Old house - 2 entries for water pipe?

Hello, it’s Rosie calling.

Could you please help me with a little problem I have here?

Is it normal for a house to have two places of entry for its water supply? Everyone I know has a stopcock which turns on/off ALL their cold water but that doesn’t happen here. It only turns off the upstairs. I popped into a plumbing centre where they have stuff to buy but also a plumber on site for enquiries. I explained the set up here.

He said, “The stopcock sorts the entire water supply. One house equals one stopcock. You’ve got it all wrong and you don’t know what you’re talking about!”

(So clearly any cash he'd paid to the charm school was money well spent!!)

I just smiled, thanked him for his time and left………… and then called him every name under the sun once I’d got in the car! (LOL)

ANYWAY, I tried again when I got home (even though I bloody knew I was bloody right!!!!) and this is TRULY what happens:

Turn off the stopcock near the front door, run upstairs, turn on bathroom taps and, after a few seconds, the water stops. Trot back downstairs, turn on kitchen taps and water gushes out as usual ………. and just carries on doing so.

I’ve dragged out cupboards, appliances, etc. and traced the water pipe back from the cold kitchen tap and it disappears into the kitchen floor. There is no stopcock/gatevalve etc. anywhere. Surely, it can’t be under the kitchen floor as it’s concrete. I can’t see any way to turn off the kitchen (and outside loo) water supply other than by that (I don’t know what it’s called) - the small box thing that sits at the boundary/pavement which the water company use. You’ll know its proper name, I’m sure.

The kitchen is at the back of the house and I’m sure there must be one water pipe entering the house at the front corner and another coming in the rear corner.

Is that normal? (house was built 1920’s)

There will be alterations in the kitchen later (God only knows when!) so I was thinking it might be a good idea to shove a second stopcock in there when all that’s being done. Does that idea make sense to you?

I’d be grateful for any words of advice and help you can give me ………or for any other places I can look for a 2nd stopcock!)
(But please don’t be as brutal as the guy in the local plumbing shop!)

Ta ever so!
Rosie xx

 

Oh, Hi Phil And KIAB, thanks for such fast replies - that's lovely!!

No, it's DEFINITELY as I describe. Stopcock does nothing to the kitchen or outside loo. It only turns off the upstairs bathroom water which, in turn, then carries on up to the loft and central heating etc. etc.

There's nothing anywhere which looks like your picture. There's just nothing anywhere - large or small - around the back of the house.
The kitchen and o/s loo came with the house - nothing's been added at a later date.

I don't know how else to describe it.

Perhaps there IS a stopcock buried in the kitchen concrete floor as you say, KIAB. But I'm not poking around under there unless vital. I didn't even think it was possible that there might actually be a stopcock under the concrete so thank you for telling me.

 

Hold on, have I phrased this badly? Sorry.

What I'm calling the stopcock is INSIDE the house, not outside. There's DEFINITELY nothing outside. 100%.

It's just inside by the front door - in the front corner of the house. Water pipe comes in there for upstairs.
Pipe enters kitchen at the rear corner of the house.

 

Yes Phil, your last sentence makes a lot of sense here. Going by other things in this house I believe someone, back-in-the-day-, updated but sometimes added bits here and there rather than completely renewing.

 

OK, can I just tell you what I think you're telling me. And then you correct me if I've misunderstood?

OK, the stopcock which is out in the road (the bit in my original post where I didn't know what it was called). I do know where that is and I know that, currently, that's the only place which will turn on/off ALL the water. But I was told the householder couldn't touch that stopcock - it's only for the water company to use. So, that's wrong info, is it?

Anyway, at some point years ago, water was brought onto the property. It has a long drive (which would have been rough ground back then) so they took the pipe all down the drive, along side the house and into the back corner of the house to supply water to the kitchen and outside loo. Years passed and they then wanted water for the upstairs bathroom. So they've branched off from the pipe in the drive, brought that newer pipe inside at the front corner of the house, added a stopcock/gatevalve, and taken the pipe upstairs to the bathroom, then up to the loft for the cold water tank, then it comes down to the bedroom where there is a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard.

Then they've just left the kitchen pipe as it was and haven't added a stopcock/gatevalve there.

There is definitely nothing visible above ground regarding stopcocks/stoptaps, etc. There's just nothing anywhere! And, at some point, they've changed the drive from rough ground to concrete and tarmac. So, even if the things were here years ago, they're probably buried under the drive now.

So, I can still use the stopcock/gatevalve for upstairs. And perhaps add another later in the kitchen(?)

Does all that sound about right?

I'm so sorry this has waffled on and on but I just need to get it straight in my mind.

Thank you so much for your help.

Rosie xxx

 

WHAT???!!!! FULL-BORE LEVER WHAT???????????? Ohhhhhhhhh God, what now?!!!
Just drip feed me information please, one little piece at a time (LOL)
No, honestly, thank you for the advice, I'll Google it later.

 

Oh yes, I've seen one of those but didn't know the name.
Thank you so much KIAB - it's very kind of you to help!!!

 

Hi Dave,

Funny enough, I was just reading your reply to my very first question on here ............ which seems like a veeeeerrrrrrrry long time ago now (LOL) but was only actually last month. At least you seem to believe I am who I say I am .......... I can't tell you how happy that makes me!!!!!! ........... as I think there's still some question amongst other quarters (LOL)

Anyway, that was a question about a thermostatic mixer shower, wasn't it? And you and Plumberbish sorted it all out for me. Thank you again!!

Well, the shower has been placed on hold at the mo. And there's supposed to be a builder coming here next week to knock down a kitchen wall. Mind you, he's been saying, "It'll be next week, love" for 3 months now so ........ we'll see (LOL) Anyway, I'll bear in mind your kind offer to pop in and I might be in touch. Watch this space!!!

Thank you.
Rosie x