When I had to remove the toilet to lay new flooring in our bathroom, I decided to replace the aged shutoff valve as well. After turning off the main water valve in the basement and installing the new toilet shutoff valve upstairs, I returned to the basement to turn the water back on. As I climbed back up the stairs, I heard water running. Perhaps water running through a left-open faucet? When I entered the bathroom I was greeted by a 6-ft. fountain of water gushing straight up from the new valve. I’d failed to shut the new valve off after installing it. You wouldn’t believe how much water can come out of a little valve in the amount of time it takes to climb a flight of stairs.

— Mike Overmohle