Installing Outside Tap to Existing Pipework

[townfanjon]

Just open the drain off !!

 

[pyjamas27]

Well! Surprise, surprise, it' doesn't go anywhere. no sign of it coming through the wall internally. Maybe it was fitted in preparation, Odd really. Hey ho! Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Harvest Fields]

Well! Surprise, surprise, it' doesn't go anywhere. no sign of it coming through the wall internally. Maybe it was fitted in preparation, Odd really. Hey ho! Thanks for your help everyone.

It will be connected somewhere. It may be behind the plaster board or kitchen units?

 

[Amateur]

the old boiler was in thebathroom, not allowed anymore.

Not true. You can install in a bathroom, as long as the switched fused spur and controls are elsewhere, cross bonding is present & independent RCD protected circuit.

Sorry to hijack but I had a little panic when i read this, my 3yr old combi is in the bathroom but was fed from a fused spur in the kitchen next to it (bungalow). I rewired the kitchen to be on its own circuit and wanted the boiler on its own circuit too.

I had wondered why the boiler installers hadnt utilised the old redundant immersion circuit and fitted a fused spur. Needless to say that is where i rewired the boiler to.

Following this i had a new consumer fitted complete with RCD protection.

Your post made me panic until i realised that my boiler is in the bathroom but it is fitted in the airing cupboard complete with a door so in effect a separate room. Im assuming your quote relates to mounting switches on the wall in the actual bathroom, not a cupboard within it?

 

[pyjamas27]

It will be connected somewhere. It may be behind the plaster board or kitchen units?

I have a clear view of all the pipe work, there is no plasterboard behind the kitchen units on the outside wall just breeze block. perhaps it's running between the breeze block and the outer wall?

 

[Amateur]

I have a clear view of all the pipe work, there is no plasterboard behind the kitchen units on the outside wall just breeze block. perhaps it's running between the breeze block and the outer wall?

Have you tried opening the valve to see what comes out of it?

If nothing comes out of it i would give the pipe a light pull, it might have been chopped off inside and plastered over and now its just a bit of dead pipe left in the wall that might pull out.

 

[pyjamas27]

Nope, Looked everywhere there is no pipe coming in from that outside wall in the kitchen. A thought is it could have been drainage for the Gas water heater that was in the bathroom upstairs above the kitchen?

 

[pyjamas27]

Have you tried opening the valve to see what comes out of it?

If nothing comes out of it i would give the pipe a light pull, it might have been chopped off inside and plastered over and now its just a bit of dead pipe left in the wall that might pull out.

I'll try that.

 

[Harvest Fields]

it is definitely time to open the valve

 

[heliotrope]

it is definitely time to open the valve

Ohhhhhhhh....Do it, just do it .

 

[pyjamas27]

Lo and Behold! Water comes out at a reasonable rate. So How can I turn this into a tap fitting?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Run it for 5 mins does the pressure drop ?

 

[pyjamas27]

Run it for 5 mins does the pressure drop ?

After 5 minutes there is still a strong flow of water?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

After 5 minutes there is still a strong flow of water?

That's good and means it's connected to the mains water you can fit your outside tap onto that as long as you follow the rules

 

[pyjamas27]

That's good and means it's connected to the mains water you can fit your outside tap onto that as long as you follow the rules

Can you point me to a
guide on the rules please? Thanks

 

[Ric2013]

Your post made me panic until i realised that my boiler is in the bathroom but it is fitted in the airing cupboard complete with a door so in effect a separate room. Im assuming your quote relates to mounting switches on the wall in the actual bathroom, not a cupboard within it?

I'm assuming that either you are certified as a competent person to be carrying out electrics in special locations such as bathrooms and kitchens, and adding new circuits, or that you notified this work to your town building control officer and have had it tested and signed off? Otherwise what you did is illegal whether your work is technically correct or not, though you won't be the first, nor the last. I think the question is more an electrical one than a plumbing one however, so this forum may not be the best place for an answer.
With regard to your airing cupboard technicality and putting aside regulations for the moment (I'm sure others will be happy to lecture you on the potential dangers of DIY electrics but I can't be bothered myself), I would be inclined to consider whether the switch is likely to come into contact with a naked person who is covered in water, or not. Surely that is why in the UK we can't have switches in bathrooms (within 4m of a bath or shower IIRC) (though they do abroad and they seem to survive)?

 

[pyjamas27]

I'm assuming that either you are certified as a competent person to be carrying out electrics in special locations such as bathrooms and kitchens, and adding new circuits, or that you notified this work to your town building control officer and have had it tested and signed off? Otherwise what you did is illegal whether your work is technically correct or not, though you won't be the first, nor the last. I think the question is more an electrical one than a plumbing one however, so this forum may not be the best place for an answer.
With regard to your airing cupboard technicality and putting aside regulations for the moment (I'm sure others will be happy to lecture you on the potential dangers of DIY electrics but I can't be bothered myself), I would be inclined to consider whether the switch is likely to come into contact with a naked person who is covered in water, or not. Surely that is why in the UK we can't have switches in bathrooms (within 4m of a bath or shower IIRC) (though they do abroad and they seem to survive)?

You've lost me there. I'm assuming you refering to the post hijacker. I'm just trying to fit an outside tap, no boilers, electrics etc involved.

 

[Ric2013]

Can you point me to a
guide on the rules please? Thanks

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/Media/Default/PDFs/WaterSupplyRegs.pdf
Follow page 5 of this and you won't be far off. What I don't get is how you'll be able to put your double check valve and isolating valve inside if you can't find where this pipe comes from. A double check valve outside or incorporated into the tap isn't a very good solution as they tend to freeze and then you will experience poor flow and the double check valve probably isn't going to act as a check valve after this.

However, pragmatically, what you have is has probably been installed as a non-compliant outside tap in the past, so I'd be inclined to say that, as an amateur you are unlikely to have the skills to be able to trace this water pipe back to the origin and cut out and repipe from scratch.

As a replacement tap, you would be allowed to fit something like this as a replacement: Pegler HU Bib Tap with Check Valve ½. , but it needs to attach to a wallplate elbow, which you'll need to fit. The Water Regulations aren't retrospective, so you can work on existing systems provided your work makes them more, rather than less, compliant. If you have a look at that Screwfix link, check out DIYmaniac's review, as he summerises the relevent regulations and loopholes in some detail...

 

[pyjamas27]

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/Media/Default/PDFs/WaterSupplyRegs.pdf
Follow page 5 of this and you won't be far off. What I don't get is how you'll be able to put your double check valve and isolating valve inside if you can't find where this pipe comes from. A double check valve outside or incorporated into the tap isn't a very good solution as they tend to freeze and then you will experience poor flow and the double check valve probably isn't going to act as a check valve after this.

However, pragmatically, what you have is has probably been installed as a non-compliant outside tap in the past, so I'd be inclined to say that, as an amateur you are unlikely to have the skills to be able to trace this water pipe back to the origin and cut out and repipe from scratch.

As a replacement tap, you would be allowed to fit something like this as a replacement: Pegler HU Bib Tap with Check Valve ½. , but it needs to attach to a wallplate elbow, which you'll need to fit. The Water Regulations aren't retrospective, so you can work on existing systems provided your work makes them more, rather than less compliant.

Thanks!