Mains water supply problems please help!!!

[Triginho]

hello, this is my first visit to this site so please bear with me...

last night, my water supply burst - i managed to turn off the stop cock to stop the leak, but after consulting with my insurance company and a plmber they sent - it sounds like (so they say) that the whol steel pipe and stop cock needs replacing!! the plumber that visited said to do this, some specialist company would need to drill a hole at the front and back of the house and bore under the house to put a new pipe and stop cock in.

this sounds a bit overkill to me as surley the steel pipe (from underground) would not be manufactured with the stop cock attached???

any advice about replacing stop cocks/prices/recommendations would be much appreciated.

 

[stem]

I am assuming the leak is between the stop tap in the street and the one inside your home and inside your property boundary.

Some water utility companies may repair this others won't and take the stance that the underground water supply pipe from the stop tap in the street onwards is the householders responsiblity. Hence the insurance companies offering cover for this eventuality.

If the pipe is old and corroded and needs replacing along it's entire length, this can be done by digging up the pipe, along with anything above, concrete, paving, driveway, trees, house foundation etc., Or by using the method you describe which can often be a much lower cost as it is less disruptive.

the price will be dependant on the work involved and the length of the pipe. Check your insurance policy you may be covered.

 

[Triginho]

no, the leak is above the stop tap in my living room!! but i've since found another mains supply with another stop tap which was feed ing everything in the house except the cold tap in the kitchen... which the other supply was feeding all on its own!!! weird!! but its an old house with a strange set up. so may not be as bad as first thought - i think we (a plumber) is gonna attach the working mains supply to the pipe that leads to the kitchen cold tap and cap off the other mains supply to stop the leak...

hopefully shoud be a hell of a lot cheaper than digging holes and what not!!
thanks for reply though!!

 

[stem]

the plumber that visited said to do this, some specialist company would need to drill a hole at the front and back of the house and bore under the house to put a new pipe and stop cock in.

That's the bit that made me think the leak was underground.

I've since found another mains supply with another stop tap which was feed ing everything in the house except the cold tap in the kitchen... which the other supply was feeding all on its own!!! weird!! .

Not unusual though. I've come across this sort of thing quite often. I imagine that when old houses are modified, sometimes a separate supply that was originally intended for an outide WC is still in use somewhere.