Can anyone explain this cold water shutoff valve phenomena

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Wombat

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I am was trying to replace a shut off valve on a toilet in a condo in Bellevue WA. The condos are converted apartments. They were not individually metered.There are two floors of Units.
The condo was built in the 60's but all the galvanized steel was replaced by copper at some point.
I was told there was a shutoff valve in the unit by the President of the Board.
The alleged shutoff gateway valve sticking out one inch from the drywall about 5 inches from the floor in the laundry room. Any pipes it is shutting off are hidden behind the drywall. (ie. there are no visable pipes near the shut off valve).
( The shutoff valve is also adjacent to the closet where the hot water tank is which has it's own shutoff valve)
1. I shut off the this supposed cold water shutoff valve
2. I ran the cold water in the sinks for a long time but the water pressure just seemed normal
3. The hose worked full pressure, both bathroom sinks and kitchen sink for cold water
4. The Hot water was however shutoff immediately in all the sinks.
5. The only cold water that was shut off luckily for me were the two toilet shut off valve.
6. When I ran cold water in the kitchen sink and the toilet shutoff valve was on, water started to shoot out of shut off valve.
Is the shutoff valve on the wrong pipes or is the apartment fed from different pipes?
Why does the cold water in kitchen sink make water come out of the toilet shutoff valve?
 

hj

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quote; Why does the cold water in kitchen sink make water come out of the toilet shutoff valve?

Because you also opened the hot water in the sink and the cold water backflowed through it into the water heater and from there to the toilet shut off. The valve in the wall is apparently NOT a shut off for the entire apartment. It is very possible that it also shut off the cold water for an adjacent unit, and their shut off would have turned off the rest of your cold water.
 

FullySprinklered

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I guess many people don't think about this, but a lot of condos do not have individual shut-offs for each unit. So, when I get a call on one of the older condos down in Buckhead for plumbing work I may end up having to set up an appointment to shut the water off to a stack of units on ten or more floors. This would not surprise the city dwellers, but it's an unwelcome inconvenience to me. I'm not used to it, and don't care to be so.
So, I'm riding up the elevator with my tool bag and the little old lady riding with me says: "I guess this is all your fault, young man."
"Yes m'am. I'm sorry."
 
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