What to keep
- Flashlight and spare batteries
- Adjustable wrench and pliers
- Bucket and old towels
- Plunger for toilets
- Pipe repair tape or a clamp
- Water leak alarm
- Your plumber's phone number
Know how to
- Close the main water shut-off.
- Close fixture valves under sinks and behind toilets.
- Turn off the water heater.
- Drain lines by opening low taps.
Keep it together
Store the kit in one labelled box near the main valve, and check it every fall.
Practise once
A kit is only useful if someone knows how to use it. Once a year, walk the household through closing the main, turning off the heater and opening a low tap. Let teenagers do it themselves. Write the steps on a card and tape it inside the lid of the kit, along with the curb stop location and the Region of Peel's phone number for after-hours water problems.
Add a printed list of your fixture shut-off locations, a pair of rubber gloves, a utility knife and a roll of heavy plastic for covering furniture. Replace dead flashlight batteries every autumn when the clocks change.
Rather hand it over? Our plumbers handle sump pump installation and whole-home repiping along with everything else on our residential plumbing list.