Help! Outside pipe inexplicably gushing water!

[shelivesthedream]

I'm painting in a house we're about to move into and at some point this morning, water started gushing out of this random pipe in the wall! Not sure when because I didn't notice it start.

Water I have used this morning:
UPSTAIRS
Had a bath
Used the loo
Washed my hands

DOWNSTAIRS
Briefly turned the heating on
Filled kettle from hot tap in kitchen (cold tap inexplicably does not work - nothing comes out - have yet to deal with this)

So at some point in the last two and a half hours, I guess something I did made water come out of this pipe! It seems to be on the outside wall opposite the boiler, but I don't know if it's connected.

Please see attached photo.

I don't know how to make it stop!

[shelivesthedream]

Rats, can't upload a photo from my phone. Ok, so it's a brick wall and about four feet up this copper pipe comes out which is about 3/4" diameter. It comes out horizontal for about 2" then turns downwards for about 3". The amount of water is like a tap turned on pretty full, but the pipe is just a pipe.

[former player]

1.   Behind the boiler, might be an overflow for the hot water system.  Make sure the whole system is turned off.  Do you know whether you have a conventional or condensing boiler?

2.  Might be an overflow from the water tanks in the loft (if you have these: a condensing system might not) or from the tank(s) behind the loo(s). Should be easy to check the loos by lifting the lid off the tank and seeing if the water is running - if so, prop up the ballcock with something to stop it running.  Do you have access to the loft?

3.  As long as you have turned off all the heating systems (including any timing that could bring them on later), find the stopcock (probably under the kitchen sink, and if not then somewhere along the pipe between the kitchen sink and the road outside) and turn the water off there.  Eventually, the tank in the loft will run dry and the water will stop running.  If you can't find a stopcock in the house, there should be a small metal plate with a tap underneath which turns off the mains water to the house - you might need one of those long handled "keys" for this though.

4.  Call the landlord, who should have an emergency plumber to call.  You are only doing 1 to 3 so as not to feel like an idiot when the answer is something simple.

[shelivesthedream]

1.   Behind the boiler, might be an overflow for the hot water system.  Make sure the whole system is turned off.  Do you know whether you have a conventional or condensing boiler?

2.  Might be an overflow from the water tanks in the loft (if you have these: a condensing system might not) or from the tank(s) behind the loo(s). Should be easy to check the loos by lifting the lid off the tank and seeing if the water is running - if so, prop up the ballcock with something to stop it running.  Do you have access to the loft?

3.  As long as you have turned off all the heating systems (including any timing that could bring them on later), find the stopcock (probably under the kitchen sink, and if not then somewhere along the pipe between the kitchen sink and the road outside) and turn the water off there.  Eventually, the tank in the loft will run dry and the water will stop running.  If you can't find a stopcock in the house, there should be a small metal plate with a tap underneath which turns off the mains water to the house - you might need one of those long handled "keys" for this though.

4.  Call the landlord, who should have an emergency plumber to call.  You are only doing 1 to 3 so as not to feel like an idiot when the answer is something simple.

OK, it's almost definitely the boiler overflow pipe. Thank you! Problem is how to make it stop...! I have left a message with the landlord but he probably won't get it til this afternoon. Turning on the taps lessens the flow a little, but now I've just got a running tap instead!

[former player]

Trace the pipe going into the boiler, there should be a valve (quite possibly a round red wheel) that you can turn.  If not, keep tracing the pipes running in to the boiler back until you get to a shut-off point: a gate valve, a ballcock over a water tank, the stopcock under the sink, etc.  The closer to the boiler, the more the rest of the system will keep working, so you will have loos to flush and water at the kitchen sink.

Make sure the electric power to the boiler is switched off, so it doesn't empty out and blow up!

[shelivesthedream]

I found a few likely taps but couldn't get any of them to work, but I did turn off the mains to the whole house. Also switched the boiler off. Not ideal, but no longer panic level! Safe to wait for the landlord to deal with it now, methinks... But I'm still confused about why it happened. Could it have been something I did?

[former player]

Congratulations on stopping the immediate emergency.

Highly unlikely to be your fault when the leak/overflow is from the boiler.  May just be that the system has seized up somewhere from lack of use, or may just have worn something out.  It's an older house, I think?

Stopcocks and gate valves often seize up if they are left fully open for a long time- the trick with them is to open them all the way and then give them a very small turn back, so that they do not seize up.  When the plumber comes, it would be a good idea to have him to sort them out too, so that you have more control over the situation for when the next problem comes.

[daverobev]

Could it be the water tank in the attic overflowing? I once had the ballcock jam, which meant the tank just got fuller and overflowed through the overflow pipe.

[shelivesthedream]

I really haven't the faintest idea about water tanks in the loft. There is a trap door but we haven't a ladder to get up there. My feeling is that it probably is the boiler, and it is indeed an older house (though the boiler seems new enough - this millennium at the very least!) But it has been unoccupied for a few months, so maybe I overexcited the boiler with all my sudden bathing and heating!

[daverobev]

There's no pull-down ladder? Oh well, if it's not your house, let the landlord work it out!

[Chas]

My guess is it is a leaking temperature/ pressure relief valve or maybe just a pressure relief valve. These are designed to protect from overpressure as a boiler or HWT can become a very dangerous device, in the event of it exploding.

If so, make sure you get it replaced with a good quality valve, such as those made by Watts with the same set pressure and flow rating. They shouldn't be too expensive, especially if you buy the replacement from a plumbing and heating wholesaler (in the UK, Wolseley
or other) where contractors get theirs.

[shelivesthedream]

Ha ha, update time. Um, the filler valves were inexplicably 100% open. Absolutely nothing to do with me, could have been like that for ages with no one noticing. Also, the kitchen taps were plumbed in wrong, with the cold water pipe attached to a random hose rather than the tap. Just another one of those WTF things about the house. But hey, the boiler man was really nice and now I know where the filler valves are!