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I want to remove a basin (that is in my bedroom), but I'm not sure what to do with the water coming into the taps.

The cold water has a stop valve (which does work). So, I imagine I just turn the stop valve, and then use a hacksaw and cut above that. And then stick a push-fit stop end on it.

But the hot water tap does not have a stop valve. And neither does the pipe coming out of the immersion heater. So, how do I do that one?

By the way, the cold pipe going into the immersion heater does have a stop valve. So, it seems I could stop cold water getting into the immersion heater.

3x basin photos

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  • Turn off power to the heater first. Turn off valve. Do your work, then turn on valve and make sure heater is full of water before turning on power.
    – crip659
    Oct 3, 2021 at 22:25
  • So if I turn off power to the heater and prevent cold water getting into the heater, then hot water will not get to the tap. Is that right?
    – Craig
    Oct 3, 2021 at 22:55
  • Turning off power protects the heater, they do not like the electrodes being in air. Check with the taps open that the water pressure is zero.
    – crip659
    Oct 3, 2021 at 23:15
  • @CraigHB If you are using a push fit stop, please invest in a proper pipe cutter rather than a hacksaw. Push fit fittings rely upon a rubber seal which will be damaged if you have a rough edge caused by a hacksaw. Also they need to sit square on the pipe, difficult to achieve with a hacksaw cut.
    – scotty3785
    Oct 4, 2021 at 13:25

1 Answer 1

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I would not trust the presence of one stop valve. This is a perfect time to turn off the house water at the main shutoff (usually near where the water line enters), unscrew and remove any bathroom faucet and kitchen sink aerators, and open the faucets at the furthest point in the home (upstairs bath, perhaps) and elsewhere in the house to drain the lines completely. Should you have stop valves at the water heater, turn those off too.

Once drained, you are ready to do your work but be prepared with towels and small buckets for residual water in the lines. This would be a good time to add new stop valves! Once you're done, do all of the above in reverse, but leave off the aerators until you're sure air in the lines has been purged by running the refilled lines for several minutes.

Write again if you need help with choosing a stop valve.

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  • Opening an upstairs tap is good (allows air into the system to making draining more efficient), but you want to open the lowest tap you can find to ensure that all the pipe at or below the level you'll be working is actually empty. Otherwise, you'll end up with wet floors as all the plumbing above empties through the pipe you just cut.
    – FreeMan
    Oct 4, 2021 at 13:22
  • Upvoted. I've lost track of times that I've closed an isolation valve only for them to fail immediately as I get a jet of water to the face. I don't rate this style of isolation valve at all. Cheap and you get what you pay for.
    – scotty3785
    Oct 4, 2021 at 13:27

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