Petts Wood Tudor-Style House: Finding the Stopcock

In a 1930s Petts Wood house, the stopcock is usually under the kitchen sink, or under the floorboards just inside the front door where the supply pipe comes in from the front garden. If it is not in either, look in the downstairs cloakroom, under the stairs or in the garage. Turn it clockwise to shut it, without forcing it. If it is seized, use the outside stop tap at the boundary with a stop tap key, and have the indoor one replaced once the emergency is over.

Why Petts Wood houses follow a pattern

Petts Wood was built in one go. Developer Basil Scruby bought the land from 1927, architect Leonard Culliford laid out the roads, and many of the half-timbered, neo-Tudor houses were built by master builder Noel Rees. The best-preserved streets are now conservation areas, including The Chenies (designated in 1982) and The Covert.

Houses built to a standard tend to be plumbed to a standard too. The supply pipe usually comes in under the front garden, enters the house at the front, and runs to the kitchen. That is why the stopcock is so often under the kitchen sink or under the floor near the front door.

Ninety years on, though, most houses have been extended, refitted and sometimes re-plumbed, so the original position may have moved.

Where to look, in order

• Under the kitchen sink. The most likely spot. Look right at the back of the cupboard, behind bottles and bins, for a pipe coming up through the floor with a handle on it.
• Under the floorboards inside the front door. Many Petts Wood houses have a small hatch or a loose board in the hall, near the front door or under the hall mat. Lift it and look for the pipe coming in.
• The downstairs cloakroom. Often added later, and sometimes where the main was moved to.
• Under the stairs. Especially if the meter or gas supply is there.
• The garage. In houses where the kitchen moved into an extension, the stopcock sometimes ended up in the garage or utility.
• Outside. The outside stop tap is in a small cover in the front path or pavement near the boundary, sometimes with the water meter.

How to turn it off, and test it

1. Turn the handle clockwise, a quarter turn at a time.
2. If it is stiff, ease it back a little anticlockwise first to break any scale, then try clockwise again.
3. Keep turning until it stops. Do not force the last part.
4. Open the cold kitchen tap to check the water has stopped.
5. If you were only testing, turn it back on fully anticlockwise, then a quarter turn back so it does not stick open.
6. Do this twice a year so it stays free.

If it will not turn, or will not stop the water

Old stopcocks in Petts Wood are often original or close to it. The water here is hard, about 291 mg/l in Thames Water’s Orpington zone, and scale builds up inside a valve that has not been turned for years.

• Do not force it with a wrench or hammer. Old brass spindles snap, and then you have a leak at the stopcock with no way to stop it from inside.
• Use the outside stop tap with a stop tap key (a long bar with a forked end, sold cheaply in hardware shops). It may be deep in the chamber.
• Check it is yours. On some roads one outside valve serves more than one house.
• Have the indoor one replaced as soon as the emergency is over. A new stopcock, or a lever valve fitted beside it, can be shut in a second.

Extensions and loft conversions

Petts Wood has a lot of rear extensions, kitchen-diners and loft conversions, and the plumbing for them is often joined on to the original pipes without any isolation valve of its own. That means a leak in the new en suite turns the whole house off.

When we are there, it is worth adding:

• an isolation valve on the feed to each extension or loft bathroom;
• small valves under every toilet, basin and appliance;
• a label on the main stopcock.

Conservation areas and the outside of your house

If you are in one of Petts Wood’s conservation areas, changes to the outside of the house can need consent. Replacing a stopcock or adding valves inside does not affect that, but new external pipework, meters or boxes on the front elevation might. Check Bromley Council’s conservation area guidance if in doubt.

Other houses, other places

Bungalows in Orpington have their own pattern, often with an outside valve doing the work. See our Orpington bungalow stopcock guide.

When to call

Call us if you cannot find the stopcock, it will not turn, it will not stop the water, or water is still coming through after you have shut it. We handle burst pipes in Petts Wood and water leaks in Petts Wood, and if you are struggling to find the valve we will talk you through the likely spots while you wait. More on the area is on our Petts Wood area page.

Need a plumber now?

Call 07868 281022 and tell us your postcode, what is leaking, and whether you have been able to turn the water off. We agree the price with you before any work starts.