OVERFLOW driving us insane!!!

astraea · 19 Aug 2006

actually that is where you are all completely wrong!!
we dont own a car i have four young children we cant get an equity loan cause of bad credit cause of problems we have had and we are selling the house to raise money to try and get ourselves back on our feet!
we bought the house for 45k on shared ownership cause we couldnt get a mortgage for the full amount and have spent the last ten years struggling!
i came on herre because i thought i may be able to get a little advice not judged when you know nothing about me!!
i will be sure to let people know not to visit your site in future as it is all about judging people and not about giving a bit of help!!!

astraea · 19 Aug 2006

guess no one wants to reply to that one!!!

a bit of help is all i am asking for'!!!

Softus · 20 Aug 2006

Agile, I suppose if you keep being judgemental of new forum visitors then one day you'll accidentally get it right.

astrea, ChrisR has already pointed you in the right direction. You need to start by identifying which cistern is overflowing. If it's the larger one then you need to check whether or not the stop cock is shutting off.

Shutting a stop cock downstairs won't immediately stop the overflowing, because the water level in the cistern has to drop below the warning pipe connection.

Chris has also mentioned that it could be a mixer valve. If this is happening then the water in the large cistern (in the loft) will feel tepid, or warm, instead of being cold.

Bamber gaspipe · 20 Aug 2006

astraea said:
astraea said:

actually that is where you are all completely wrong!!
we dont own a car i have four young children we cant get an equity loan cause of bad credit cause of problems we have had and we are selling the house to raise money to try and get ourselves back on our feet!
we bought the house for 45k on shared ownership cause we couldnt get a mortgage for the full amount and have spent the last ten years struggling!
i came on herre because i thought i may be able to get a little advice not judged when you know nothing about me!!
i will be sure to let people know not to visit your site in future as it is all about judging people and not about giving a bit of help!!!

Click to expand...

Don`t be put off from comments made by Agile,although clever, he is a snob..you do not have to explain yourself to the likes of him..please accept the advice given from the other chaps... Most will see your problem through until the bitter end...Hope you get it sorted & come back again soon.

astraea · 21 Aug 2006

hi
turned the water off for a few hours last night after a couple of hours it was barely dripping whereas before it was pouring out does this mean it is the large tank that i have the problem with?

Softus · 21 Aug 2006

Almost certainly the answer is yes, but a much easier and much more positive test would be to get up into the loft while the water is coming out of the warning pipe and see which cistern is the cause.

Or, if you have two warning pipes coming from the roof, then follow back the one from which water drips and see which cistern it connects to.

Can you tell us what kind of mixer valves and taps you have in the house, and which of those are fed by mains cold water?

Agile · 21 Aug 2006

You may have already sussed this one but until your hubby has followed all this advice and identified the problem you can turn off the mains supply to stop it over flowing when prospective purchasors are due to view.

If you turn off the mains and then turn on the cold in the bath and see what the overflow does then that will be a clue. If it stops overflowing withing a minute of turning on the bath cold then it should be the big tank.

Presumably flushing the WC makes no difference?

If you had explained your financial situation at the outset its just possible that someone close to you might have come to have a look free of charge. I am not convinced that selling your half share is the best solution either.

A friend of mine works for a company which analyses peoples financial problems and consolidates loans and agrees settlements of debts often at significantly discounted rates. Whilst this does not work for everyone they say that many people can get themselves back on the level after a few years. The problem is that so many products are available on the never never that people can easily over extend themselves. R4 spoke to some secretaries who had run up debts of over £90k even though they had good incomes of £22k to £34.

Tony

Softus · 21 Aug 2006

astraea said:
how do we find this out for definate? and how much do they cost cause we have no money at the mo

Agile said:
An insincere reference to her hubby

astraea said:
just wanted a bit of help as we have a viewer coming at 6 tonight and no money to call out a plumber!!!

Agile said:
I find that very difficult to accept!

If you own a house which is probably worth at least £100,000 you can raise a loan against the equity in the house.

Or perhaps filling up your 4 x 4 with petrol comes first?

And now...

Agile said:
If you had explained your financial situation at the outset its just possible that someone close to you might have come to have a look free of charge.

So apparently it's not your fault for inferring something about a 4x4, or displaying amazing insensitivity and gross ignorance, it's the poster's fault for not giving enough details about her personal life.

I am not convinced that selling your half share is the best solution either.

Well that's all good, because I doubt that anyone is the slightest bit interested in convincing you.

astraea · 21 Aug 2006

hi
yes if i turn the water off at mains and then run the bath cold tap for a minute the overflow stops - so does this mean it is the large tank? if so what do i do from here???
we have replaced the arm it is a metal one and got a new ball cock but this doesnt make any difference apparently we cant adjust this one either although my husband tried holding it down but it didnt seam to make any difference!

could this help someone give me more advice?

thank you

astraea · 21 Aug 2006

also we have two mixer taps is this what you mean?? one in the kitchen and one one the bath sink - the bathroom sink is also pretty much constantly blocked i have had loads of sink blocker stuff down but it makes no difference could this have anything to do with it??

mapj1 · 21 Aug 2006

Holding the ball UP should stop the flow into the overflowing tank- makes the valve think the tank is already full when it is not. (actually a bungee cord and a nail in the timber above makes a good temporary shut-off wne the isolator cant be found -tut tut..)
The cheap as chips solution is to bend the metal arm, to lower the float so the force on the shut-off comes on when the float is still low down in the tank. The real solution is a new rubber washer in the filler valve. - about 50 p for the rubber washer, and about 2 hours at £30 per hour or more to get the business part of the valve out and to pieces to reach it.
regards
M.

ChrisR · 21 Aug 2006

But it still does it with the mains off, M.

Agile · 21 Aug 2006

As Mike says, the arm on the ball valve can be adjusted to adjust the water level.

I am a little surprised if hubby has replaced the metal arm without the whole valve ( which contains the sealing part ).

I expect he changed the whole metal part of the valve.

The solution ( again ) is to bend the metal shaft so the valve closes at a lower water level.

Tony

G8ABQ

astraea · 21 Aug 2006

apparently when the ball is held up it doesnt stop the water???
does this mean it is something completely different?

he said it doesnt look like it is coming from the small tank as that water doesnt move??

also any tips for the bathroom sink??

Agile · 21 Aug 2006

The main solution is to change the WHOLE valve in the big tank!

If holding it up does not stop the flow then the internal parts are broken.

They cost less than a recipe meal!

Its not worth fiddling with just change it.

Tony

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OVERFLOW driving us insane!!!

Bamber gaspipe

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