pipe freezing to move stop-!!!!

mogwai10

Hello, our stop-!!!! is in an inconvenient place (long story) and also is a bit leaky so our builder wants to move it. Our Toby unfortunately was tarmac'd over by our Council and Scottish water say it will take 28 days to uncover it as it is non urgent. The man they sent out said that it was possible to move stop-cocks 'live' so to speak and to freeze the pipes to allow this to happen without turning the water off at the mains.

Has anyone done this using a kit you can buy? Is it safe to do? Does it work?

Thanks for your advice.

muckybutt

There are a number of different pipe freezing kits available from small can based ones to ones that use electricity.

What size is the incoming pipe and what is it made from ?

Off the shelf ones can be bought from Plumb centres, the larger more heavy duty ones can be hired from HSS.

gasmanmartin

Don't do it!

Say something goes wrong - how are you going to turn the water off?

I would only recommend pipe freezing for something on a low pressure heating system

27col

What exactly is a Toby?

keystone

Water providers street stop c o c k.

Cheers

keystone

mogwai10 wrote: »

Hello, our stop-!!!! is in an inconvenient place (long story) and also is a bit leaky so our builder wants to move it. Our Toby unfortunately was tarmac'd over by our Council and Scottish water say it will take 28 days to uncover it as it is non urgent. The man they sent out said that it was possible to move stop-cocks 'live' so to speak and to freeze the pipes to allow this to happen without turning the water off at the mains.

Has anyone done this using a kit you can buy? Is it safe to do? Does it work?

Thanks for your advice.

If your builder wants to do it let him - at his risk.

Can't you wait the 28 days? Have you asked them to reconsider the waiting time?

If you are considering freezing the main yourself for heavens sake banish the thought to the outer darkness immediately. Its utterly barmy to attempt to freeze the main. BTW I wouldn't trust the DIY shed kits even on a low pressure internal pipe.

If you want a stop c o c k in a "more convenient" location then fit another one downstream of the present one and use a full bore lever arm valve.

Cheers

Hintza

For some strange reason I have been thinking about this thread overnight. Unless you have a problem why do you need to turn off the water before the house?

If it was me I would inform the Council and Scottish Water and just keep on their case until they sort it out. Unless of course you are responsibe for the pipe at that point.

We had to replace 600 yards of old asbestos pipe which feeds 3 houses plus a spur to another up the hill (virtually an order from Scottish Water to stop the leaks, think they might have taken usto court if we had refused). The mistake we made was not popping in a nonreturn valve which means if w have a problem then we have over 100 feet of water to drain from the far up the hill.

On our property I laid 100 yards of pipe and I have popped tobys in to isolate all sections just in case we have a problem in one section.

mogwai10

Hello, thanks for all your comments.

It seem the general consensus is that it is a bad idea. I myself am in no rush. I had never heard of the technique and in general err on the side of caution, so given that we have no way of turning the water off if the freezing technique goes wrong, I think we have to wait. My builders are reluctant to try it due to the pressure off the mains and I can understand why.

Cheers.

Canucklehead

Hi,

I have used Arctic spray more than once and had no problems.

Out of interest what is the pipe made of?


GSR.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi,

I have used Arctic spray more than once and had no problems.

Out of interest what is the pipe made of?


GSR.

On tiny piece of a straight mains pipe? Which is more than likely what you are going to have to freeze for this job.

Braver man than me.

Canucklehead

Hi

No mention of how much pipe was available to work on.
I did notice it is a bit leaky . Water needs to be still for an effective freeze.

If you are prepared for a problem then it's not too much of a challenge.
For example:

If it's 15mm copper have a speedfit cap to put on if it lets go.

Experience rather than bravery perhaps.

For the professional there is this option.

GSR