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Step 1
Buy a water mainline valve for your house at your local home improvement store or your local hardware store. First, you need to find out what size mainline valve you need to buy. Mainline valves come in various sizes. They usually start at a ½-inch size and go up. In most homes, the biggest size would be a 2-inch.
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Step 2
Determine what type of mainline valve you need to buy. They come in PVC, brass, steel and copper. PVC mainline valves are normally the most economical. Most PVC mainline valves have nylon ball valves. Brass mainline valves will either have brass ball valves or stainless steel. These are more expensive and usually last a longer period of time.
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Step 3
Pay attention to the shut-off handles or levers when you buy a mainline valve. Some shut-offs require a wrench to open and close your valve. Some have a single lever. Some others have a T-handle. Others just have a conventional round handle. The most popular is a T-handle or a lever handle. The type of shut-off handle you buy for a mainline valve simply depends on individual preference.
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Step 4
Decide what kind of fitting you need to buy for your mainline valve. Some mainline valves have sweat fittings. These require soldering with a torch when you have copper pipes. PVC mainline valves usually glue together with PVC piping. Your brass mainline valves are usually threaded. You can buy adapters for PVC pipes with threads and also adapters for copper piping with threads to accommodate threaded mainline valves.
