Resuming water to a house

[GBH]

Hi. I have a sister with mental health issues that shut her water off I believe in the fall of 2021. I am in her town now trying to help her out, and resuming water to the house is one of my goals. For context her house is in the White Center area of Seattle and was built in 1946. One bed, one bath, ~850 sf. I'm assuming there is some risk in restoring water service and am thinking I should have a plumber on site when the system is pressurized. Am I being too cautious?

And while I'm here... Are there any plumbers here that service the White Center area of Seattle, or a recommendation for one that does?

Thank you,
Gary

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Likely the house will have galvanized plumbing so turning it on should be done slowly. I would ensure you have access to any crawlspace or basement first. Seattle has 2 styles of meter shut offs. The old ones have a 5 sided post that sticks up out of the ground and can be difficult at the least and break off at the worst. Or if you're lucky, you have a rectangle stop that you can use a normal meter wrench or a crescent wrench sometimes works.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[GBH]

Likely the house will have galvanized plumbing so turning it on should be done slowly. I would ensure you have access to any crawlspace or basement first. Seattle has 2 styles of meter shut offs. The old ones have a 5 sided post that sticks up out of the ground and can be difficult at the least and break off at the worst. Or if you're lucky, you have a rectangle stop that you can use a normal meter wrench or a crescent wrench sometimes works.

There is definitely galvanized pipe at the water heater, but also copper. I just had a guy over there for other reasons, but we chatted about the water a bit and looked around for the meter shut off without success. My guess is dirt and muck in the parking area has covered the rectangle access. Thanks for the feedback.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Here is a map that should show you roughly where the meter is supposed to be. If its been covered by dirt for some months the SPU will likely have guessed at the water usage and will adjust that amount when they find the meter and get accurate readings.

ArcGIS Web Application

gisrevprxy.seattle.gov

 

[GBH]

Thanks for that interactive map. It doesn't show the meter/valve location for houses in her neighborhood though. I found a plumber to come out and assess the situation. The meter valve was turned off, and the main shut-off in the crawl space was also off. When the lines were open there was an obvious substantial leak in the wall between the kitchen and bath. The recommendation was to re-pipe the house and replace the water heater.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Thanks for that interactive map. It doesn't show the meter/valve location for houses in her neighborhood though. I found a plumber to come out and assess the situation. The meter valve was turned off, and the main shut-off in the crawl space was also off. When the lines were open there was an obvious substantial leak in the wall between the kitchen and bath. The recommendation was to re-pipe the house and replace the water heater.

I would think the water district would spot and likely open valve for you probebly hang around a few minutes view meter see if it spins and stops befor anything is opened . Tuttles of cource an expert on the area .
It is an old house and im going out on a limb with a blanket statement saying yea repipe be a good idea .
but it is possible a repair can be made inexpensively it might even be a copper leak 75 year old homes often have been partly repiped 40 plus years ago

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

The SPU water dept has been really stingy about doing work lately.. I think they're being really tight with their budget right now.

If the home is galv then yeah.. I would recommend a repipe as well. Its pretty difficult to fix stuff in the middle of galvanized, but it can be done. you have to start at a fitting to have usable threads.

 

[Jeff H Young]

Depending on budget it sounds like it could be a hardship to do everything . even having half a working water system or a single hose bib for a short time a week, a month , or year is better than no water. I hope the sister gets help she needs and a more comfortable life