Old Lead Pipes?

[LucyR]

I was wondering if someone could give me info on our pipes. The mains supply tap, (fitted into the living room wall) is very old. This is where we turn the water supply off. It started leaking and we got the plumber in who tightened some bits. The leaking has stopped.

We are concerned though, because he mentioned that the pipes were not copper pipes, which if a problem occurs again would need replacing. How expensive would a job like this be? The house is just over 100 yrs old, would it be lead they used?

We need to know because our shower has started dripping through the ceiling, and in order to rectify this, we need to make sure we can turn of the water supply when needed.

PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

[BoxBasher]

It is quite likely that the original pipes to a property of that age were lead, although there is nothing to say they haven't been renewed in the past. Did the plumber say they were any material specifically, or just "not copper".

What does the pipe just below your inside stop tap look like? If it is lead then they are likely to be grey (if not painted over) and will scratch quite easily (don't scratch too hard). Lead will usually be joined onto the stop tap in a bulb-like shape.

If the pipes are lead then the cost of replacement would vary depending on the job (but not really that expensive)

Are you in a terraced house with a shared supply?

Does the property front straight out onto the street or do you have a garden/driveway?

Do you have solid (concrete) floors or suspended (floorboards)?

 

[MANDATE]

Had a similar situation a couple of years back and got two quotes.
One over the phone around £950, but the firm wrongly assumed the supply was in the road at the front and would mean using undergroud mole to reach the kitchen. Second was around £850 by plumber who visited site.
The supply was at the rear of property and approx 5 metres from inside stop cock.
Non of the quotes were taken up, trench was dug and new pipe installed to meet united utilities requirements. Cost of materials about £50 which included pipe, ducting, insulation, stop cock, drain cock and copper pipe.
You'll need to apply to unitied utilities in order to get them to connect to the main supply free of charge

 

[LucyR]

Many thanks for the quick responses!

I'm, 90% certain he said lead- I will check tonight with the information you have kindly given me. The trouble is that the pipe has been surrounded in concrete!!!! Therefore it is difficult to ascertain what the pipe actually looks like. The tap just sticks out of the moulded concrete.

We are in a terraced house with shared water supply. I think 3 or four houses on our street share... The house faces directly onto the street and the floorboards are suspended, with a large gap under the house.

We have been in touch with united utilities, and they couldn't really give us any information.

With regards to "trench was dug and new pipe installed", I will speak to my partner and find out more details. Many thanks again!

 

[goofy gorilla]

there are lead to copper compression fittings avaialable that you can use...depending on the size of the lead pipe...most likely it will be half inch....you could use this.....what you need to do is,,,,,break the concrete around the pipe....so you can see the pipe....go down about 4-5 inches...cut the lead pipe off......use the compression fitting i suggested (lead side to the old lead pipe)......now use 15mm copper tubing.....and attach a new stopcock or tap.....hope this helps...can someone please correct me if im wrong, after all this is just an idea that i thought....

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;j...?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=lead+compression

 

[BoxBasher]

Suspended floors and fronting onto the street is one of the easiest (and cheapest) jobs out there.

You already have the correct depth you need under the floor (2'6"). Just need to get the pipe out through the wall at that depth (tunnel from inside).

Hardest part of the whole job will be removing the old lead branch from the shared supply (just capping off what you can see isn't good enough).

Ask United Utilities to send information about their scheme, should have some diagrams included that will show you how to lay it.

 

[LucyR]

Thanks for the info. This site is wonderful!