A bit of plumbing help please?

[stephec]

A few years ago I had a new kitchen fitted, and at the time I was told that the stop cock had been moved to under the sink.

Today I wanted to change a tap in the bathroom so closed the new stop cock, and five minutes later I still had cold water gushing out of both the kitchen and bathroom taps. Just for good measure I closed the old stop cock as well, same result.

Now I'm no plumber, but I would have expected the water to drain a lot quicker than that. Am I right, or do I need to drain it for longer?

 

[Crankarm]

You seem to have no plumbing knowledge what so ever so why are you attempting such a task? If you flood your house it will cost you a lot more than had you got a local plumber in to do the work in the first place.

 

[Arch]

Ever helpful there, Crankers.

 

[stephec]

I've changed taps before this kitchen was fitted, and the old stop cock worked properly then.

 

[Andy_R]

Was it a hotor cold water tap you wanted to replace, and do you have water tanks for either hot or cold water?

 

[TheDoctor]

You seem to have no plumbing knowledge what so ever so why are you attempting such a task? If you flood your house it will cost you a lot more than had you got a local plumber in to do the work in the first place.

You, Crankers, have never added anything constructive to a thread, but that doesn't stop you!
To answer the OP, there's a few possibilities:-
The new stopcock under the sink might just be for the kitchen taps, or
There might be a cold water tank in the loft that supplies the bathroom taps, and you've got to get that drained,
I've got three stopcocks in the house, but the only one that stops water getting to the bathroom taps is the one out in the garage, behind a whole load of bikes...

 

[stephec]

No tanks, it's a combi boiler, and it was a hot water tap.

The new stop cock is about 18" from the kitchen taps, and they were still going strong after about five minutes.

 

[TVC]

Forgive me for raising a stupid point, but are you sure you turnrd the cock off, and not fully on ?

 

[TheDoctor]

I know nothing about combi boilers, so I'll edge away at this point.
Sorry I couldn't help.

 

[gbb]

Something's not right, if I turn mine off,the upstairs will stop running in 10 seconds or so, downstairs maybe a little longer, but still not long.
In your place, I'd be tracing the cold pipe work from the point it comes in the house (I assume where they old stopcock is)...and trying to follow its route in the hope of finding an unknown stopcock. Either that, or your new one has failed, can you feel resistance as you turn the handle or is it's spinning freely ?

 

[Crankarm]

You, Crankers, have never added anything constructive to a thread, but that doesn't stop you!
To answer the OP, there's a few possibilities:-
The new stopcock under the sink might just be for the kitchen taps, or
There might be a cold water tank in the loft that supplies the bathroom taps, and you've got to get that drained,
I've got three stopcocks in the house, but the only one that stops water getting to the bathroom taps is the one out in the garage, behind a whole load of bikes...

And you are one big stop cock. You have to be one the most unpleasant posters on cyclechat, not just to me, but I see it in your responses on other threads. You really have issues.

Getting help on an internet forum and a cycling forum about plumbing when you have little knowledge and the risk if you get it wrong could be very very costly indeed which imho is madness. Getting new taps fitted is not that expensive if you have a plumber that knows what they are doing.

 

[stephec]

As the old saying goes, "if you've nothing nice to say, say nothing at all."

 

[Crankarm]

No tanks, it's a combi boiler, and it was a hot water tap.

The new stop cock is about 18" from the kitchen taps, and they were still going strong after about five minutes.

I would find yourself a plumber. When he/she fits the new taps get them to fit isolation valves so if in future the taps need to be removed for any reason or changed for a different style then the process is pretty simple as you don't need to shut down and drain the whole system just close the nearby isolation valves.

 

[Crankarm]

As the old saying goes, "if you've nothing nice to say, say nothing at all."

Well all I can say "A little knowkedge is a dangerous thing." I hope you have buildings and contents insurance should your insurer agree to meet your claim when you flood your house as a result of trying to DIY.

 

[slowmotion]

Most places have a water company stopcock that is outside the dwelling. Ours is under a small metal plate, about 5 inches square in the pavement outside the front door. If you can find it, you can be reasonably sure of cutting off the entire supply to your home. You may still need to drain down some of the pipework by turning on taps etc. Good luck.