I wonder if anyone can help me. I have cold water downstairs (no hot water) but no hot or cold water upstairs.

The same happened to me about a week ago when it was really cold (there was ice on the inside of the patio doors!) so I increased the heating and it came back on within a couple of days. I've since had the heating on constantly but the water has gone off again upstairs.

I have a combi boiler which is working fine. I'm not sure if I have a tank in the loft as I was going to check tonight but wondered if anyone had any ideas before I get a plumber out.

Many thanks

Mr P, December 2010

I had this exact same problem last month. I think you will find that you have a floating ball valve in your water tank in the loft which has become stuck in the maximum water level position. This means that the system 'thinks' that the water tank is full and the valve won't open to let more water in. Its really easy to repair, just take off the valve, clean it up with a wire brush on the metal parts and install it again. No need to buy a new one. Also, you can check that it is faulty before you remove it by manually dropping the ball float which will fill up the tank thus rendering the whole water system operational again.

Rachael, December 2010