water-shutoff-map

Use before a plumbing emergency, when moving into a new home, before DIY repairs, when a pipe bursts or a toilet overflows, or when creating a household emergency reference sheet — walks you through locating every water shutoff in your home (main, fixture stops, water heater, irrigation), records what you find into a durable JSON registry with photos, generates a printable emergency card for the fridge, and gives the 3-step first response for floods, burst pipes, and overflowing fixtures.

Overview

A pipe bursts. Water is spreading across the floor. The main shutoff is somewhere — basement? Crawl space? By the street? The average person has never turned it and doesn't know where it is, and a homeowner wastes precious minutes searching while the damage grows. Burst-flex-line claims average $10,000+, and response time is the single biggest controllable factor: every minute of flow is roughly 2–5 gallons onto your floors.

This skill solves the "know before you need it" problem in two parts:

1. A guided location procedure (references/locating-shutoffs.md) — where shutoffs hide by home type (basement, slab, crawlspace, condo), how to identify each valve type, how to test it safely, and what to do if it's stuck (the #1 discovery people make the hard way).
2. A registry + emergency card generator (scripts/shutoff_registry.py) — record every valve you find with location, type, tool needed, direction, test date. Validate the registry for completeness, print a fridge card with the 3-step first response, and export JSON so your household (and your agent) always knows where everything is.

When to Use

• Moving into any home — the very first weekend, before unpacking the kitchen
• Before DIY plumbing work — replacing a faucet, toilet flapper, dishwasher, water heater
• Leaving town / freezing weather — confirm the main works and know how to drain down
• Creating a household emergency reference for family members, babysitters, renters
• After the fact: a plumber showed you a valve — log it so it's never lost knowledge again
• Right now, during a leak: jump to Emergency First Response below
• Don't use for: gas shutoffs (different tool/procedure), electrical issues, or municipal supply problems outside your property line.

Emergency First Response (memorize this much)

1. Kill the fixture if you can — angle stop under the toilet/sink (clockwise). Fixture stop handles the 80% case with zero tools.
2. If you can't isolate it, kill the house — main shutoff clockwise. It's stiff: use a wrench if needed; never force half-way — full closed or leave it.
3. Then damage control — power off the affected area if water is near outlets (breaker first), towels/shop-vac, move valuables, then call a plumber and your insurer (mitigation duty starts immediately).

Run python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py drill for a 60-second quarterly rehearsal script.

Commands

bash

# Start / edit the registry (interactive, or via flags in one shot)
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py add --id main --label "Main shutoff" \
    --location "Basement, east wall behind furnace" --type gate \
    --tool "12in crescent wrench" --direction clockwise --tested 2026-08-30 \
    --notes "Stiff first 2 turns; exercise annually"
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py add --id water-heater --label "Water heater" \
    --location "Garage, cold inlet above unit" --type ball --direction perpendicular \
    --tested 2026-08-30

# Guided entry — prompts for the fields that matter
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py add --interactive

# See what you've recorded and what's missing
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py list
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py validate

# Printable fridge card with the 3-step response + your valve table
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py card > shutoff-card.txt

# Quarterly rehearsal script (the thing that makes this real)
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py drill

# Where things hide, by home type — the hunting guide
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py hunt --home basement
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py hunt --home slab

# Export for other tools / your agent
python3 scripts/shutoff_registry.py export --json

Registry lives at ~/.shutoff-registry.json by default (--file to override; keep a printed copy — emergencies take power and Wi-Fi with them).

Registry Fields

Field	Why it matters
id	short handle (main, toilet-1, water-heater)
location	specific enough that a panicked person finds it: "under kitchen sink, left wall, behind cleaning bottles"
type	gate / ball / angle-stop / straight-stop / meter-key / other — determines how it closes
direction	clockwise / perpendicular (ball valves: handle across pipe = OFF)
tool	none / flat screwdriver / crescent wrench / meter key — stored WHERE?
tested	date you last exercised it — untested valves are seized valves
photo	path/filename of the photo you took (photo > description)
notes	quirks: "stiff", "access panel behind toilet", "shared with unit 4B"

Valve Types at a Glance

Type	Looks like	Closes by	Common failure
Ball	lever handle, 90° arc	quarter-turn: handle ⟂ pipe = OFF	rarely sticks; leaks at stem
Gate	round wheel like an outdoor faucet	many clockwise turns	seizes OPEN after years — the classic
Angle/straight stop	small oval/knurled handle under sinks & toilets	clockwise few turns	seizes, strips; replace with quarter-turn
Meter key valve	in concrete box at property/street edge	5-sided key or meter wrench	needs the key — own one ($12)
Washing machine valves	behind washer, red/blue or single lever	clockwise / lever	aging flex lines burst — replace w/ braided + lever box

Common Pitfalls

1. Never testing the main until the emergency. Gate valves that sit open for a decade often won't close. Test at move-in, then exercise yearly (drill). If it won't turn, a plumber can replace it for ~$150–400 — vastly cheaper than discovering it seized during a flood.
2. Confusing the house main with the irrigation/yard main. Closing the wrong one leaves the leak flowing. The registry records which is which.
3. Forcing a stuck valve with a giant cheater bar. You can snap the stem and create the flood. Gentle penetrating oil, back-and-forth rocking, then call a plumber.
4. Closing only the water heater's cold inlet for a whole-house leak (or vice versa). Fixture → appliance → main: isolate at the smallest valve that contains the leak.
5. Not owning the tools your valves need. A meter key and a 12" adjustable wrench, stored where the card says, are part of the system.
6. Relying on memory or a phone note. Emergencies happen to whoever is home — babysitter, guest, teen. The printed card in a known spot is the deliverable.
7. Shutting off power AFTER wading into water. Breaker first, then wet-vac. GFCI outlets don't make water safe.

Verification Checklist

• main entry exists, with tool + direction, and tested within 12 months
• Every toilet and sink has an entry (angle stops) — or a note that it lacks one
• Water heater cold inlet entry exists (also your drain-down point)
• Photo filenames recorded (or photos taped inside a cabinet near the valve)
• Card printed and posted where household members already look (fridge)
• Meter key + wrench purchased and stored in the location the card names
• drill run once per quarter — 60 seconds, calendar it