OH fixed kitchen tap washer - now low pressure!

mountainviews

Hope someone can help,
my husband fitted a new tap washer to our kitchen mixer tap a couple of weeks ago because it dripped, now the water pressure in the tap (cold direct fed) is about half the pressure it is in the rest of the house, the bathroom sink and the shower work perfectly and so does the washing machine that is fed off the same pipe as the tap, we live in a single storey cottage so the pressure to all the taps is on the same level, what on earth has he done???????? I have tried to kindly say that he should take the washer off and start again but he insist it is not his handy work, and it must be the water boards fault, he is usually quite good at diy!:o

djheath

Has he opened the main the stop c-ock fully?

Alfrescodave

I'm with you OP, I would be having a look at the washer just to check that it is in correctly. It seems strange that all the other cold water outlets are OK for pressure but not the one thats had recent work on it.

Ask him again when he's in a good mood and offer him an incentive...choccy biccy/ can of beer / ??

mountainviews

Yes the main stopcock is fully opened, I checked myself,

could putting the washer in wrong affect the flow?

any plumbers out there?

evoke

The washer might have slipped and be partially blocking the water flow. I'd also check any filters you have on your tap. Take a look at the end of the spout and you sometimes see a nut that you may be able to undo by hand or you might need a wrench to gently undo it. This often holds the spout filter and it may be full of rubbish.

mountainviews

I think it is going to have to be check the washer, the filter at the end of the tap is ok as I have taken it off, and it still runs slow, I think he must have put the washer on incorrectly, or maybe tightened it too much? he always overtightens everything! I will have to try and find a way of making it his idea to check it and then he wont go mad !

sillygoose

Has the tap not got an isolating valve before it in the pipe?

often the sort you turn on/off with a small screwdriver...

If so perhaps he hasn't turned that back on properly, you can tweak it while the tap is running to see where the flow is best, it only has to be a few degrees the wrong way to be reducing the pressure.

Alfrescodave

Another possibility could be that he put the wrong washer in ???? Best of luck if you decide to suggest that to him.

mountainviews

thanks for the replies, there is no isolating valve, our system is quite old so there is only the stopcock in a cupboard as the mains enters the house, I have checked that and it is full on, what I cant understand is that the kitchen tap in question is the first stop, as it were, and the bathroom tap which is next in the line is fine. I have said to OH that I think the new washer I bought and he fitted may be faulty with a crack in it or something and would he please have a look and fit another new one I bought this week, (thus not saying I think it was his fault) he has agreed but when he will do it I dont know! the washer size should be ok as he checked it with the old one when fitting, and the ironmongers where I bought it was told it was for a mixer kitchen tap, I will post when he has tried the new washer!

DVardysShadow

mountainviews wrote: »

thanks for the replies, there is no isolating valve, our system is quite old so there is only the stopcock in a cupboard as the mains enters the house, I have checked that and it is full on, what I cant understand is that the kitchen tap in question is the first stop, as it were, and the bathroom tap which is next in the line is fine. I have said to OH that I think the new washer I bought and he fitted may be faulty with a crack in it or something and would he please have a look and fit another new one I bought this week, (thus not saying I think it was his fault) he has agreed but when he will do it I dont know! the washer size should be ok as he checked it with the old one when fitting, and the ironmongers where I bought it was told it was for a mixer kitchen tap, I will post when he has tried the new washer!

You are asking for trouble buying the part and then getting him to take responsibility for it. As the hardest bit is actually buying the parts, may I suggest that you do the plumbing from now on?