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Socks
Junior Member
Joined: 13 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:52 am Post subject: Installing an internal stopcock |
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Apologies if it's a wee bit rude for a newbie to come on with a question straight away, but I thought this might be a decent place to find the answer to this.
The problem is that I can't isolate my mains supply. Where I stay, it was originally one house that's now been split into two, with me having the upstairs flat. The rising main comes up and branches to the kitchen and tanks, each of which have their own isolating tap, but there is no single stopcock that isolates the supply to the whole house. Given that I need to move the tanks around in the roofspace, I really do need to isolate the supply as it enters the house and in any case I'd feel more comfortable having a quick way of isolating the supply from a single stopcock.
I realise that this shouldn't be a major problem - just turn off the supply at the outside stopcock then fit an internal one with the supply cut off outside. The problem with that is that I just can't get it to turn at all, even with a proper 3ft stopcock key. It's quite an old property, and the outside stopcock seems to just be a flat bit of metal about 1cm wide and maybe 5cm long.
I was looking at pipe freezing sprays, but the ones I've seen only seem to be able to freeze 15mm pipes, while my rising main is 22mm. Any suggestions as to what I can do? |
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Hoovie
Devon DIYer
Joined: 27 Jul 2007
Posts: 8040
Location: East Devon
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:00 am Post subject: |
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I would be amazed if you could freeze a rising main 
if you really can't turn the supply off in the street, then you need to call the water company to do it.
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Enliven
Junior Member
Joined: 25 Aug 2008
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:27 am Post subject: |
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I've spray frozen a 15mm rising main no problems, not tried with a 22mm and I wouldn't either.
I think you'll have to hire out an electric freezing kit. |
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Socks
Junior Member
Joined: 13 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks both of you.
That's sort of what I thought, that 22mm pipe on a rising main might just be a bit too big to freeze. Probably right that I'll need to get the water board out to free the outside stopcock, but given that I've got the bathroom gutted just now and it would be handy to do it while it's like that, I'll probably try to give it a go with the electric pipe freezing kit. I didn't even realise they existed but it seems they're available quite easily from most hire places. I'll give it a go in the next few days. |
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ultimatehandyman
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 9756
Location: Darwen, Lancashire
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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I have a friend who is a plumber and he says that the freezing kits are not meant for use on rising mains. I would of thought that the water company have an obligation to fix the outside stop tap, but I could be wrong 
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Hoovie
Devon DIYer
Joined: 27 Jul 2007
Posts: 8040
Location: East Devon
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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I am sure you are right.
Whatever the OP does with his plumbing inside, he should get the outside stop sorted out!
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I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. |
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bathstyle
BATHROOM DESIGN AND INSTALLATION
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 796
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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I have changed a few stopcocks live over the years, open the Kitchen sink tap fully + outside Tap, make sure the Cold storage Cistern is filling up, then whip out the guts and replace.
Maybe the OP should try this?  |
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ultimatehandyman
Site Admin
Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 9756
Location: Darwen, Lancashire
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| bathstyle wrote: |
I have changed a few stopcocks live over the years, open the Kitchen sink tap fully + outside Tap, make sure the Cold storage Cistern is filling up, then whip out the guts and replace.
Maybe the OP should try this? |
I have another mate who is a plumber and he does things like that all the time. He once showed me the "snatch" technique on a central heating pump without draining down the system!
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thescruff
Senior Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 5714
Location: Bath
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| Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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You can freeze the mains, provided there's no flow, gas is better than electric, but expensive.
As for the snatch not advisable unless you know exactly what you are doing and can guarantee the part are interchangeable.
One of the easiest ways is to dig a hole outside and cut the pipe in half, fit a new stopcock and fill the hole back in, with a tube for access.
Provided you do it under water you won't get wet, same as above you need to be sure you have the right fittings.
Not really a DIY job
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Socks
Junior Member
Joined: 13 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:06 am Post subject: |
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Good stuff again folks.
I wouldn't feel confident doing the underwater thing that's described so I won't bother with that, and also I don't have an outside tap that I know of so not really possible to do it by running off water that way to reduce the pressure where I want to work at.
I'm having a vague recollection just now though that my water was off briefly one Saturday morning just after I moved here while my downstairs neighbour was doing her bathroom. I think her boyfriend is a plumber who did it for her so presumably he must have managed to turn it off outside - it's just annoyingly typical that they've just gone away on holiday on Friday so I can't ask them about it. Ah well, I guess it'll just have to wait a while longer than I'd hoped. |
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