A burst pipe drops 8 gallons a minute into your home. The single most important skill any homeowner or renter has is knowing exactly where the main water shutoff is — before the leak.
Here is where yours is.
Single-family homes in Addison and North Texas
Almost every single-family home has TWO shutoffs:
1. City meter shutoff (primary)
Located at the water meter, usually near the curb in the front yard, inside a green or black meter box in the ground. You need a shutoff key (long T-shaped tool, $8 at any hardware store — buy one now) or a long screwdriver.
Turn the valve 90 degrees. Water is off to the entire house.
2. Interior main shutoff (secondary)
Usually inside the garage where the water line enters the house, or on an exterior wall behind an access panel. Often a ball valve or a gate valve. Turn 90 degrees (ball) or clockwise until stops (gate).
Both should work. Test yours annually — gate valves seize up if never turned.
Condos in Addison (Vitruvian, Addison Circle, Belt Line towers)
Each condo unit has an interior shutoff — usually one of:
- Inside a laundry closet on a wall
- Inside a small mechanical panel behind a hallway door
- Under a kitchen sink (rare, but sometimes)
- In a utility closet on a balcony
If you cannot find it, ask the property manager. Take photos of the location and label it.
For serious floods that a unit shutoff cannot control (rare, but possible), the master shutoff is in a mechanical room and requires PM access.
Apartments in Addison
Similar to condos — most apartments have a unit shutoff, usually inside a mechanical closet or laundry room. Take a photo when you move in.
If you cannot find one, your apartment does not have one — and you need to know the master shutoff location + who to call after hours.
What to do RIGHT NOW
- Locate your main shutoff
- Test it — actually turn it off and check that fixtures stop
- Take a photo of the location
- Save the photo in your phone with a note
- Buy a water shutoff key ($8) if you have a curb-side meter box
- Show every adult in your household where it is
10 minutes of prep. Saves you $10,000 when the pipe splits.
When you have a burst
- Shut the main
- Turn off the water heater breaker (electric) or gas (gas)
- Call emergency plumbing — (831) 290-4327
- Photograph damage
- Start towels on the biggest wet spots
Fast shutoff is the difference between "we spliced a pipe and dried it out" and "we replaced the ceiling, drywall, and hardwood floor."
Belt Line Plumbing expert insight
This guide reflects what our licensed Texas RMP plumbers see on real prevention calls across Addison, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, and the greater Dallas North Tollway corridor. Belt Line Plumbing Co. has served the Addison area since 2007, with 412+ five-star reviews from north Dallas homeowners, property managers, and Belt Line Restaurant Row operators.
Local factors that affect the advice above: North Texas expansive clay soil drives most residential slab and sewer failures; Dallas Water Utilities supply water at 8–11 grains of hardness per gallon shortens every water heater and tankless system without a softener; and the February 2021 Winter Storm Uri freeze exposed attic supply lines across almost every 1970s–2000s Addison home. If your situation includes any of these local realities, factor them in before deciding between repair, replacement, or a preventive upgrade.