My Ball-Cock broke

[mike2016]

Hi,

I went downstairs last night just before going asleep and noticed a damp patch on the kitchen ceiling. I got on a chair and it was definitely wet and covered a a few m2 area. Water was bubbling the paint on one of the walls. I turned off the mains and headed upstairs to figure out what was wrong. The area under the master bathroom toilet cistern was wet. I opened the lid and saw the water level was higher than normal. Not so high as to flood out of the top of the cistern but it was over the height of an overflow pipe. The pipe was "crimped" at the top but when I checked the exit point there was nothing plugged into it! So it just drained all over the floor of the bathroom. I've been living here for years but never realized this was put there by the builder decades ago until now. The reason the water level rose more than normal is that the ball cock was loose and allowed water reach a higher level than usual before it cut off.

I've strapped the ball cock in a closed position and I'm planning to replace all 3 sets in the house (9l cisterns) with a more suitable dual flush alternative. This is the only cistern with an overflow, albeit one not going anywhere....!

 

So, What's the best way to deal with this overflow pipe? Cap it top and bottom, remove or just plug the outlet where it exits below the cistern?

 

Finally, any advice re: water damage to kitchen ceiling and wall? Do I let it dry out or at what point do you pull things down and re-plaster? I've downlighters so I'll need to isolate them until things dry out.

 

Thanks

 

[Temp]

Many flush valves have an overflow built into them. If the level of that is low enough you might not need to do anything with the old overflow.

 

One thing to check is that any overflow can cope with the flow rate of water coming in. I had to fit a reducer to the cold fill on one cistern because the overflow   couldn't cope and the water level in the cistern kept rising even with the overflow working. 

[Declan52]

The new cistern systems overflow down the bowl so get that type installed.

Just let the damaged areas dry out and see how it looks. Most times it will leave no marks whatsoever. Unless the plasterboard has went to mush it will only be a repaint job if needed.

[PeterW]

Plug the old overflow properly - the correct bit of plastic is pennies and it's not worth scrimping on. 

 

Cistern Stopper

 

Then fit a weir overflow flush mechanism and you will not have to worry again - if you're changing the filler too, go for one of the vertical float ones but watch it doesn't catch on the cistern as the tolerances are pretty slim. 

 

 

[ProDave]

36 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Then fit a weir overflow flush mechanism and you will not have to worry again - if you're changing the filler too, go for one of the vertical float ones but watch it doesn't catch on the cistern as the tolerances are pretty slim. 

 

 

+1 to that.

 

I recall it used to be "normal" with a ballcock type filler for the cistern to fill almost full, then for a trickle or water to continue for ages, ending as a drip drip drip until finally stopping.

 

The newer vertical float types fill at full bore very quickly before shutting off almost instantly. Such a much more refined system.