By Paul Nestork (Evergreen Construction)
In light of the recent multiple day power outage, I want to suggest that second homeowners should get into the habit of turning off their water when they are away. You can’t always rely on your generator to keep your home’s temperature above freezing as they don’t always start. Turning off your water can potentially prevent serious damage to your home.
It takes just a few minutes to turn your water off. Simply turn off the value on the pipe from your pump. This is generally a black plastic pipe that comes through the foundation wall. Next, turn off the breaker for the pump. Do this to prevent your pump from burning out. If you do have a ruptured pipe, your water system will keep calling for water and the pressure switch won’t be satisfied with the waterline valve shut. For additional protection, open the faucets and flush the toilets after you’ve closed the waterline valve.
This a good habit to get into even during warmer months. One of my clients had a poorly repaired pipe joint fail and water ran into their home for several days causing several thousands of dollars worth of damage to their finished basement.
Additionally if you do own an automatic generator, have it serviced a regular basis. Many generator installers offer annual service contracts. During the most recent storm, I know of one generator that failed to start because it was low on oil. There was also another generator during a different storm that failed to start because the battery was bad. Service could have prevented both of these issues.