Turning off mains water

BrianD3

A relative of mine is in hospital and there's nobody to look after his house, With the current weather I am concerned about burst pipes flooding the place. It's a very old terraced house with no insulation or central heating.

Is turning off the mains water difficult to do? Where should I look for the mains valve, in the house or outside? If I were to get a plumber for this how much is it likely to cost, is a plumber likely to scoff at a job like this if there is nobody to tell him where the relevant valve is located?

Thanks

quinnthebin

BrianD3 wrote: »

A relative of mine is in hospital and there's nobody to look after his house, With the current weather I am concerned about burst pipes flooding the place. It's a very old terraced house with no insulation or central heating.

Is turning off the mains water difficult to do? Where should I look for the mains valve, in the house or outside? If I were to get a plumber for this how much is it likely to cost, is a plumber likely to scoff at a job like this if there is nobody to tell him where the relevant valve is located?

Thanks

with an old terraced house - I'd first look under the kitchen sink for a shut off valve- you'll know it's off if the cold water stops flowing to the kitchen sink.

Davy

To be fully sure you could also turn it off at the street. Would need a key for this, which any plumber should have.

Turning off at the kitchen sink would probably be good enough though.

RKQ

Why not set a fire for a few hours or set central heating to come on - keep house warm to prevent freezing pipes & condensation. Locked up empty property will deteriate quickly in this weather.

Your friend will need a warm house when he / she comes out of hospital.
Leave a trap dripping - this isn't very eco friendly - but its cheaper than cleaning up the mess of a burst pipe!

Xcellor

BrianD3 wrote: »

A relative of mine is in hospital and there's nobody to look after his house, With the current weather I am concerned about burst pipes flooding the place. It's a very old terraced house with no insulation or central heating.

Is turning off the mains water difficult to do? Where should I look for the mains valve, in the house or outside? If I were to get a plumber for this how much is it likely to cost, is a plumber likely to scoff at a job like this if there is nobody to tell him where the relevant valve is located?

Thanks

I think this is just reducing the possibility of a problem... Remember that you may have a tank full of water and pipes leading from this. These can easily freeze in a house with no heating and then you have a full tank of water coming through ceiling. You could drain the entire tank after turning of cold water supply.

My advice would be to set up a few strategically placed timed/thermostat heaters. It doesn't need to be roasting hot just a few degrees above zero.