Stopcock doesn't switch downstairs water off

[MattB83]

Is this a ridiculous question... We had a plumber out recently to change some upstairs taps and one of the things I asked was if she could switch the old stop cock to a quarter turn tap because it was leaking i.e. dripping from the tap, also it didn't seem to turn the water off completely, just slowed it to a trickle - however she couldn't switch the water supply to the house off and needed the water board to do it but instead tightened the tap which stopped the leaking. She returned to change the kitchen tap so must have managed to get the water off. However I've just had to replace the washing machine and tightening the stop cock didn't switch the downstairs water off. The upstairs water went off completely -took about 2 mins. But after 10 mins the downstairs water was still going strong, maybe slowed down slightly - does this sound like a broken tap still? Or am I being daft? Could it take longer to drain the system?

Edit - probably Important information: definitely sounds like water rushing through the pipe with the stop cock on it. Could plumber have tightened with a spanner to stop the water - the tap is as tight as I can get it by hand.

 

[muggles]

Did they use your outside stopcock in the road rather than the one in the house? I often use the external one when working as they tend to be more reliable and easier to get to.

 

[MattB83]

Did they use your outside stopcock in the road rather than the one in the house? I often use the external one when working as they tend to be more reliable and easier to get to.

Thank you. She definitely didn't as she showed me she couldn't get to the one outside as it had a lot of dirt in, said we'd need to contact the water board to switch off. However if it's just dirty I'm wondering if I could go and clean it myself and get one of those 1m stop cock keys.

 

[ETAF]

Are some of the cold water Taps feed from the cold water tank and not from the mains supply ?

I had to get the road turned off to change the mains tap into the house , and the plumber would not do it, He said if it breaks , he has to repair , so we called the water company out to turn off , and it did break, and they replaced the road tap. Not sure if what the plumber said was true

 

[Madrab]

Your plumber didn't clean the chamber out to get to the toby? Sometime it's not the best idea if you don't have the correct tool as needles and the like can be dropped into the chamber, location dependent. Why not call the provider to have the chamber cleaned out and the toby tested?

 

[MattB83]

Are some of the cold water Taps feed from the cold water tank and not from the mains supply ?

I had to get the road turned off to change the mains tap into the house , and the plumber would not do it, He said if it breaks , he has to repair , so we called the water company out to turn off , and it did break, and they replaced the road tap. Not sure if what the plumber said was true

I didn't think I had a tank but that might make sense - in that case of probably have to give it a considerable amount of time to empty?

I've contacted the water company to see what they suggest.

Thanks.

 

[MattB83]

Your plumber didn't clean the chamber out to get to the toby? Sometime it's not the best idea if you don't have the correct tool as needles and the like can be dropped into the chamber, location dependent. Why not call the provider to have the chamber cleaned out and the toby tested?

Thanks, I've messaged them and will see what happens. The urgency is our electric shower has broken and I wanted an electrician I know to replace (as I think also faulty cord) so I was trying to avoid having to call out plumber AND electrician.

 

[ETAF]

doesnt the shower have an isolating valve , i would have thought you could turn the water off to the shower only, same as isolators on each tap, depends on how old the installation is , but not sure myself on regs , but good practice would be to add isolators when new plumbing installed.
The shower is electric and not a powershower off a tank? If electric, then should be feed from mains supply