Bathtub Leak Question

Reefguy · Mar 6, 2016

Hello everyone I currently have a pretty bad leak coming out of the bathtub faucet. It started out as a couple drips here and there and I was told it was just a 'seasonal leak' that would go away. That sounded very strange to me, but I figured I'd wait and see. The leak progressively got worse and is now almost a solid stream.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but I do know it isn't leaking behind the wall or anything like that. The house is owned by my family, I am not the home owner.

My question is, while I wait for either my bank account to fill up enough to fix it myself or my family member landlord to handle it, can I shut off the water to the house while I am not home or am not using any water? I live alone so I don't need to worry about anyone wondering why the water isn't turning on.

I just want to make sure turning the water off for 12-16 hours at a time won't cause any issues to the rest of the plumbing, hot water heater, heater/ac etc etc... I really don't know much about this stuff and have no clue what uses water that may be affected if I turn off the water to the house.

Thank you for your time!

Mr_David · Mar 6, 2016

If you have a ball valve, turn it off.
when you turn it back on, crack it open a little.
you can hear the water flow. Allow the system to fill.
you can open a fixture or 2 to let the air out.
Just DO NOT open it to fast.

If you have a gate valve, old ones can break when you close them making it impossible to turn back on.

you can leave the water heater on .
the tank will stay full and no need to worry about that.

have the landlord take care of it as soon as possible.
The owner is responsible for maintenance.
If it's causing damage then it's their responsibility to fix it and stop any further damage

frodo · Mar 6, 2016

seasonal leak ? i like that, makes me think the little leak guy will go on vacation to the rain forest

Reefguy · Mar 6, 2016

Mr_David said:
If you have a ball valve, turn it off.
when you turn it back on, crack it open a little.
you can hear the water flow. Allow the system to fill.
you can open a fixture or 2 to let the air out.
Just DO NOT open it to fast.

If you have a gate valve, old ones can break when you close them making it impossible to turn back on.

you can leave the water heater on .
the tank will stay full and no need to worry about that.

have the landlord take care of it as soon as possible.
The owner is responsible for maintenance.
If it's causing damage then it's their responsibility to fix it and stop any further damage

Oops, I opened it fast. I made the mistake of doing so before checking to see if any answers had been posted. I will make sure to do just as you said from now on. It is a ball valve I believe, the one that looks like a lever that is cranked 90 degrees.

Reefguy · Mar 6, 2016

Mr_David said:
you can leave the water heater on .
the tank will stay full and no need to worry about that.

Its probably worth noting that a couple hours after I turned the water off I heard a noise in the basement. I initially thought someone was breaking in, lol. When I went downstairs I followed the sound to the water heater and it was making a shuffly, gurgle here and there sound. Any ideas?

Thank you guys for your initial responses, I really appreciate the help.

KULTULZ · Mar 7, 2016

It might be a good idea to shut off WH power (either gas or electric) when shutting down the supply system as any resultant drainage from the WH may expose the upper element to air on an electric model.

Just a safety thing.