Water Supply

[joeluth]

Hi all,
I am on the ground floor of a house divided into three flats.

Need to turn off the water to replace the bath tap.

Can't find a stopcock in the house to turn off the water in the bathroom.
The only one i have found (under the kitchen sink)
cuts the water to the combi boiler.

I will most likely turn off the water from the main supply outside.

Without bugging my upstairs loft dwelling neighbor are there any tell tale signs that would indicate whether or not there is a cold water tank in the loft?

would i be causing any danger by shutting off the water outside for the duration of the job?

please advise!
thanks

 

[ChrisR]

Where does your hot come from?
Is the cold higher pressure?

 

[joeluth]

Hi Chris thanks for your swift reply.

The hot water comes from my combi boiler in the kitchen.

The combi boiler get it's cold water from a pipe that appears from the wall under the sink. this pipe does have a stop-cock on it.

if I turn the stop-cock it very quickly shuts of the water to the combi boiler and the kitchen taps.

however downstairs the water in the bathroom (cold) still runs, toilet still flushes ect..


I have noticed the pressure seems greater on the hot tap in the bath. (downstairs)

but it seems a little greater on the cold tap (upstairs)

any advise would be greatly appreciated!
thanks

 

[bengasman]

With London conversion projects, anything is possible. To find out if you have mains on all taps is simple.
Close the tap of with the palm of your hand and hold tight. Open the tap a bit, if you can fairly easily stop the water from coming out, it is tank fed

 

[joeluth]

Ah!

ok so the water pressure upstairs in the kitchen tap must be mains , it's very powerful!

the taps in the bath and sink in the bathroom must be tank fed because it is easy to stop the water coming out with my hand. that would also explain why the stopcock in the kitchen doesn't shut off the water in the bathroom.

so could someone please explain the best way to shut off the bathroom water source so i can change the bathroom tap?

do i have to invade my neighbors and start wedging things in the tank to "trick" the valve?
thanks!

 

[bengasman]

Probably not the reply you are looking for, but what you really should do is block the tankfeed and convert the whole lot to mains. Typical cheap “project-developer” cowboy job to leave the tank on with a combi and not stick a stopcock in

 

[joeluth]

thanks for your input on this : )

i see your point , it would be better that way,
but please bare with me as i have not attempted this before.
for now what is the best way to shut off that cold bath water?


also just out of interest, if i did convert the bathroom to mains,
would it create an imbalance in the hot and cold taps water pressure?
i want to exchange the two single taps for a mixer with a shower head.


thanks!

 

[bengasman]

for the moment you will have to shut the water off at the tank by the sound of it.
The imbalance is there right now and will disappear when you convert to mains. Combi hot water IS mains, just routed through boiler and flow squeezed.

 

[joeluth]

cheers for you help!

I figured that the boiler water is mains,
but the pressure on the hot tap in the bath seems so low,
i can stop it with my hand just like the cold.

that made me think if the cold was connected to the mains,
and was as powerful as the cold tap in the kitchen,
it would overpower the hot in the mixer tap?

but by the sounds of things the hot is more powerful at the moment,
am i gonna end up with a scalding hot shower unless i convert?!

 

[bengasman]

turn mains off. run hot water. if you can, cowboy connected combi to tank

 

[joeluth]

yeah the thought crossed my mind too!
but the combi is definitely connected to the mains.

I just put in a new mixer tap in the kitchen no probs.
I shut off the stop cock under the sink.

i need to find that water tank,.

thanks for your help!