Water shutoff questions before water heater repair

[nolan7120]

Hello all. Plumbing noob here seeking your expert advice! There seems to be two issues I'm having when it comes to shutting off the water flow in my condo. My water heater (WH) took a dump the other day and a friend who works in the industry and I are going to replace it on Sunday.

So, when I drained the water heater, I obviously shut off the gate valve on the cold water line going into the WH. Opened up all the hot water faucets too. After finishing, I close the faucets and the drain valve. Sometime later I end up using the cold water to brush my teeth. When i walk past the water heater a few mins later, I hear a dripping noise. I open the drain valve and a few more gallons comes flowing out. The dripping eventually subsides and the water flow stops. Long story short anytime i used my cold water somehow water was being forced back into the WH, forcing me to drain it again. As soon as the faucet goes off, the flow off water into the WH stops. So obviously the gate valve must be bad I'm thinking? Or is water being forced in through the hot line or something? It's just weird that water can get into the WH when the valve is closed.

Next problem: I shut off my main water valve in addition to leaving the WH valve also closed. I turn on all the faucets in the house, and proceed to drain the few gallons that go back into the WH again. That dries up so I close the valve and then check the bathroom faucets; they're both dry now too. I go check the kitchen faucet; it's running at full blast still. I figured there must be some water in the pipes still so I let it run. 15 mins later with no sign of slowing down I just turned it off.

How can my kitchen faucet still run when the main water valve is shut off? Is it possible it's attached to the main water line but bypasses the manual shutoff? Both valves are 33 year old gate valves. Thanks for any help!

 

[Matt30]

If you are using single lever faucets, you will get crossover from the cold water into the hot pipes, thus going back to the hot water tank.

 

[nolan7120]

My kitchen faucet is single lever. When I drained the hot water tank I had it all the way cranked to hot.

I asked a neighbor who worked on a unit a few floors below me. He said that when he changed this lady's faucet, he shut off the water and low and behold the kitchen faucet would not shut off, just like mine.

 

[havasu]

I'd be searching for a newer main shut off.

 

[Matt30]

Though you may have had it on the hot side, single levers act as anti-scald and allow hot and cold to mix whenever the faucet is open. So all the way hot...isn't really all the way hot in most cases.

 

[stevemachine]

Though you may have had it on the hot side, single levers act as anti-scald and allow hot and cold to mix whenever the faucet is open. So all the way hot...isn't really all the way hot in most cases.

Yup agreed with matt, thats your problem for sure. Maybe the shut off on the hwt is shot but likely its the mixing on single lever faucet

 

[nolan7120]

Thanks for the replies gentleman and the advice about the single lever was spot on. Both shutoffs work fine. Anytime I was using the single lever anywhere but on the far right, water was being forced back into the water heater through the hot pipe. Same thing was happening with the bathroom faucets. If both hot and cold were on, water would pour back into the heater forcing me to drain a few more gallons from it.

I'm still confused on why my kitchen faucet isn't turned off when I shut off the main valve. I've talked to 2 others in my building who all have the same issue. My dad lives in the building next door so I'm going to check his kitchen faucet to see if it does the same thing. If it doesn't, then this problem is particular to my building only. If it does, it's probably safe to say that all 6 buildings are piped liked mine. I really want to find the builder and ask them, although that might be a little hard.

So, my water heater is disconnected. A friend in the business is coming over tomorrow to help me get the job done. Will update when finished. Thanks again fellas!

 

[Matt30]

No problem. If you are friendly with your neighbour, get them to shut off their water and see if your sink line is actually tapped into their system.

 

[nolan7120]

I just talked with the handyman for the properties where I live. There are 6 buildings, and the one in which I reside was built first. He said there were changes made to the other building's plans as the construction process continued. One of those changes was how the buildings were piped. He said when he shuts off his water main, it kills everything, the kitchen included. He is in the next building over, the 2nd overall to be built.

I think I can end my quest for the reasoning behind the sink still running after shut off and just attribute it to poor plumbing design which was later rectified. Maybe that's the reason why my association factors the water bill into our monthly assessment (instead of being separately billed), because they can't legitimately measure individual unit water consumption.

 

[frodo]

here is the law on that.

if, you own your condo. your utilities have to be for that space only.

not only that, but, the piping for another unit, can not pass threw your unit




so, if any lines to another condo, PASS THRU your unit, they have to be changed
ASSUMING you are the owner not a renter

because, this protects you, what if your neighbors pipe burst in your living room?
you would be stuck like chuck, your ins is not going to pay to fix his line.
his ins is not going to pay to fix something that is not on his property