stopcock found after 30 years!

[Simon Hunt]

My mum has just had a new boiler fitted and we found the stopcock sticking out the plaster behind the old boiler. I have been looking for it for ages so it was quite nice to finally find it. Do you think it is safe to try and turn it after putting some wd40 on it and leaving it for a while?

 

[Harvest Fields]

Any pictures of it mate?

 

[Simon Hunt]

Any pictures of it mate?

 

[Simon Hunt]

Picutre

 

[Harvest Fields]

Does it feel like it will turn? I probably wouldn’t to be fair though.

 

[JCplumb]

If it was in my house I'd try it but only if I had a free afternoon and there was a local merchant open or I already had all the parts I might need.
In a customers house I wouldn't touch it unless I was there specifically to fix it.
The only reason I'd touch it in my house is I know how to fix it if it leaks/breaks/falls off/explodes/opens a wormhole to hell and looking at that pic I'd say at least one of those things is likely.

 

[Riley]

Yep also familiarise yourself with the boundary stopcock it could be a lifesaver

 

[Harvest Fields]

And make sure you have the right tool to turn the one off in the street.

 

[Old Account]

Not always one at the street :/

 

[Harvest Fields]

Not always one at the street :/

Water board have probably just tarmac over it mate.

 

[Riley]

Not always one at the street :/

Even more reason than to not play with the internal one until you know how to shut it off

 

[Simon Hunt]

I dunno what they were thinking plastering it behind the boiler like that. Cowboys who built the extension.

 

[Harvest Fields]

You 100% there is not another one in the downstairs loo or by the sink somewhere in the kitchen?

 

[Simon Hunt]

You 100% there is not another one in the downstairs loo or by the sink somewhere in the kitchen?

Nah just the one in the road I use. It is a pain in the bum cause when I changed the ball valve in the loft I had to go all the way out to the road from the loft to turn the water off.

 

[johnduffell]

Our outdoor one was down a hole and didn't shut the water off significantly, got the water board to fit a meter for free which comes with a shut off. No idea how they fitted it without getting soaked though.
In your case op i would just replace that one and replumb it outside of the wall too for that matter! No point leaving something like that in place as you wouldn't use it anyway.

 

[Allgoode]

As JC says, if you want to move/free it up.

But close of street iso & drain down system as far as poss & get a wet vac/plenty of towels ready - but not your missus's nice fluffy one's of you will be right in the sh.t

 

[Dannyk]

In my road all company stopcocks, unless metered, are in the front gardens and not easy to find.

One house badly flooded when owner away and keyholder had problems finding cock in house.

Perhaps a notice just inside front door as to where to find cock would be helpful.

 

[gmartine]

^^Yes yes...there is an all female plumbing firm called "stopcocks" why not give them a call to see if they like handling a stuck cock.

http://stopcocks.uk/

 

[Riley]

^^Yes yes...there is an all female plumbing firm called "stopcocks" why not give them a call to see if they like handling a stuck cock.

http://stopcocks.uk/

I couldn’t care less and good luck to them but I can’t help feeling if a bloke set up a company called noflangeplumbers or something there’d be uproar

 

[BYP]

I wouldn’t be fiddling with that tap unless I knew where the main stopcock was located and I knew I had the kit on me to repair if needs be.

 

[Robert Bell]

Turn off in the street and replace. Preferably in a position more useful than that.

 

[NickH]

They didn't!
I had them out to change a broken stopcock and they dug the hole, cut the main live with a petrol saw and then fitted the new stopcock. And yes, the fella got soaked.
It was quite funny because we were working on a ground floor maisonette and shutting of the stopcock turned the upstairs off as well. We warned the (big and burly) bloke upstairs who was ok ish about it as long as we were quick because , and I quote, " I've got me bird coming round soon and I need a shower and a s**t before she gets here"
So when the stopcock wouldn't turn back on he wasn't very happy. I sent the lad up to tell him.
Water board were out in a couple of hours though.