How To Turn Off Water From Toilet

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If yous're trying to fix something wrong with your toilet, the get-go stride is turning off the h2o supply. However, if you've never washed this before, or if you take an older toilet without a shutoff valve, this may seem a little intimidating. Fortunately, whether yous're closing the toilet'south shutoff valve, turning off the principal water supply to your home, or manipulating the float lever to stay upright, there are several like shooting fish in a barrel ways to turn off the h2o supply to your toilet.

1
Locate the shutoff valve attached to the pipe behind your toilet. The shutoff valve is a football game-shaped valve continued to a pipe or hose attached to the bottom of the tank behind your toilet. The other end of this pipe should go into the wall.^[1]
- Some older toilets don't have shutoff valves behind them. If this is the case for you, you lot'll have to use the wooden board method or only cut off the main water supply for your entire home to plow off the toilet's h2o supply.
ii
Plow the valve clockwise until it tin't turn anymore. Turning the valve clockwise as far as information technology can go will plough off the water supply to the toilet. The valve should non be difficult to turn, then don't endeavor to forcefulness it if you can't easily plough it.^[2]
- If the water valve looks rusty or is difficult to turn, try applying some WD-40 to information technology. If you're all the same unable to turn it after this, you probably will need to supplant it.
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James Schuelke, along with his twin brother David, is the co-owner of the Twin Home Experts, a licensed plumbing, leak detection, and mold inspection company based in Los Angeles, California. James has over 32 years of domicile service and business plumbing experience and has expanded the Twin Home Experts to Phoenix, Arizona and the Pacific Northwest.

James Schuelke
Professional person Plumber

Brand sure to shut the valve securely. When the valve is off, give information technology an extra quarter-plow to the right to brand sure the water is completely off.

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3
Affluent your toilet to brand sure the water is turned off, if you can. If the water supply is turned off, the h2o in the back tank volition empty out into the toilet basin and will non be refilled later on. If your toilet is clogged, you tin also exam if the water has been turned off by lifting the bladder lever in the tank. This is the lever attached to the hollow, sealed float on top of the water in the tank. If the water is withal on, more than water will be added to the tank when yous push this lever down.
- Note that if the water is yet turned on, you'll need to quickly push the float lever back up to foreclose the tank from overflowing.
4

Turn the valve counterclockwise when yous're washed to turn the water on. Once it's time to turn the water supply to the toilet back on, all you accept to do is merely turn the water valve counterclockwise as far as y'all can. Give the toilet a flush to test information technology and make certain the water is turned back on.^[iii]

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i
Await for the valve in the basement if you live in a colder climate. In colder areas where freezing temperatures are more common, the h2o meter and primary shutoff valve are typically located indoors. Look in the basement near the showtime foundation wall or in the clamber space underneath your habitation.^[4]
- If you can't find your water meter and valve in these typical locations, your best bet is to contact a professional plumber to have them locate your meter for yous.
ii
Bank check outside to notice the valve if you lot live in a warmer climate. The water meter and primary shutoff valve will probably exist located in an atomic number 26 box surreptitious along the side of your home. Don't worry well-nigh it existence hugger-mugger, though; you'll be able to spot the hat covering the meter above ground.^[5]
- The main shutoff valve will be i or ii "wheel" handles or lever handles jutting above or adjacent to a metal pipe. They will probably exist on either side of a h2o meter.
- If you accept an external water heater on a side or in back of your habitation, there'southward a proficient risk the water meter will exist somewhere near this.
3
Notation that the shutoff valve usually looks like 1 or 2 "wheel" handles. These are circular handles with finger-sized indentations forth the circumference that allow yous to get a meliorate grip on them. There will most probable exist a water meter located in between these two handles along a water pipe running into your domicile.^[6]
- Some shutoff valves feature lever handles instead of wheel handles.
4
Turn the valve clockwise to shut off your principal water supply. This will stop all the h2o flowing into your home, including the water supply to the toilet. If in that location are 2 valves on either side of the water meter, turn the i that is closest to your abode.^[7]
- If there's merely 1 wheel handle or lever handle, that's the one y'all'll want to operate to plow off the main h2o supply.
- Once y'all've finished with your piece of work, only plough this valve counterclockwise again to turn the h2o back on.

1

Take the lid off the tank and find the bladder well-nigh the top of the h2o. When this hollow container floats to a certain peak, the valve stops letting water into the tank. When you flush the toilet, the float falls with the h2o level and reopens the h2o valve. To prevent water from refilling the tank, you'll need to secure the float to foreclose the valve from opening later on a flush.^[8]
ii
Slip a narrow length of wood under the float lever to hold it up. Position the piece of wood vertically and then that the bottom of it rests on the bottom of the tank. This way, the top of the forest will agree the float lever upward and prevent information technology from causing the tank to refill afterwards a flush.^[9]
- For all-time results, employ a piece of woods that is nigh 1 inch (ii.5 cm) shorter than the acme of the tank itself.
- If the sides of the tank are too high to do this, then straddle the board above the float lever and wrap a length of stiff wire around both the float arm and the board to agree the float up.
Tip: Note that anything alpine and sturdy plenty to hold up the float lever tin exist used in this method, as long equally information technology can hold up to beingness placed underwater.
3

Flush the toilet to drain the water out of the tank, if yous can. The tank volition empty, while the wood or wire strapping holds the elevator arm up, preventing the valve from refilling the tank. If your toilet is chock-full and y'all tin't flush it, you can also apply a bucket or tall cup to lift the water out of the tank until information technology'south empty.^[10]
iv

Remove the board when you're done to permit the tank to refill. After you're finished with your repair work, simply remove the board and or strapping to allow the float to refill the tank. Identify the hat dorsum on the tank and you lot're good to get!^[11]

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Article Summary 10

To plough off the water supply to a toilet, simply shut the toilet'south shutoff valve, which looks like a football-shaped valve located beneath the tank. Turn the valve clockwise until information technology can't turn anymore, then flush your toilet. If your bowl doesn't refill with h2o, that means you've successfully turned off the h2o supply. If you lot have an older toilet without a shutoff valve, you lot'll demand to shut off the water main valve, which volition exist in the basement or in an fe box along the side of your home. To locate the valve, look for a bike-shaped handle or lever and turn it clockwise to shut off the water. If there are 2 valves, turn the i that's closest to your dwelling house. For more than advice, including how to refill your toilet with water in one case yous're finished with your repairs, keep reading!

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