PigletJohn - lever type stop tap

[Madmog]

We're moving next week. The stop tap is like a lever, rather than a proper tap. Firstly, do you know which way it would turn to switch off? Do you think it will be as good as a conventionally stop tap, or would you prefer to see it replaced?

Piglet John is the font of all knowledge; however, until he arrives........

We've just had a new watermain (as part of a wider refurb) and have included a tap of the type you describe. It's bright yellow and up high (so you haven't got to be scrabling about under a sink when you need to turn the water off!). We have the advantage of having it in (what will be) a utility room. It's on (open) when the lever is running in the same direction of as the pipe and is off (shut) when it's at a 90 degree angle to the pipe.

Much better in my opinion.

yellow? that's usually for gas.

modern plastic pipes and stopcocks for water are usually blue.

Is it a T handle, or a single lever?

You can get little ball-o-fix valves with a small lever, but they are usually for washing machines and service valves, not the main stopcock. Cheap ones sometimes leak unaccountably for no apparent reason, and (apart from full-bore ones) restrict the flow

various stop cocks

cheap ball-o-fix type

superior brand

example of one with a lever

Thanks for your posts PigletJohn. It's similar to the lever shown in your last post, only with no colour. It's not a t shaped lever. Owners tell us it's definitely the stop tap as they switched it off when they had a leak. Have you any opinion on this sort, as it's not something we've come across before. At the moment it's upright at 90 degrees to the main pipe. Do you know which way do we turn it for off?

the lever should be parallel with the pipe for on, and at right angles for off. It will probably come off with a small spanner. You might find the makers name embossed on the lever, if you are lucky it will be a Pegler.

I would be tempted to paint it bright blue.

Also put some labels "water stop cock ->" where they can be seen by someone looking for it.

I've found that if you want to tie identification labels onto taps and valves, the longest-lasting method is those long white hard plastic plant-pot labels and a broad permanent marker pen.

Thanks for that. We will have to have a play about with the lever just to make sure it works as it's at a strange angle. Luckily it's just along from where the water supply enters the house, so anyone with any common sense would think to look there!

Ours has been painted bright yellow (the handle anyway and is clearly marked (water main). We don't have gas out where we are, so I don't suppose there'd be any chance of confusion.

Is there anything you don't know piglet?

Very good.