Hi, I am trying to repair the fill valve in my toilet cistern as it is running very slow, I have bought a replacement fill valve but when I turn the stopcock off downstairs (the only one I think I have) the water stops coming out of the downstairs taps but the upstairs taps show no sign of ceasing flow.
Would I have to get in the loft and do something to the water tank? Or is there an easier way to do this?

Alice, January 2010

Alice
you will probably find that the toilet is filled with water from a tank. The stopcock stops fresh water from coming into the house which is used in the kitchen and also to fill up the tank, normally found in your loft. You probably won't have another stopcock from the tank to the toilet. With luck you might have a little on off device which you would turn with a screwdriver underneath the toilet on the cold water supply or if you are lucky perhaps there is a stopcock for the pipe in the airing cupboard perhaps. See if you can follow the toilet pipe back to the loft. Otherwise you may have to drain down the tank in the loft, just leave the bathtap running with the stopcock downstairs off. Then the tank won't fill up. But, you could end up with air in the system later which may take a while to move. Good luck.

sj, January 2011

Look in your loft - you may find two water tanks one big and one small - the big tank has water coming in at the top and the outflow at the bottom - this outflow pipe should have a stop tap on it. That's the one you need to turn off.

Some WC cisterns have an in-line screwdriver stop valve close to the cistern itself - if you have this (check first) you can turn the water off there - otherwise it's up to the loft.

Good luck...

Peccavi, January 2010