Can't figure out how to turn the water off

[Mrsboombastic99]

I got the keys to our new house a couple of days ago and both the bathroom and kitchen sink taps are leaking everywhere so will need to be changed. The heating system is a boiler in the kitchen with a tank in the airing cupboard and a water tank in the attic. But we can't figure out how to turn off the water supply. I've looked for a stop cock in the kitchen but I can't find it. Any help would be really appreciated

Mine is outside (I also cant find one in my kitchen) its directly outside my kitchen window.
My mums is under her patio, my dad forgot where exactly and they had to pull up the patio one day 😫

Good luck

We've got one in the front garden - it has been buried several times over the years, but has got a brick surround, so have a good dig around.

We've also got one in the utility, which use to be the kitchen when originally built. It's hidden behind the washing machine though, so not much good in an emergency as no way could I move that!

Oh gosh I hope it's not somewhere really obscure! Although it's looking likely. There is a cover outside which I assume turns off the mains supply to the house from the street but I was hoping not to have to mess with that.

Ours is under the sink. Could you follow the pipework from under the kitchen sink and see if it turns up in cupboard somewhere

Mine is under the stairs, could it be there?

Ours is behind the skirting board in the kitchen

Mine is by the downstairs loo

Can you contact the previous owner and ask them?

Ours is in the wall next to the toilet, we've had to leave a tile loose to be able to access it

There may be isolator valves on the pipes to the taps - they look like this and will be fitted vertically to the pipework. You can use a flat head screwdriver to turn the bit that looks like a screwhead 45 degrees to stop the water. This will stop the water to just the affected taps. If they are mixer taps, if you try isolating each feed separately you may be able to identify whether the hot or cold feed is the issue or whether it's both.

I may have to dismantle the back of the cupboards to have a look behind them I've looked in the under stairs cupboard but it's not in there either. There are isolator valves on the upstairs sink but only one of them works lol

We have contacted the estate agent to ask them to ask the sellers on Friday but still haven't heard back from them yet.

Have you checked in where the hot water cylinder id

If you have a water meter can't you just turn it off in the road?

I may have to turn it off from the street and then drain the system. It's not in the airing cupboard either

The vendors should have stated where the stop tap is on the property information form they completed as part of the sale. Can you dig your copies of the paperwork out?

Could you ask a neighbour if you have a similar layout?

How old is the house and what type of house is it, e.g. terrace, semi?

X post with demented - that's what I'm thinking.

Ours is in the garage

What about asking a neighbour if the houses are similar?

Have had one house where the stopcock was outside the front door in the pathway, but also others under the kitchen sink, behind the bath panel in the bathroom, outside the back door, in the airing cupboard and another in the utility.

Ours was under one of the floorboards just inside the front door. Board wasn't screwed down, it just lifted up.

@wowfudge I checked the property info and there's nothing in there. The houses are all a little different around here but there's on similar up the road so I might go and ask them.

@wowfudge house is roughly 1950s and it's a semi

Behind the kick boards under the kitchen units - easy to remove them as they are normally just clipped on. There should always be an internal stop cock as well as an external one reached using a long rod with a "n" shape on the end.