The main water shut off valve inside the house is leaking. How do I shut off the valve "outside" the house so we can work on fixing this? The house is 16 yrs old. This is the original valve. Would you estimate that this is a simple washer problem? Or is this best left to a professional plumber?

Thank you for your help!

Your shut off valve is most likely a 1/2" compression fitting that you can buy at any home center. Your shut off valve for the house is most likely located at an outside faucet. It can be a round handle or flat bar type. Turn it clockwise to shut it off if it is a round handle or up or down if it is a bar type. Another place for water shut off is located at the street.
Hope this helps

There should be a shut off valve right next to your water meter. Mine is in the front yard, underground, covered by a metal plate. That should stop the water at its furthest point upstream. If your valve can't be fixed with new packing around the stem, you will have to replace it, which will involve cutting the copper pipe and sweating new parts in place. If replacement is necessary, I would go with a 1/4 turn ball valve in place of the old gate valve. If you have never sweated copper pipe, get help from a friend who has, or take money out of your 401-K to pay a plumber. Good luck.

Is there any way to stop the leak , or , change the valve without turning off the outside valve? We have 4 feet of snow on top of frozen ground covering the main inlet valve. Really don't feel like having the yard excavated right now. At least it's only a very slow leak-for now...

Rick in Montreal

Exactly where is the valve leaking? Around the stem or where it is connected to the pipe. What kind of pipe?