Water mains, stop tap.

Darey

Darey

Darey

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
729
Location
Preston
Our stop tap in the house has a small leak so got a plumber out to have a look, he couldn't find the mains stop tap for the house, he said on older houses they are sometimes buried or also it might be that a neighbour will have one and it stops 2 or 3 houses in a block.

Anyway we rang United utilities to come and have a look and he wasn't overly useful, he said the drawings have it that our house should have a stop tap somewhere buried in the front garden but stopped at that (sounded like he didn't want to start digging though he did get his metal detector out) and said we'd have to dig the garden and find it or find the mains pipe coming in if then they need to come back and fit a new mains stop tap then he would do.

Rang United utilities back and the call centre chap said they don't maintain stop taps so if we need to turn it off it's us who needs to find it, is this right?
The leak in the house isn't massive at the moment but if it starts to leak badly we will be in a bit of a mess.
 
Plumbers can freeze a pipe while they replace parts i think. Also there should be a stopcock in the path/road outside the property that they are responsible for.
 
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most stop **** leaks (from the shaft) can be repaired live. undo the top collar, wrap some ptfe round shaft, push down it down, then put the colar back on and tighten.
 
One of the first things I asked the vendors when we bought our house..... "Where's the stop **** and does it work?" I think I actually tried it to ensure it did.

Mainly came to mind as in my old place it was such a faff to get to, being under and behind kitchen cabinets and needing long arms. My mrs couldn't reach it and I just about could. Would be a faff in an emergency.

Then made efforts to check the stop outside. Covered in crud and gunk but looks OK.
 
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adamau5 said:
most stop **** leaks (from the shaft) can be repaired live. undo the top collar, wrap some ptfe round shaft, push down it down, then put the colar back on and tighten.
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Do not follow this advise. If you do not know where your outdoor stop is, and a professional plumber didn't think it was an easy 5 minute job - do not try to diy it.

Try a better plumber.
 
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ttaskmaster said:
If the mains stopcock is within your property boundary, it is your responsibility. If it's outside, it's the responsibility of the water (and sewerage) undertaker... in this case, United Utilities.

Water Supply Pipes | United Utilities

Information on what you as the Customer is responsible for and what United Utilities provide.
www.unitedutilities.com www.unitedutilities.com
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Thanks, I'll ring them again as at the moment they aren't sure we're the mains stopcock is, the maps they have don't say apparently.

I've also started digging outside where I'd think the main pipe would come in to my property, hopefully I can find it and they are able to do something with it, the engineer rang after he'd been offering to put a new stop tap on if we found the main pipe in.
 
Nightmare, I had mine leaking as well and tried tightening everything but it just kept leaking then it started passing as well.

The stop **** was outside on the street and was full of all sorts of junk so i couldn’t get it turned off. Phoned them up within 20 minutes the lad had come out and cleaned it up, tested the valve and said it was working fine. Turned it off, replaced the stop **** and had to replace a bit of pipe. I used those press fittings made the entire thing a breeze as the pipes were still soaking wet.

The guy who come from there was brilliant and couldn’t be more helpful. Sounds like you just got a lazier guy.


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Bug One said:
Do not follow this advise. If you do not know where your outdoor stop is, and a professional plumber didn't think it was an easy 5 minute job - do not try to diy it.

Try a better plumber.
Click to expand...
www.youtube.com

Plumber Causes Major Flood In Apartment

Read the full description below. This is a lesson in why you should never hire cheap labor. Full description: All hiring and decisions were exclusively betwe...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
Check where your neighbours stop cocks are first. Has there been any streetworks done in the last 5-10 years? Or has the house had any turf or drive work done? Any extensions built? When you find the main trace it back into the house (or trace it out of the house from the kitchen) If you have suspended floors I've seen them in all sorts of stupid places after say a porch has been built. Under carpets with floorboards cut for "access".
 
Reuben klang said:
Wow, that’s incredible.

Why on earth would you try to do something like that while the water is still turned on, absolute madness.
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Have you read the description. Cowboy tried to save a landlord some money by not getting it shut off in a badly designed apartment block.

90psi red hot water too. Madness.
 
I went to my neighbours and he had this issue some years ago, United utilities came out three times and dug the pavement twice and part of his garden, he now has a small service hatch outside his front door.
The plan is to dig this spot outside my front door when the weather is fairer and fingers crossed it's in the same spot.
 
Bug One said:
90psi red hot water too. Madness.
Click to expand...

That is the bit that makes no sense to me, firstly why is a residential property being fed at 90psi, secondly why wasnt the boiler/ water heater turned off prior, so that at least the 90psi water was cold.

I know the description mentioned a very old system so maybe the apartments shared hot water.
 
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