Water Shut off Valve in an Emergency, Eh Where is it?

johnwest288

Im drilling a few holes here and it just occured to me. If i actually accidentally hit a qualpex water pipe or some other hidden water pipe I would have no idea how to turn the water off.
Where is the location for the water shut off valve in your average semi D house? I had a look in the hot press back yard, Front yard, Nothing really stands out to me? So im assuming its outside as thats the entry point of the water. Im assuming water comes from a mains at the road. I dont see any cover built into the driveway that might house this? Any ideas? House built about 9 years ago

newmug

Usually under the kitchen sink or outside the front gate in the path

johnwest288

newmug wrote: »

Usually under the kitchen sink or outside the front gate in the path

Ok Ill take a wee look under the sink report back shortly

sullzz

If the house is only 9 years old it should be under the sink , there will probably be a hole ct out of the back of the unit and you should see the valve sticking out of it , you will also have an outside stopcock on the footpath outside your house , it is probably one of the new ones to take a meter , it will have a 6" round black lid that you lift off and inside you will see a blue handle that you turn a quarter turn to knock the water off

youtheman

Remember that you still have a cylinder full of water, plus a header tank in the attic. So depending which pipe you might addidentily drill into, you can still have a lot of water damage (eventhough you might have the main stop-cock closed).

sullzz

You could also invest in a cable and pipe detector .

johnwest288

sullzz wrote: »

If the house is only 9 years old it should be under the sink , there will probably be a hole ct out of the back of the unit and you should see the valve sticking out of it , you will also have an outside stopcock on the footpath outside your house , it is probably one of the new ones to take a meter , it will have a 6" round black lid that you lift off and inside you will see a blue handle that you turn a quarter turn to knock the water off

BINGO !

Cut out piece brass valve. Felt kinda loose as i started to turn it also felt like it had been left in a halfway position. So left it alone. So will this stop the mains kitchen sink tap water immediatly if its working and if its the mains cut off

JohnnieK

johnwest288 wrote: »

BINGO !

Cut out piece brass valve. Felt kinda loose as i started to turn it also felt like it had been left in a halfway position. So left it alone. So will this stop the mains kitchen sink tap water immediatly if its working and if its the mains cut off

It should do. I you close it check when you re-open it that the packing gland nut at the spindle where it goes down into the body of the valve is not dripping. if it is tighten with an adjustable spanner.

Sometimes if a stop cock has not been used for some time this gland nut comes loose when used and dripps. If left it can destroy a kitchen unit over time.

Cookiepus

Hey
i need to turn off water to fix an upstairs tap.
ive switched off the valve under the kitchen sink
but this seems to only shut off the water of the kitchen sink tap.
the taps in the upstairs bathrooms still have water.
any advice please?
Thanks

Merch

Cookiepus wrote: »

Hey
i need to turn off water to fix an upstairs tap.
ive switched off the valve under the kitchen sink
but this seems to only shut off the water of the kitchen sink tap.
the taps in the upstairs bathrooms still have water.
any advice please?
Thanks

You will still have whats left in the tank, that will drain down.
Is it a hot or cold tap?
You may have a valve that shuts off the water supply to the hot water cylinder.
That valve you closed should shut off the supply to the attic tank also, so stops it refilling as water is used.

Cookiepus

Thanks Merch
its a cold tap in the upstairs bathroom i need to fix.
the water is only dribbling out a wee bit - no pressure like the other taps.

Cookie

Merch

Merch wrote: »

You will still have whats left in the tank, that will drain down.
Is it a hot or cold tap?
You may have a valve that shuts off the water supply to the hot water cylinder.
That valve you closed should shut off the supply to the attic tank also, so stops it refilling as water is used.

I meant that will drain down until it is emptied.

Cookiepus wrote: »

Thanks Merch
its a cold tap in the upstairs bathroom i need to fix.
the water is only dribbling out a wee bit - no pressure like the other taps.

Cookie

Do you know how you are going to fix/replace the tap?

BlazingSaddler

Hi, sorry for dragging this old thread up but I have a similar problem. I need to fix a hot water tap upstairs that has stopped working, I'm unsure where to turn the water off. Like the previous posters I know where the mains tap is in the kitchen but to turn off the hot water upstairs is it the valve that comes out of the tank in the hot press?

JohnnieK

mattb74 wrote: »

Hi, sorry for dragging this old thread up but I have a similar problem. I need to fix a hot water tap upstairs that has stopped working, I'm unsure where to turn the water off. Like the previous posters I know where the mains tap is in the kitchen but to turn off the hot water upstairs is it the valve that comes out of the tank in the hot press?

There will be a pipe coming down from the ceiling in the hotpress, it will have a wheel head valve on it. It will then continue down and into the side of the cylinder at the bottom. There should be no other connections on the same side of the cylinder so it should be easy to locate.

Turn the valve clockwise to isolate then open a hot tap to drain down.

BlazingSaddler

Thank you very much, I've found that. How long does it take to drain down? (excuse my ignorance!)

JohnnieK

mattb74 wrote: »

Thank you very much, I've found that. How long does it take to drain down? (excuse my ignorance!)

Not long. Depending on the installation a minute or so.

Your not doing it now are you??

There's one rule I have and that's not to turn water off after six in the evening. Thing's can go wrong and there's no where open:D

smeghead0037

hello, i have the same issue, the hot and cold taps in upstairs bathroom, they are hard to turn, and the water just trickles out, at each little turn, which is hard to turn as well. for cold tap, its the main water pipe from attic, and for the hot its the pipe from attic that goes into the cylinder.? Apologies for lack of knowledge. thks

JohnnieK

smeghead0037 wrote: »

hello, i have the same issue, the hot and cold taps in upstairs bathroom, they are hard to turn, and the water just trickles out, at each little turn, which is hard to turn as well. for cold tap, its the main water pipe from attic, and for the hot its the pipe from attic that goes into the cylinder.? Apologies for lack of knowledge. thks

There is a pipe coming straight from the ceiling in the hot press going down into the floor, the valve on that will turn the cold off.

The other pipe coming down into the cylinder will turn the hot off.

You where dead right.