House shut down

[Mel]

We have recently come home after a very enjoyable 18 night trip to 3 sites near the South coast. At 9 pm the evening before we left home for this trip we heard a sudden noise and the sound torrents of water pouring into the bathroom ( which is downstairs) . Ran in and saw water coming sideways from under the bathroom sink. Quickly turned off the stop **** but in the 2 or 3 minutes this took we were paddling in the bathroom. Tracked the issue down to a not very big hole in the braided pipe leading to the hot tap. We were able to isolate this because it has a screw isolator thing.
Much mopping later…..
As the leak was stopped we went away the following morning with both the isolator screw turned off and the stop ****. Asked Daughter to check on the house while we were away.
However if that pipe had bust only 12 hours later we would have come back to a major disaster area as it would have run for 18 days 😲! Not only that the water was coming through the combi boiler to feed the hot tap so we would have had a gas bill in the thousands!
A very very very lucky escape.
From now on the stop **** is getting turned off whenever we go away.

What pre departure house prep do you all do?
Mel

Edit The asterisks in the word stopcock were put in by forum software not me 😂

 

[RogerL]

I turn the water and gas off if we go away and most electrical appliances are unplugged.

 

[otherclive]

A fairly fortunate outcome. Water and gas turned off when we go away. My ex son in laws mum went to Cornwall for a week and a pipe burst on the outlet of her shower monsoon pump. They were in rented accommodation for months until the house was repaired. So now our daily practice is turn on the shower pump for the shower then turn it off.

 

[Hutch]

Son came home for a weekend, whilst we were away in Chester, phoned us up, (very unusual) the house is flooding. Braided hose to one of the toilets upstairs. He closed the Stopcock,
Big insurance claim for Bathroom floor Kitchen ceiling and kitchen floor. 2 months work.
Water is. Shut off every time away.

 

[Buckman]

We have recently come home after a very enjoyable 18 night trip to 3 sites near the South coast. At 9 pm the evening before we left home for this trip we heard a sudden noise and the sound torrents of water pouring into the bathroom ( which is downstairs) . Ran in and saw water coming sideways from under the bathroom sink. Quickly turned off the stop **** but in the 2 or 3 minutes this took we were paddling in the bathroom. Tracked the issue down to a not very big hole in the braided pipe leading to the hot tap. We were able to isolate this because it has a screw isolator thing.
Much mopping later…..
As the leak was stopped we went away the following morning with both the isolator screw turned off and the stop ****. Asked Daughter to check on the house while we were away.
However if that pipe had bust only 12 hours later we would have come back to a major disaster area as it would have run for 18 days 😲! Not only that the water was coming through the combi boiler to feed the hot tap so we would have had a gas bill in the thousands!
A very very very lucky escape.
From now on the stop **** is getting turned off whenever we go away.

What pre departure house prep do you all do?
Mel

Edit The asterisks in the word stopcock were put in by forum software not me 😂

Happened to us in 2012 after heat pump was fitted. Obviously they had not tighten up a joint of something. We were away for 3 days to attend a funeral. Both bedroom flooded an part of the lounge area. We then also found out that the ceiling board contained asbestos fibres so everything in the bedroom was written of as the ceiling had collapsed. Beds, carpets, clothing, furniture etc all had to be replaced.

Thank goodness for NFU who handled our claim. We had to live in the caravan with 3 dogs and a cat over the winter months. No sites with fully serviced pitches available!

 

[otherclive]

As a slight aside, when we’d been in this house a couple of years we had a new kitchen fitted. To the fitters surprise he looked at the water pipes that were exposed after removing old units and found two supplies had been taken off before the house internal stop valve. I’d had problems isolating a hot water tap when its little “cheap” isolator was stuck absolutely solid. So I’d turned off the external stop valve in the road, as the internal stop valve had no effect. Then when having central heating work they fitted lever handle isolators in the supply and outlet to the large loft water tank. So going away on holiday and isolating just using the internal stop valve wasn’t a fail safe measure in our case. Wonder if the original plumbing had been fittted by a caravan maker 😱

 

[Buckman]

As a slight aside, when we’d been in this house a couple of years we had a new kitchen fitted. To the fitters surprise he looked at the water pipes that were exposed after removing old units and found two supplies had been taken off before the house internal stop valve. I’d had problems isolating a hot water tap when its little “cheap” isolator was stuck absolutely solid. So I’d turned off the external stop valve in the road. Then when having central heating work they fitted lever handle isolators in the supply and outlet to the large loft water tank. So going away on holiday and isolating just using the internal stop valve wasn’t a fail safe measure in our case. Wonder if the original plumbing had been fittted by a caravan maker 😱

Our stop **** is in a very difficult place to access and one needs to get down on your hands and knees to reach way back under the kitchen sink. Like you we had to turn it off at the street valve and that was one hell of a job as it was very tight.

 

[toad a caravan]

If your fitting a new pipe yourself ensure it's WRAS approved,there are some that are not,Check Toolstation as they stock such items