Some older toilets don’t have shutoff valves behind them. If this is the case for you, you’ll have to use the wooden board method or simply cut off the main water supply for your entire home to turn off the toilet’s water supply.
If the water valve looks rusty or is difficult to turn, try applying some WD-40 to it. If you’re still unable to turn it after this, you probably will need to replace it.
Note that if the water is still turned on, you’ll need to quickly push the float lever back up to prevent the tank from overflowing.
If you can’t find your water meter and valve in these typical locations, your best bet is to contact a professional plumber to have them locate your meter for you.
The main shutoff valve will be 1 or 2 “wheel” handles or lever handles jutting above or next to a metal pipe. They will probably be on either side of a water meter. If you have an external water heater on a side or in back of your home, there’s a good chance the water meter will be somewhere near this.
Some shutoff valves feature lever handles instead of wheel handles.
If there’s only 1 wheel handle or lever handle, that’s the one you’ll want to operate to turn off the main water supply. Once you’ve finished with your work, simply turn this valve counterclockwise again to turn the water back on.
For best results, use a piece of wood that is about 1 inch (2. 5 cm) shorter than the height of the tank itself. If the sides of the tank are too high to do this, then straddle the board above the float lever and wrap a length of stiff wire around both the float arm and the board to hold the float up.
