Plumbing advice: No functional shut off valves

[DarkManX]

Hi all,

I moved into a new house, which was a total rehab. the plumbing inside is 100% new. The only old items are the water main coming into the house up to the meter, and the sewer going out.

My question/concern:

There are two shut off valves inside the house, one right before the meter (just above the ground) and one right over the meter (what appears to be a newer valve) It turns out that neither of these valves are able to shut off the water supply.

In addition the curb stop outside is far to impacted with gunk that a plumber and someone from the water department was not able to clean it.

So at this point my only way to shut off the water is from the PEX manifold. I am trying to argue with the builder about getting the valves fixed, but I am afraid he might give me a hard time as he is telling me to use the manifold if I ever need to shut off the water. My thought is that this is not ideal as there are several points of failure that can totally flood my basement based on the fact that even the curb stop cant be utilized no one will be able to stop the flood.

Any advice?

Summary...

Curb stop: not accessible due to impacted junk
shut off valves before and after meter are not functional

Thanks in advance!

 

[boomerang]

Fix or replace valves before and/or after the meter.

Remove impacted gunk.

Or, don't do any of that.

That's pretty much covers your options.

 

[IronWing]

Fix or replace valves before and/or after the meter.

Remove impacted gunk.

Or, don't do any of that.

That's pretty much covers your options.

Do all of these things. We lived with a similar problem for a few years until we replaced the faulty shutoff valve past the meter. The frustration of attempting interior plumbing work with the constant water flow really sucked.

 

[DarkManX]

thanks for the feedback guys, but not helping me build a stronger case if they refuse to make the repairs.

 

[drnickriviera]

Curb stop is property of the water department./city. Asked if they will replace/fix it?

 

[DarkManX]

Not here. Property owner is responsible.

 

[drnickriviera]

Well crud, i think you are sol. probably going to need to pay a plumber to replace them.

Is this common anywhere else? All places i've been for all utilities are everything after the meter is the homeowner. Where does their responsibility start? Connection at the main? Wonder if someone could fight them if they tried to shutoff your water since it is your stop they are using to lock it off. Or is this just some legal bs where it isn't really yours but you have all the responsibility for it?

 

[DarkManX]

I live in Philadelphia, The Water Department is the city... I guess they don't cut people off, if someone goes delinquent the city will put a lien on your property.

Since I just moved in, I would like to get the developer to cover this "repair" since he did give me a warranty, but I need to build a good argument for doing this, otherwise he will tell me to use the manifold to shut off.

 

[Humpy]

Hit him with the Philadelphia Plumbing Code.

P-810.2 Water supply control.

A main shut off or curb stop on the water service pipe shall be provided near the curb, and an accessible shut off valve shall be provided near the curb, and an accessible shut off valve shall be provided inside near the point where the water distribution pipe enters the building or other structure. Supply lines taken from pressure or gravity tanks shall be valved at or near their source.

 

[DarkManX]

Thank you so much, that is exactly what I was looking for!