Damsel in Distress - Ground Floor Flat, Stopcock Won't Turn!

iquit

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could advise me. I have leaking and dripping tap in kitchen sink. I want to change washers etc but can not for love or money turn the stopcock off. So far have spent over half an hour trying. Is there anything that would help, WD40 maybe? I really would rather not have to call out a plumber just to have them charge me (money I don't have) for merely turning a tap . Thank you.

fatpiggy

Ha - I know the feeling. Get some lubricant on it certainly (I used olive oil last night at nearly midnight!!). Is it a wheel or a simple tap? Mine is the latter and a friend said to apply a ring spanner to it for the extra leverage - job done!

iquit

fatpiggy wrote: »

Ha - I know the feeling. Get some lubricant on it certainly (I used olive oil last night at nearly midnight!!). Is it a wheel or a simple tap? Mine is the latter and a friend said to apply a ring spanner to it for the extra leverage - job done!

Thank you, thank you, it's a simple tap - I will apply olive oil, leave for a bit and try to turn again later.

Biggles

Do you have a water meter? There is a tap in the meter pit that is usually much easier to turn than the old brass stopcock.

phill99

Alao try turning the stopcock 'on' by a little bit and then turn it back to turn it off. This often frees it up.

capeverde

Which way are you turning it??

greyteam1959

My advice......be very careful what you are doing cos if you snap it off you are in the !!!!!!....
Be better turning the water off in the street or next to the meter.....then if it goes pear shaped it might not be your problem.

s_b

i had this problem last month and i cannot find the tap in the lane where i live
my stop tap is also on old lead where it comes into the house and this tap has gone very tight
my remedy was to oil it with 3 in 1 and then put a pair of mole grips on the tap so the ends were pointing towards me and carefully opened it a little bit more as already suggested, oil it some more, then carefully shut it off and keep working it as you shut both on and off to get the thread working
this did the job
i really need to fit another stop tap in front of this one though so i can redundanise this one

iquit

Biggles wrote: »

Do you have a water meter? There is a tap in the meter pit that is usually much easier to turn than the old brass stopcock.

No I don't have a meter - am in a flat.

iquit

phill99 wrote: »

Alao try turning the stopcock 'on' by a little bit and then turn it back to turn it off. This often frees it up.

Tried that, it won't budge.

iquit

capeverde wrote: »

Which way are you turning it??

Clockwise, have tried anti-clockwise in an attempt to jiggle it free.