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How to find and turn off your stopcock
By Declan Barry, plumber, Stockport. Updated 2026-09-10.
The stopcock is the tap that shuts off all the cold water coming into your house. In most Stockport houses it is under the kitchen sink, in the downstairs toilet, in the cellar near the front wall, or in a cupboard by the front door. Turn it clockwise until it stops.
What to do
Look under the kitchen sink first
In most houses built after 1950 the rising main comes up under the kitchen sink and the stopcock is on it, usually a brass tap with a round handle or a lever. Move the cleaning products.
Then the cellar, the hall cupboard or the downstairs toilet
Victorian and Edwardian houses in Davenport, Heaton Moor, Heaviley and Edgeley often have the stopcock in the cellar near the front wall. Terraces without cellars usually have it in a hall cupboard or by the front door where the main comes in.
Turn it clockwise
Clockwise closes it. Keep turning until it stops. A gate valve with a round wheel handle may need several turns; a lever valve is a quarter turn.
Open a cold tap to check
Run the kitchen cold tap. It should slow and stop within a minute as the pipe empties. If it keeps running, the stopcock is not fully closed or it is not the stopcock.
If it will not move, do not force it
Old gate valves seize. Forcing one can snap the spindle and leave you with a stopcock that is stuck open and leaking. Try the outside stop tap instead: a small cover in the pavement outside your house, usually marked with a W or SV. It needs a stop tap key, which most hardware shops sell.
When to ring a plumber
- The stopcock will not turn, or turns but the water keeps running. It needs replacing, which is usually an hour.
- You cannot find it at all. I will find it, label it, and fit a new one if the old one is buried.
- Water is actively coming in and you have shut off what you can. Ring and I will talk you through the rest while I am on my way.
Questions
Should the stopcock be fully open normally?
Open it fully then close it a quarter turn. That stops it seizing in the open position and gives you a little movement to work with.
How often should I check it?
Once a year, close it and open it again. A stopcock that has not moved in ten years will not move when you need it to.