i have cold water down stairs, i have no water up stairs, i have checked the tank and it as water in it and the ball valve is working ok , the mains comes in the kitchen so everythink is ok there. i have opened doth cold taps in barthroom and nothing comes out , do i have a air lock or could it be the cold is sceald up

shad, July 2009

you need to force water backwards into the upstairs bath or basin. Make sure the cistern and sink are turned off if e.g using the basin.
You could fill the bath with some water from the hot tap (make sure the plug is in), and use a hand pump to pump water from the bath into the cold tap which must be open. This will force any air back to the large tank in the loft and it will bubble to the surface.
However I bet you haven't got a pump. In this case connect mains pressure from downstairs kitchen up to the first floor tap using a garden hose somehow and pray that the pressure is great enough to shift the air in the system. Try to maximise the mains pressure by opening the stop-cock/gate valve fully and don't flush downstairs toilets.

Jim, January 2011

its possible the tap rubbers could be stuck down on their seating,
only a strip down of the taps will tell.

wirecutterman, July 2009