valve?
Exercise the main shutoff valve once a year so it will actually turn the day you need it. That is the interval the HomeAlmanac app schedules for this job, adjusted for the systems your home actually has.
- How often
- Once a year
- Time needed
- 10 min
- Best time
- Any time of year
- Priority
- Medium
Why it matters
In a burst-pipe emergency, a seized shutoff valve turns a small leak into a flood. Everyone in the home should know where it is.
How to do it
Locate the main valve, turn it fully off and back on to keep it from seizing, and make sure household members know its location.
When to do it
There is no season for this one. What matters is the interval, which is exactly the kind of thing that quietly slips when you are tracking it in your head.
HomeAlmanac schedules this one for you, works out the next due date each time you mark it done, and reminds you before it is late.
Build your free planQuick answers
- How often should you test your main water shutoff valve?
- Exercise the main shutoff valve once a year so it will actually turn the day you need it.
- Why does it matter?
- In a burst-pipe emergency, a seized shutoff valve turns a small leak into a flood. Everyone in the home should know where it is.
- What happens if I skip it?
- Nothing, right up until it is expensive. These jobs are cheap and quick precisely because they are preventive; the repair they prevent is neither.