Stopping a tap from dripping

Sometimes there will be a valve on modern tap systems which can be switched off to stop the flow of water. In general I advise you to turn the water supply off at the main stopcock. This guarantees no nasty floods. If you are going to work on bathroom taps cut off the water supply to the storage cistern by turning off the main stopcock, then open each tap to allow the residual water to drain. If you are fixing a hot water tap turn off the immersion heater, or boiler and close the valve on the cold feed pipe to the hot-water cylinder. Run the hot taps to drain them as with the cold taps.

Firstly remove the top of the tap. If it is a shrouded cover unscrew it by hand or use a wrench. Make sure you protect the shroud cover by putting something soft on the jaws of the wrench. Lift the cover to reveal the headgear nut just above the body of the tap. Use a narrow spanner to unscrew the nut allowing you to lift the whole headgear assembly away from the body of the tap.

The washer may be protected by a plastic or rubber jumper. Both will be on the bottom of the headgear assembly. Firstly remove the jumper by prising it off with a flat head screwdriver or knife. If the washer is held in place by a nut unscrew it with a spanner. If it is rusty and won't budge use a little penetrating oil to soften corrosion.

Remove the washer and replace with a new one. Refit the retaining nut or replace a new jumper, depending on what was there before, then replace the whole headgear assembly into the tap.

Stopping a dripping overflow in a toilet cistern

The water in a toilet cistern is controlled by a hollow ball float attached to one end of a metal arm which in turn is fitted to the water inlet valve. As the water refills the cistern the float rises and the arm drops, closing the valve. When the water rushes out of the cistern (when you flush) the float drops and the arm rises, opening the valve. If the arm is not adjusted properly the valve may not open or close properly which means water will continue to drip into the cistern and escape to the outside through an overflow pipe. Fixing this problem is simple.

Take the lid off the cistern and locate the metal float arm. Take it between both hands and bend it so that the float is at a better angle to the inlet valve. Bend it downward slightly to reduce the level of water. The optimum level should be about 1 inch below the outlet for the overflow pipe.

Some float arms are cranked which makes adjusting the ball float more accurate. Simply move the float up or down the crank arm respectively depending on whether you want more or less water to enter the cistern. Again, the optimum level is about 1 inch below the overflow pipe outlet.

If the problem persists you may have a leaking ball float. You will need to take the ball float off the float arm and locate the leek. Simply replace the ball float upside down with the hole facing upward so that water cannot get in and it floats again. If this doesn't work and the float sinks again you will need to buy a new ball float.

New Gas safety Regulations

Wide ranging new regulations come into effect on the 1st April 2005 concerning gas appliances, such as central heating. Learn more here.