An accredited plumber can use freezing and clamping as a short-term solution. This process creates an ice plug that lasts for around 30 minutes, allowing you to extend or repair pipework without draining the whole system.

I think your Builder is right not to cover a stop tap, if you or others need this in an emergency it has to be visible. Here you'll find a range of surface box covers at Drainage Superstore, from popular and leading brands including Clark Drain, Wrekin and EJ, all at our famously competitive prices.In an emergency, your local water company guarantee to come out within 24 hours. However, this is more than long enough for a leak within your property to create some serious damage. Working/delivery days are Monday to Friday, deliveries will not normally be made Saturday or Sunday. Depending on your system, you may have one or three stop taps in your home. If you have a high-pressure system – usually found in homes with combi-boilers or a mega-flow hot water tank, there will be one single stop tap that turns off water from the mains. At the end of your road. This is common if your house is old and you share a supply with your neighbours. The external valve controls the flow from the water main that serves your street to the supply pipe into your house.

It may take a few turns to stop the water. You'll usually get to a point where you can’t turn it anymore. You shouldn’t need to use excessive force to turn it further. We all have a list of things to do around the home that we may or may not get round to. Filing paperwork, sorting out the linen cupboard and in all likelihood, testing your stop tap is on that list too. The problem is, while not being able to find a record of your accounts or your towels being in a mess might be annoying, failing to test your stop tap can be disastrous. Install a permanent isolation valve called an Aladdin valve. This can be installed on hot water or cold water pipes in around 5 minutes and can be done without turning off your water.Our builder isn't sure this is permitted as you're not allowed to cover with paving even though it will have an access key, but Thames Water say that provided it's accessible then it's fine (although they won't put this in writing). Anyone got any experience of this? If you’ve got a plumbing problem, you can find a Which? Trusted Traders endorsed plumber in your area. How many stop taps in your home? It may also take a few minutes for the water to stop running from your taps, as there will be some water left in the pipes from before you turned the water off. To protect your home, you should always have a working inside stop valve.Use this as the main way to turn your water on and off. Important: if your home is on a shared water supply, turning the water off will also turn your neighbour’s off. Let them know before you start work. How to turn your water on using the outside stop valve

Without isolation valves or a working stop tap, your plumber may need to drain the entire system before making any repairs. This takes time and, as plumbers often charge by the hour, often means higher charges. On the plus side, once your system is drained, it’s a great opportunity to install new isolation valves or a new stop tap. A gravity or low-pressure system, when there is a tank in the loft that supplies the toilets and basins, will have the mains stop tap that supplies water to the kitchen sink, plus a stop tap coming out of the tank for the hot-water flow and for the cold-water flow too. You'll usually get to a point where you can’t turn it anymore. You shouldn’t use force to turn it further. If a stop tap has seized up, it’s probably scaled up and full of debris, rather than rusty. Plumbing parts are made of non-ferrous metals, such as brass or copper, so they corrode and scale up rather than rust. Just a tip, before winter make sure your inside and outside Stop tap isolates, remember what goes through the meter you pay for.These covers are designed to protect meter boxes and other surface boxes from damage, whether the damage is caused by weather conditions, general wear and tear, or vandalism. Use thes surface meter box covers over meter boxes, fire hydrants and much more.