Cannot find internal stopcock: plumber?

dgerrard

Hi All,
Moved into our house back in September.  On our move-in checklist one of the first things we did was locate what we THOUGHT was the master stopcock.  There were two under the sink, figured it must be one of them.
Anyway:  tried turning them both off this weekend, and one controls the secondary tap on the main kitchen sink, and the other doesn't seem to control anything.
We've searched the whole house and can't find the master stopcock.  Contacted the previous owner, he said he'd only ever turned off from the street (turning off the water for all four houses on the row).  Spoke to the neighbours, and they've all said the same, said they don't know where their internal stopcock is (if one exists at all).
I don't have the necessary tools to do the outside master valve and don't really want to rely on it.
Would a plumber be likely to be able to find the master internal stopcock, by following the pipes or anything?
Is it possible that our house just doesn't have an internal stopcock?
Thank you!

roddydogs

Possible, but very unlikely. If not get one fitted. Turning off 4 houses, bet that goes down well.!

Andy_L

The 2nd one could for an outside tap. Or it could be the actual stopcock but is knackered.

Is the kitchen at the back or front of the house? I had a house with a rear kitchen and the main stopcock was under a small hatch in the front room where the pipe entered the house rather than under the kitchen sink

vw100

There could be a stop !!!!!! buried in a wall/plastered over, one of houses I lived in had that and only stumbled upon it during some works.  Get one fitted if you cant find one.

ka7e

In our last house (Victorian), the stopcock was hidden behind a hinged panel built into the front door frame. In the current house it was in the corner of the kitchen, at floor level hidden under fitted units. We had it moved as part of kitchen re-fit and it's now in an adjacent shower room.

Jackmydad

As above. If there isn't one there, get one fitted.
Meanwhile get hold of whatever tool is needed to turn the "master" off in an emergency.

FreeBear

Jackmydad said: As above. If there isn't one there, get one fitted.
Meanwhile get hold of whatever tool is needed to turn the "master" off in an emergency.

Don't have an internal stopcock here, and I don't think most of the houses along the road do. As for a key - Your local water company should be able to provide one for free if you ask.

Jackmydad

FreeBear said:

Jackmydad said: As above. If there isn't one there, get one fitted.
Meanwhile get hold of whatever tool is needed to turn the "master" off in an emergency.

Don't have an internal stopcock here, and I don't think most of the houses along the road do. As for a key - Your local water company should be able to provide one for free if you ask.

Fair enough, if your external stop doesn't turn off half the street!
Sounds to me as if the OP needs some way of turning off that's not going to give the neighbours a problem.
These things aren't needed until there's a leak or a need to turn the water off for mods or repairs to the plumbing.
As you say the water company is the place to ask for a key. 

[Deleted User]

This might not help at all but just in case.  I couldn't find my stop !!!!!!, neighbours had no idea either.  Then a repair person came round who knew these buildings and he said it was in the meter cupboard.  There it was, hidden in a corner behind (line of sight wise) the gas meter.  Odd place to have it, awkward place to have it (means I can't have a water meter fitted due to lack of space) but at least I know where it is.  If it isn't behind your kitchen cupboards (I took the back off all my cupboard on the hunt lol), try looking where other services are and check there, just in case. It wasn't easy to find even when I was told.

bris

If you have a small down stairs cloakroon check it's not boxed in behind the sink or pan. 

Another place I found one was in the kitchen but closed in behind units in the far corner.

Unfortunately some people don't think when boxing them in.

Owain_Moneysaver

You can buy the crutch keys from Screwfix etc
https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-universal-stopcock-key-36/71652