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Hi there, firstly I should say that I am not a plumber however we have a plumbing problem that seems to be tricky to solve and the two plumbers that have come to investigate have completely different views on how it should be resolved! So I was just wondering if anyone on the forum has experienced this problem before.

We live in a three-storey townhouse. It is a new build home but outside the warranty for plumbing type defects. We have a downstairs cloakroom toilet that suddenly stopped being supplied with cold water. It was almost like a valve had been closed (very sudden). The cold water is mains supplied therefore the lack of water isn't caused by an airlock.

The first plumber (after doing lots of investigation) seems to think that there must be a blockage somewhere and his next step is to start creating openings in the walls to try and work out where the blockage is. As you can imagine this is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack and has the potential to cause a lot of damage to walls, floorboards, etc.

The second plumber came in and was unconvinced that it was a blockage due to the supply being at mains pressure. His view was to try and minimize damage by "re-routing" the mains supply from the bathroom above and forget about trying to locate any potential blockage. He also seemed to suggest the issue might be related to megaflo cylinder we have.

The two views are pretty different therefore we are not quite sure who to go with. Has anyone experienced anything like this or has any thoughts on things the plumbers might not have considered?

Thanks

 
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Hi there, firstly I should say that I am not a plumber however we have a plumbing problem that seems to be tricky to solve and the two plumbers that have come to investigate have completely different views on how it should be resolved! So I was just wondering if anyone on the forum has experienced this problem before.

We live in a three-storey townhouse. It is a new build home but outside the warranty for plumbing type defects. We have a downstairs cloakroom toilet that suddenly stopped being supplied with cold water. It was almost like a valve had been closed (very sudden). The cold water is mains supplied therefore the lack of water isn't caused by an airlock.

The first plumber (after doing lots of investigation) seems to think that there must be a blockage somewhere and his next step is to start creating openings in the walls to try and work out where the blockage is. As you can imagine this is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack and has the potential to cause a lot of damage to walls, floorboards, etc.

The second plumber came in and was unconvinced that it was a blockage due to the supply being at mains pressure. His view was to try and minimize damage by "re-routing" the mains supply from the bathroom above and forget about trying to locate any potential blockage. He also seemed to suggest the issue might be related to megaflo cylinder we have.

The two views are pretty different therefore we are not quite sure who to go with. Has anyone experienced anything like this or has any thoughts on things the plumbers might not have considered?

Thanks
The 1st thing is the mains water supply this is usually not a supply that stops, it’s usually independent of other stuff due to water regs . Not seen many blockages in mains water supply to be honest it’s at 3 bar plus . I wonder if the downstairs bog is tank fed. Has the plumber fella dis connected the supply to the bog and then turned mains supply back on to see if it whizzes out of a open pipe ? See who else posts but keep us informed we like nutty problems
 
As above,
Where is the Megaflo located ? did your plumbers tell you where the water was fed from to the W.C. i.e. is it straight off the incoming mains supply or is it fed from after the composite valve set on the Megaflo (balanced cold) ?
I would guess that Megaflo upstairs & cloakroom colds are off the rising mains.
Is the cold to the basin still working cos if it is the blockage is local either way.
Have you got a water softener installed or any work been done on the water mains outside in the street?
 
Thanks for your replies. It’s definitely a bit of a head scratcher!

The megaflo is on the top floor. We’ve been told that the mains supply comes in through the kitchen then up to where the megaflo is located where the cold water then goes down to supply a family bathroom, en-suite and finally the cloakroom on the ground floor (so it’s last in the line) and as you say off the rising mains. There isn’t any cold water to the basin. And the toilet isn’t fed from a tank either.

We don’t have a softener installed and although in a hard water area, water hardness isn’t too bad.

I don’t think there has been any work done to the mains - when the problem first occurred we asked the neighbours and they don’t have any problem with their supply.

We didn’t experience a loss of pressure before we had no water. My husband went to use the toilet one day and after flushing it never refilled.
 
The megaflo is on the top floor. We’ve been told that the mains supply comes in through the kitchen then up to where the megaflo is located where the cold water then goes down to supply a family bathroom, en-suite and finally the cloakroom on the ground floor (so it’s last in the line) and as you say off the rising mains. There isn’t any cold water to the basin. And the toilet isn’t fed from a tank either.
Hi Brenda, so you are sure that it is down fed from the other fitting above & not from the mains (rising) going up to the Megaflo?
The cloakroom doesn't have a hand wash basin, just a W.C?
Sorry for all the questions but we need a clear understanding of what you have & what has been done.
Can you confirm that the cold inlet pipe to the W.C. cistern has been disconnected and the the water turned back on, if so was this before of after the isolation valve to the it.
Thanks
 
Hi Brenda, so you are sure that it is down fed from the other fitting above & not from the mains (rising) going up to the Megaflo?
The cloakroom doesn't have a hand wash basin, just a W.C?
Sorry for all the questions but we need a clear understanding of what you have & what has been done.
Can you confirm that the cold inlet pipe to the W.C. cistern has been disconnected and the the water turned back on, if so was this before of after the isolation valve to the it.
Thanks

Hi Chris, no worries about the questions, sorry if I’m not using the right terminology. I’m trying to post info based on the limited information the plumbers gave me.

I am pretty sure that is fed down from the fitting above, that was the information provided by the contractors who did the plumbing to the house. In the airing cupboard where the megaflo is there are lots of pipes with isolation valves to the cold water supplying each of the bathrooms. I can double check this though.

The cloakroom has a toilet and a hand basin with mixer tap.

I don’t believe the cold water supply to the toilet has been disconnected. Is this something to try? Thanks for replying.
 
However the supply gets to the cloakroom they would have not had two separate supplies so if you move the mixer tap to the cold only position (or better still turn the hot off on a valve) & cold water comes still comes out the blockage is a local one.
Again why would someone not disconnect the water supply to the W.C. cistern to see if it was flowing to that point.
Chances are it is a problem close to or on the W.C. & not in the pipes in the walls etc.
Always start with the basics.
 
However the supply gets to the cloakroom they would have not had two separate supplies so if you move the mixer tap to the cold only position (or better still turn the hot off on a valve) & cold water comes still comes out the blockage is a local one.
Again why would someone not disconnect the water supply to the W.C. cistern to see if it was flowing to that point.
Chances are it is a problem close to or on the W.C. & not in the pipes in the walls etc.
Always start with the basics.

Ok thanks for the info. Water is definitely not coming out of the cold side of the mixer.

As to why they have disconnected the W.C. - not sure. I’ve had two plumbers in and neither checked that. Hence why I came on this forum to get some more opinions as the fixes they’ve suggested seem a bit drastic :)
 
However the supply gets to the cloakroom they would have not had two separate supplies so if you move the mixer tap to the cold only position (or better still turn the hot off on a valve) & cold water comes still comes out the blockage is a local one.
Again why would someone not disconnect the water supply to the W.C. cistern to see if it was flowing to that point.
Chances are it is a problem close to or on the W.C. & not in the pipes in the walls etc.
Always start with the basics.
What I said was undo the connection to the bog and see if any water comes out the supply or the bog we will get there in the end its not a problem just a challenge
 
Ok thanks for the info. Water is definitely not coming out of the cold side of the mixer.
If no cold to tap then it is most likely to be the supply pipe & its route will need to be traced.
If the other end can be found as you think in the bath room above then it should be disconnected to see if water is getting to that point before re-runing or destroying the walls.
Has anyone tried linking the hot & cold at the cloakroom basin to see if water comes out of the BOG as Rob calls it. That way you would know approx location of blockage.
 
If no cold to tap then it is most likely to be the supply pipe & its route will need to be traced.
If the other end can be found as you think in the bath room above then it should be disconnected to see if water is getting to that point before re-runing or destroying the walls.
Has anyone tried linking the hot & cold at the cloakroom basin to see if water comes out of the BOG as Rob calls it. That way you would know approx location of blockage.
the other way of lookin at this is WHAT has got stuck in pipe - just cannot see this unless its something from a tank that got past all the bends valves etc. No its air lock or maybe a bent pipe by a carpet fitter or workman or something dropped on a plastic pipe. or naughty plumber trying to make a trick out of the OP.
 
Has anyone tried linking the hot & cold at the cloakroom basin to see if water comes out of the BOG as Rob calls it. That way you would know approx location of blockage.

Yep, tried that and water did start to fill the toilet cistern. Not sure how it determines where the blockage is? I will try and go back to the contractors to try and get some more information from them on pipes and connections...
 
the other way of lookin at this is WHAT has got stuck in pipe - just cannot see this unless its something from a tank that got past all the bends valves etc. No its air lock or maybe a bent pipe by a carpet fitter or workman or something dropped on a plastic pipe. or naughty plumber trying to make a trick out of the OP.

Ah I don’t think I’m being played by the plumbers :-( Before I knew what sort of system it is, I thought it might have been an airlock so we looked into that. The plumbing has been diabolical here so it wouldn’t surprise me if it was poor workmanship... a bent pipe could be a possibility, but can’t explain why it happened so suddenly? The house is around 5 years old.
 
I dealt with a kitchen cold tap (cold side of mixer) which had suddenly lost 90% of its pressure. This was after Yorkshire water had been doing something in the road, water was fine in the bathroom, so I turned the water off and removed the old service valve to find a brass screw stuck in the valve, like what holds in a tap washer.

Good thing I looked there I was just about to start peppering the walls with holes...not. :D
 
I dealt with a kitchen cold tap (cold side of mixer) which had suddenly lost 90% of its pressure. This was after Yorkshire water had been doing something in the road, water was fine in the bathroom, so I turned the water off and removed the old service valve to find a brass screw stuck in the valve, like what holds in a tap washer.

Good thing I looked there I was just about to start peppering the walls with holes...not. :D
I changed a stopcock a few weeks ago, just a 15mm brass one. Customer couldnt turn it off, neither could I. I slung it in the van and later was sorting out my scrap, I happened to look at the old valve a little more closely and found it to be full of pea shingle! Yes the type they bed pipes on. Needless to say once cleaned out it worked fine.
 
Once found a bending spring inside a length of 15mm supplying a toilet. Customer said the toilet was very slow filling up. Spring had been in there for years and had got fat with rust.
 

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