Pro tip: That $8 dollar water key from the hardware store saved my outdoor faucet repair

Last weekend I was trying to fix a leaky spigot on the side of my house here in Portland. I kept trying to turn the water off at the little handle inside the house but it was stuck and I couldnt get it to budge. My neighbor came over and handed me this cheap metal water key he had sitting in his truck. It hooked right onto the curb stop in my front yard and shut the main water off in like 10 seconds. I spent an hour wrestling with the inside valve before that and the key just made everything easy. The leak turned out to be a worn out washer that cost me 50 cents at the local shop. Has anyone else found a simple tool like that that just makes a job way less frustrating?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_ross21d agoMost Upvoted

You ever had one of those tools you thought was just for plumbers or old timers? I used to think the same thing about water keys. I figured if I couldn't get the inside valve loose, I'd just call someone. Then a buddy showed me his key, and I grabbed one for like 7 bucks at the local hardware store here in Chicago. It sat in my garage for a year before I finally needed it, and man, it saved me a ton of hassle on a similar outdoor faucet fix. I was stubborn about it before, but now I keep it in my truck just in case.

leo60321d ago

Same with me and a basin wrench. @james_ross, you mentioned it sat around for a year. Did you find you had to mess with it a bit before you got the hang of it, or was it pretty straightforward right out of the box? Mine took a couple tries before I figured out the right angle on a stuck valve.