A black plastic 1/2" mains pipe in a 30 year old house. There is no stop c*ck in the street and the water company said they don't fit them now. They said that I need to freeze the pipe to replace the house c*ck or clamp it. Clamping the pipe. Where are the clamps bought from?
You can buy pipe freezing kits for DIY use such as here:
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think the sheds sell them as well. Google will find suppliers for you. If you are going to clamp the pipe, I would use round section against the pipe to prevent a sharp edge damaging it.
The person on the phone. They will install a little grid thing to access the stop c*ck, however a charge comes.
No meter. There is about 6 inches of black plastic pipe that is 3/4" outside and 1/2" inside (LPD or something) . I am fearful of damaging the pipe using a home made clamp.
|A black plastic 1/2" mains pipe in a 30 year old house. There is no |stop c*ck in the street and the water company said they don't fit them |now. They said that I need to freeze the pipe to replace the house c*ck |or clamp it. Clamping the pipe. Where are the clamps bought from? =20
Remember to prepare everything very well and prepare for every = eventuality. I put a new stop c*ck in, before freezer sprays, with the water live. = It was spectacular!!!!! =20
Be careful with Pipe Freezing. On a smooth bore straight pipe the mains pressure will just push the plug of ice along the pipe. It is OK if you freeze at a fitting, bend, elbow etc because there are natural 'hang up points'.
Oh yes; I have watched with some trepidation as a plumber did it in inside my house - so the only obstruction between 95 billion gallons of water in the mains and my kitchen was a plug of ice. Worked fine, but I wouldn't have the cojones to try that myself.
You wouldn't have liked my stopcock replacement then. We didn't even have ice. Just chop off the old pipe, undo the compression nut, stick on new valve. Close valve. Hardly got wet at all, really!
Alternatively, the water company has to cut off your water on request for you to replace your valves. You may have to wait a couple of weeks, as they must inform other people on your street who will also be affected by the stoppage.
I'm facing a similar problem (loose jumper in our stoptap) and, given there is no street stopcock for our property (only the whole road), our water company (Wessex Water) said they're unable to help... unless we've got a leak... which of course we bloody well will have if I just lob the old tap off!!
I'd be very careful about clamping a plastic pipe myself. The clamped bit will remain and could suffer all sorts of damage if clamped enough to stop the flow.
Pipe freezer kits do work a treat, certainly on copper if you follow the instructions carefully. Last one I used (B&Q jobby) held a 15mm main for over 20 mins - and we hadn't filled the kettle up, so we had to wait for our cuppa!
You can hire a gas powered pipe freezer which will work on steel pipe up to
50mm for around £35 a day + gas.
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its outside, even if the freezer doesn't work 100% you might get wet, but you could still do the job.
Yip seen this done, by a plumber who couldn't find a street/garden stopcock at my mates next door. I only came round as I had been chatting to plumber and offered to watch/help with cloths. I think basically the plumber wanted someone competant there in case it went pear shaped. Problem was stopcock turned and water didn't go off (broken shank ?) so he couldn't replumb the house without turning the water off first.
Anyway he filled kitchen cupboard, where the blue plastic main came up, with polythene and cotton sheeting and wore a waterproof coat. He checked replacement valve was easy to fit, tighten up etc on length of pipe so wouldn't find it didn't fit after he cut the plastic rising main. Put a long length of blue pipe on valve leading to outside, cut the rising main with a big pair of cutters, bunged new valve on, most of the water now shooting outside, tighted up the nuts, job done, a very disappointing small amount water was spilt/sprayed around the kitchen. (I was expecting a flood).
I would not have attempted it as I know my luck, once committed having cut the pipe, new valve wouldn't fit, new valve would turn off, get thumb caught trying to block pipe, get electrocuted, flood garden with other end of temporary pipe etc etc.
Yes, in my case, the stopcock would turn off a little (but not much!), which helped. The amount of water spilt was little more than a cup full and we didn't have a hose to the outside. But then how much water would you expect to lose, given that you get the valve on in little more than a couple of seconds...
But if you create a constriction in the pipe by gently clamping it that will be enough to hold the plug, and much less likely to damage the pie than if you clamp it hard.
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