Leaking stopcock - home purchased yesterday, where do we stand?

NameUnavailable

martindow said:

Turning the water off in the street is not necessarily straightforward without the tool that a plumber has.  They can be deep and difficult to turn by hand if they have not been used for a while.

When I was changing my kitchen the plumber couldn't get turn the stopcock off as it had siezed and he couldn't turn the water off at the mains as the tap there was siezed too! He had to freeze the pipes and fit a new stopcock quickly! As said before it's a good idea to exercise these things once in a while.

blue_max_3

Honestly, it's a common problem. Exercise them and they leak. Leave them and they seize. Not a bad idea to change them if they are very old and seized as you might need to rely on it in an emergency.

Jeepers_Creepers

MBJUK, does it look like the one in Adrian's link - a brass fellow like this? https://www.screwfix.com/p/poly-stop-!!!!!!-25mm-x-22mm/97324

If so, can you wipe it down with a cloth to dry it, and then watch where the water comes out? Is it from around the spindle that goes to the handle? Or is it from one of the large nuts at either end?

For 'large', this will almost certainly be sorted with a 'tweak' of an adjustable wrench - literally less than a quarter-inch turn of the nut clockwise. Support the tap body firmly with your other hand or with another wrench.

If from the smaller nut at the top - the gland nut - again as said in previous posts, almost always a tiny tweak of this will be enough. Worst case here is that you first need to undo that nut and repack the gland material underneath - with the tap turned off, no water will come out.

Or, call a plumber - almost certainly no more than a call-out charge. Tell them when you call that it's a drip from the end nut/gland of the main stoptap so he doesn't spend a half-hour sucking through his teeth after he arrives (me cynical?). 

Once it's sorted and the tap has been fully opened (many turns...), then close it a good full turn - it'll be less likely to seize that way. 

HCIMbtw

roddydogs said:

5mins? Err it'll take that just to turn off the water from the meter

if its the gland nut you dont need to turn off any water

AdrianC

martindow said:

Turning the water off in the street is not necessarily straightforward without the tool that a plumber has.  They can be deep and difficult to turn by hand if they have not been used for a while.

One of these...?
For £8, every home should have one!
https://www.screwfix.com/p/monument-tools-stopcock-key-222mm/17971

roddydogs

The water meters have an easily turned off tap, at least mine has. No tool needed.

SharkMoney

MBJUK said:

We did so and it was all fine, though we noticed a little bit of dampness around the stopcock when we turned it back off. We asked the estate agent who told us it will be condensation. Satisfied enough we proceeded to purchase and completed yesterday.

This sentence. So you knew there was a leak before you completed and you decided to take advice from the estate agent rather than asking a qualified tradesman?

Flugelhorn

roddydogs said:

The water meters have an easily turned off tap, at least mine has. No tool needed.

our water meter is down a long hole much further than I can reach , need to some long tool  - water company put new meter in owing to leak but forgot to switch it on again, we arrived home at midnight.... oh well easy just for the on call chap at 0200

John_the_Boy

Get a long stopcock key....I got this one and it does the job well https://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-universal-stopcock-key-36/71652

DCFC79

Hope the OP comes back to say hes got it sorted.