Please make sure all adults in your house know where the stopcock is.

[EastWestWhosBest]

On Saturday evening I was in the kitchen when I heard water running upstairs.
I went into the hall to see water pouring down the walls coming from the bathroom above. The hot water pipe in the bathroom had burst.
We knew where the stopcock was but DH couldn’t turn it so there was much scrabbling to get a spanner to help turn it.
Thankfully we were able to turn the stop the water within a few minutes but there was still about half an inch of water on the floor.

It occurred to me that if we hadn’t have known where it was, or if I had been on my own and possibly unable to turn it, then it would have been a disaster.

So, this weekend then please check that everyone knows where the stopcock is and can turn it.

Well I live alone with 3 kids and have absolutely no idea what a stop cock even is! How would I find out

@ShinyGreenElephant it's usually on a main water pipe in the kitchen under the sink or kickboard it's like an outside tap thing but on the pipe ours is in a cupboard that is in the basement.

Ours is in the basement. They're called water shutoff valves here. DH tied a big white ribbon around it to make it more visible in an emergency.

@MissConductUS that's a very good idea!

My new build didn't have an accessible one, as I discovered when I moved in to no watee
They had built an access hatch from which you couldn't er, access it
The builders ended up taking a saw to my bathroom to widen the hatch was not impressed! It's now accessible...

There's also often other valves around. Eg there might be one on the boiler intake, or the hot water cylinder outlet if you have one. So if you can't find or close the main stopcock you might still be able to stop the flow.

My friends father found out his stopcock was under the kitchen space for the cooker. He now has a box on the wall and if he it sees the button it shuts off the water. Not sure how much the plumber charged but it’s worth looking into if totes us gard to reach.

Its also a good idea to know where to turn off the mains gas to your house and the fuse box to shut down the electricity to your house.

Shutting off the electrics is very important if you have a flood that is going anywhere near lights, appliances, switches etc as you can get electrocuted if water and electricity mix and you are wet.

Ours is outside the front gate. DH is convinced there must be one somewhere inside the house but so far we haven't found it.

Wtf does it look like and how do you find it?

@Duckypoohs it usually looks like this or a little blue single tap. I read an article that says they're usually on the water pipe as it enters the house so in the kitchen under the sink is a usual place, behind the washing machine is another place or in an Airing cupboard

[quote skodadoda]Get one of these
surestop.co.uk/[/quote]
We have one of these by the kitchen sink. Literally switches on and off like a light switch. Definitely recommend

Ours is under the stairs. Really difficult to get to unless you're three feet tall (I'm not kidding). It's also where the handy man keeps all his tools, paint, solvents etc.

There's a main one of the road but it shuts water for the whole building.

Fuse box in a box, again used for storage and impossible unless you're over six feet tall.

The agents never tell people who move in where they are. And they aren't labelled. Nor do they tell people if they're on a meter, which costs much more if you only have a small room and where I am you can't use them to turn off the water.

It's basically far more complicated than it needs to be.

I found this out when my tap literally exploded New Year's Eve one years and totalled everything in the place and really really hurt due to the water pressure (and dented the ceiling). I know it was New Year's Eve as the whole agents had gone out to see in the new year and rocked up completely plastered (all of them) in a van.

I should add I do let people know where all the things are and how the fire alarm works etc.

@Becca19962014 that's so bad!