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Whole house water shutoff

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Gliderman8

Gliderman8

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We are now in the restoration phase of my mother in-laws house. The damage was as a result of running water from a cracked toilet tank. This whole mess has got me considering installing a whole house water shutoff. If it detects water on the sensors throughout the house, it energies a motorized water main shutoff valve.
Is anyone using one of these devices? Any recommendations?
The one I'm considering is made by FloodStop.
 
No endorsement, just showing how it works. The one I would consider would shut the main down.
 
I genuinely have no idea if this is relevant, but, when we redid our bath we put a leak detecting shutoff hose on the toilet itself. I gather if it detects a sudden pressure change it shut off. We finally had to replace it with a conventional one because when the water got shut off for maintenance, it wouldn't come back on. Interestingly our plumber warned us off them and he was right.
 
I thought about those shut off lines but in our case they never would have shut off. The toilet tank cracked so it continued to try and fill. Had the supply line broke, then one of leak sensing hoses might have worked.
 
Interesting idea - when I'm away overnight, I just turn off the water completely. But I suppose an audible alert would be useful when someone's in the house, like:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Honeywell-WaterDefense-Water-Leak-Detection-Alarm-RWD41/202491357

Does that FloodStop system detect "continuing movement through the system" - like a burst pipe? or just water touching specific sensors that you hope are in the right place?

In other words, if a pipe were to crack or burst inside a wall, and water moves downhill - does FloodStop handle that?

Tom M.
 
The FloodStop only triggers the shutoff if any of the sensors get wet. Broken pipes inside a wall would continue to leak until one of the strategicly placed sensors detect it.
As far as alarms, they are good only if you're home to hear them. When we take a trip we just shut off the water until our return. I'm looking for the everyday occurrence when you may be at work and there's a water problem.
 
Believe it or not in NY the Dept of Water calls us when they see we are using a disproportionate amount of water.
 
Almost any leak I've ever detected other than a puddle, I've detected by seeing water run thru the softener continuously. I check this as a matter of routine first thing in the morning when I know no water should be running. This is when I go out to feed the birds. I have to walk right by the softener. We do have a whole house shut off valve that does work. Why you ask would I know this? With Doug gone for every other week, all our plumbing problems only happen when he isn't available. I even have a schematic of the water lines in the mechanical room. Enough said.
 
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