How to cap off isolating valves

[leevis]

Hi
Turning my old kitchen into an office at the moment and want to future proof it as much as possible. I have a few feeds for washing machine/dishwasher and taps etc, all of which have an isolating valve before them.

These are all turned off so no water is coming out but the plan at the moment is to stud (carefully) over these so i was wondering what the best method is for making sure no water comes out of the end.

Should i put a short piece of pipe with a cap end on for belt and braces?

 

[johnny2007]

Close the water, remove the valve and solder a cap on the pipe.
If the pipes are plastic, just close the valves and never open them again.
They only go wrong when opened and closed after a few years.
However, if you can, remove as much of the pipes as possible, that given that you don't intend to re-convert the room at one point.

 

[Madrab]

If it's never to be used again, as far as you are concerned. Cut and cap back at the branch from the distribution pipe. Dead legs cause all sorts of whimsical problems with water supplies and can be a breeding ground for bacteria.

 

[leevis]

Sounds like the best method would be to remove as much as possible i totally agree.

In my kitchen there is an internal stop valve in the kitchen on the wall (not under the sink) I do recall trying to turn this once before and couldn't.

I will have another look at this over the weekend and see if i can close it, do i need to do anything other than turn off, cut/cap and then turn on again? Should i turn the boiler off first (combi) and will i need to bleed radiators again?

What i really would like to do would be to change this stop valve and put on something a little easier to turn but i guess that i would have to turn this off outside first.

The reason the stop valve is on the wall is because there was a wall mounted boiler there before which was removed and now have the combi upstairs.

Just thinking about it though, im really not too sure if this is stop valve, only way to check i guess would be to turn it and see what happens. These are clockwise to close (stop the water) and counter clockwise to open (start the water again) i think.

 

[Madrab]

Nope no impact to the boiler, just don't run the hot water for the duration that the mains tap is off. Turning off the mains water has no interaction with the radiators.

 

[leevis]

OK i remove all of the floor tiles and wall tiles to expose everything

Was looking at the pipework and i can see a feed from the floor to the ceiling which tees off to feed the cold taps, when i turn the valve this stops the cold water to the house. Hot water however, i have no idea where this one is. Due to this i think i will just cap off the isolators and then stud around them providing access to the tap through a hatch.

I do have an issue with damp though, there are quite a few black bits (a lot) which seem to be under where the sink and all of the white goods under there (ie the sink, the dishwasher and the washing machine). Also where the pipe work goes from the floor to the cieling, i am guessing that this is because of the heat from the appliances etc.

Not too sure how i can get around this one, i am planning on studding out the wall, insulating with 70mm celotex and then plasterboard/plaster on top of this. I would like to work out how to get rid of the black stuff though (assuming it is appliance related).

Any ideas?

 

[johnny2007]

Make sure you have no leaks, insulate the pipes and then kill the mould with a mould killer.
Leave for 24 hours then decorate.
Wear a mask when scraping/sanding moulded walls.

 

[BlueLoo]

I can't figure out from your post whether these pipes are concealed (buried) or not.

There is only one way to do a job, properly.

I'd do as Madrab has told you. If they are concealed, you could leave them in the wall but leave both ends open with the connection from the distribution point capped.

I wouldn't be capping anything off and leaving it as a permanent dead leg, valved off or not.. That is a bad idea.

 

[leevis]

No they are not buried, they are all visible.

Regarding the cold i can remove this as i can stop the feed via the tap. On the hot site, i will have to look in the combi boiler cupboard to see if there is a hot isolator up there somewhere to enable me to remove this pipework i think.

Regarding insulating the pipes. These were not insulated at all, so i guess i just need to buy some insulating material to surround these, any recommendations?

 

[DP]

Was tempted to correct resident DIYer but then am mindful this thread too will run and run and poster asking for guidance will end up going for a long walk to clear his mind of useless information

 

[BlueLoo]

Was tempted to correct resident DIYer but then am mindful this thread too will run and run and poster asking for guidance will end up going for a long walk to clear his mind of useless information

Please, feel free to correct.

 

[Madrab]

i will have to look in the combi boiler cupboard to see if there is a hot isolator up there somewhere to enable me to remove this pipework i think.

You will have a cold feed supplying the combi boiler, turn that off, that will shut the hot water off.

 

[leevis]

I will have a look at the Combi Boiler pipe work and see if i can identify this, the pipe work though will still be there (to a point) as this is where the hot and cold feeds go out to the new extension. This part of the project is just to enable me to remove the pipe work that was under the sink.

 

[ianmcd]

Regarding the cold i can remove this as i can stop the feed via the tap. On the hot site, i will have to look in the combi boiler cupboard to see if there is a hot isolator

the hot wont have an isolator, the cold inlet will, this will also isolate the hot outlet