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Original poster

I can't find my stopcock.

28 replies

Ihatemytoes · 28/08/2013 09:05

We live in a 1930's semi. The house was extended before we bought it, an we have installed a new kitchen in the extension. I need to locate the stopcock, and from Googling I understand that it should be under the sink, but I don't think it is. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where else I should look?

OP posts:
FourArms · 28/08/2013 09:40

Where sink was previously?

WhereBeThatBlackbirdTo · 28/08/2013 09:46

Ours is a 1950's house and the stopcock was behind the gas cooker!

Try under the stairs? Or follow the plumbing pipes and see where they end up?

I was quite worried before we found ours and moving it was one of the first jobs we did.

beachyhead · 28/08/2013 09:49

Ours was behind washing machine

mumblechum1 · 28/08/2013 09:51

It's likely to be where the sink was in the old kitchen. My office used to be the kitchen in our house so the stop cock is under my desk Grin

fieldfare · 28/08/2013 09:51

Where the sink used to be?

Although in one house I lived in that had the gas meter inside, it was in the same place as that - under the stairs.

nothernexposure · 28/08/2013 10:00

Ours is a 1930s house with extension like yours. Stopcock is in a kitchen cupboard on the extension wall i.e. In the 'new' kitchen on what would have been the original external wall. Try in the depths of any cupboards on that wall.

tobiasfunke · 28/08/2013 10:01

I have lived in houses where the stopcock was in all manner of weird places. At the water pipes beside the front door in a tiny cupboard of it's own, beside the boiler in the utility, in an airing cupboard. The worst one was in a terraced house where the stopcock was out on the street outside the gate and the neighbour had a big metal pole thing that you used to turn it when you'd opened the manhole. We got an internal one fitted in that house as soon as we moved in.
Best thing is to locate where the water pipes come in and follow them around. Behind the appliances is a good bet as it is a PITA to get to.

gamerchick · 28/08/2013 10:01

Can you knock on your neighbours and ask where theirs us to give you some idea?

ChippingInNeedsSleepAndCoffee · 28/08/2013 10:03

I have just had a new one put in, the old one was behind the FITTED kitchen cupboards. Idiots. It was cheap & easy to get a new one put in.

SoupDragon · 28/08/2013 10:03

Mine (1930s semi) isn't under the sink or anywhere near where the sink would have been. It is kind of where the side back door would have been, near the garage - would have been outside although the plumbing may have been moved when the extension went up.

Other houses have had them under the stairs.

ivykaty44 · 28/08/2013 10:03

I contacted the water authority and asked them - they eventually admitted that they would have to let me know. After about two weeks they got back to me and let me know it is in next doors front garden hiden behind a hedge and the low front wall.

LIZS · 28/08/2013 10:04

We always turn off outside by the water meter having failed to find a stopcock internally.

wonkylegs · 28/08/2013 11:07

Mines in the downstairs loo.
Previous houses - behind a kitchen cupboard, in utility room, next to front door, garage, in the corner of dining room behind some boxing.

PatriciaHolm · 28/08/2013 11:57

In our old Edwardian terrace, it was behind the freezer. Helpful....

mistlethrush · 28/08/2013 12:01

The one in our house (as opposed to the one that is in the drive and stops the water between the road and the house rather than the water coming into the house) is conveniently located behind the lip of the bottom shelf bit on the fitted unit under the sink. It has now been cut away so that you can a) see it better and b) actually move it relatively easily. This is in a 30 year old extension on the back of the kitchen of our 1926 house - so might be fairly comparable.

CharlotteBr0nteSaurus · 28/08/2013 12:04

ours is behind the washing machine, which is hugely convenient Hmm

haggisaggis · 28/08/2013 12:05

Ours is in daughter's bedroom in the wardrobe...
It may not necessarily look like a tap though. In last house it was just a screw on a pipe under the sink.

FoundAChopinLizt · 28/08/2013 12:07

Ours is high up above a kitchen unit, almost impossible to reach in a narrow gap below the ceiling.

GummyLopes · 28/08/2013 12:09

I only found mine by accident.

tobiasfunke · 28/08/2013 12:11

Have you found it yet OP?

Alfiecat · 28/08/2013 16:45

Mine's in the garage

Original poster
Ihatemytoes · 28/08/2013 18:27

I haven't found it yet, but thanks for the suggestions! I'll let you know if/when I find it!

OP posts:
Original poster
Ihatemytoes · 28/08/2013 19:58

Couldn't find the internal one, so we turned used the external one by the water meter.

OP posts:
OccamsRaiser · 29/08/2013 03:04

Another thought (though sounds like you've solved the problem now)... it might be worth checking the forms from when you bought the property - TA6 Property Information Form) has a section which asks about connection to utilities and services which has a question "Location of stopcock"?

flow4 · 29/08/2013 08:38

Thanks Occams :) Off to find the TA6 now... This thread made me realise I have no idea where the stop-cock is in our new house!

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