Plumbing question – flexible hoses under sink & basins

Fitted some new basin taps with flexible rubber braided hoses (from Screwfix) the weekend, wasnt easy but after getting it all working noticed the small-print said to use isolation valves with the hoses – why?
If the hoses failed I could just turn off the water at the stopcock – or are some hoses better than others?
The sink tap was not so easy and the 300mm hoses were too long due to there being an extra side branch on the copper cold supply branch – if I coil the hoses in a loop am I asking for trouble? Instead I thought just shorten the copper pipe and re-join with an isolation valve? Good idea?
All this is because the new taps have a 5mm longer thread on them than the old taps and the copper pipes are fitted with a tap connector which will not allow any adjustment – crap. At least I now have all the tools to become a plumber in my next life. 😉

superdale

Instead I thought just shorten the copper pipe and re-join with an isolation valve?

tis what i did, works a treat. Local isolation valves are great if you ever need to service anything past them – flexi and taps or if you change basin etc

Just remember to clean the copper pipe before putting a fitting onto it. by clean i mean remove any paint if it is painted or give it a bit of a rub down with wire wool if an older bare pipe. This will give a better seal with the compression fitting.

I just buy the flexible hoses with the isolation valve built it an one end (from ScrewFix) – make plumbing soo much easier, esp when you realise you’ve put the taps on the wrong way around…

Cheers lads – yes removing the paint from the basin pipes took more time than fitting the hoses, especially as I had to slide down the electrical earthing jubilee clips to make room for the hoses and strip that section of pipe also – some nice cuts from those. 👿
Shame I didnt see those hoses with the valves built in but am just going to fit the isolation valves under the kitchen sink as its a jungle under there already with stop cocks, electric meter, washing machine hoses etc

“stop cocks, electric meter, washing machine hoses”

genius location for the electrics 🙂

we always use flexys for taps etc and normally fit i/v’s as well normally seperately incase theres a problem in the future with the flexy

using the stop cock is of course possible to control the water, however as one local plumber found out last week that we were asked to rescue stop taps left alone for a long time like to leak if used ( we had to replace the full fitting on a saturday morning and cut off the water supply for the street for 30 mins while we did it..)

top tip.. turn the stop tap open and closed once every six months so you know it works without leaking and if it does your not faced with an emergency and it can be done as a much cheaper planned repair..

bear in mind that the stopcock won’t stop the contents of your hot or cold water tank emptying themselves out, just it refilling again afterwards.

top tip.. turn the stop tap open and closed once every six months so you know it works without leaking and if it does your not faced with an emergency and it can be done as a much cheaper planned repair..

This is an interesting one for me – I’ve found that the more you fiddle with the stopcock the more it is likely to develop a leak (usually from around the shaft seal). Do they usually fail to seal “properly” – i.e. gushing or just dripping?

the issue is around the shaft seals if not used they will either corrode or have a deposit build up suffcient that when turned close the tap the seal slightly moves resulting in a leak when open or closed