Preventing home flooding - stop valves - worthwhile and recommended product?

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timmmay

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#257058 12-Sep-2019 19:35

I read an article a while ago about flexible hoses that are used with most taps and toilets breaking and flooding houses. They're apparently meant to be replaced every five years, ten years at most - I have some that are probably 15 years old.

Has anyone had one of those hoses fail and flood? Anyone have an opinion on whether they're worthwhile?

You can buy stop values so if a hose bursts they stop the water immediately. Examples here and here. I can't find anything that really looks like a good product and reasonable value. Anyone know of any? I don't mind if they have to be installed by a plumber, but if I can install myself that's even better.

empacher48

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#2316741 12-Sep-2019 19:47

I had one connected to our toilet, in our en-suite let go in the middle of the night. I woke up to the sound of running water and went to investigate, finding a rapidly increasing pool of water.

The following day replaced all Flexi hoses in the house.

nickb800

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#2316746 12-Sep-2019 19:50

The isovalve doesn't offer flood protection, just a away to manually isolate an appliance. It's awesome for renovations, but probably not worth retrofitting.

TBH I'm pretty sceptical about those automatic flood valves, as they only protect in one pipe failure mode. If the pipe leaks at a lower flow rate, then the valve doesn't cut it off, and you still end up with water everywhere.

Just get the plumber to replace the hoses? I think technically you can't do plumbing work yourself, but replacing hoses isn't hard to DIY

timmmay

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#2316768 12-Sep-2019 20:14

I have already replaced some of the hoses, it's trivially easy and fairly cheap, and I'll replace the rest when I get around to it. I was just wondering if the valves were worthwhile.

You make a good point Nick, if they develop a slow leak the valves won't help at all. Plus you can't run your taps full open with the valves on as they think the pipe has burst, so not suitable for anything you want a really high flow on.

blackjack17

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#2316782 12-Sep-2019 20:40

We had one go in one of our science labs. I was teaching in the lab next door second to last period on a Friday and heard a noise like a tap was running (no one was teaching in that room for the rest of the day). In that one period the entire lab floor was covered in a couple of cms of water, the tech lab downstairs had major water damage. Lucky the smart board and robots weren't damaged.

If it had occurred a couple of hours later it would have been running all weekend and would have taken out 3 tech labs, the main IT support room probably causing $100,000s of dollars of damage

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timmmay

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#2316790 12-Sep-2019 21:07

I've read it's fairly common, plumbers are changing those hoses all the time. Good catch that time BJ.

bfginger

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#2317445 13-Sep-2019 22:42

Water filters are flood risks with their little hoses held in by not much. The glue can fail on inline water filters and the canister top then bursts open turning into an instant hose. I think the best solution is to have drains on the floor in the kitchen, laundry and bathroom so the house can't flood if something fails.

timmmay

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#2317496 14-Sep-2019 06:12

Drains would be a good option, but would also be quite expensive to retrofit.

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lapimate

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#2317677 14-Sep-2019 11:41

timmmay: … flexible hoses that are used with most taps and toilets breaking and flooding houses. They're apparently meant to be replaced every five years, ten years at most …

Are you referring to synthetic-fibre externally-braided hoses or stainless-steel externally-braided, or non-braided? Is there a difference in service life? I think our particular washing machine hoses (like garden hoses) have a construction like car radiator hoses ie with an embedded layer of strengthening fibre.

Bung

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#2317688 14-Sep-2019 12:09

There's one report that puts blame on chlorine from cleaning products under the sink or water leaking onto stainless braid corroding the braid. Once the braid starts breaking the rubber tube splits. I have one set of couplers that are covered in green corrosion. I might see it the braid is thinning. Every single lever mixer I have uses ss braided hoses. Some over 20 years old without problem. I wouldn't trust the 10mm PB pipe couplers supplied by Caroma if there's a bend in them.

nickb800

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#2317692 14-Sep-2019 12:23

Haven't seen @aredwood around for a while, but worth paging him.

For stuff like toilet cisterns, you could use polybuteline or chromed copper instead of flexi hoses. But I wonder if there if that would be feasible for mixers, as they have quite small threaded inlets

timmmay

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#2317763 14-Sep-2019 13:30

lapimate:

Are you referring to synthetic-fibre externally-braided hoses or stainless-steel externally-braided, or non-braided? Is there a difference in service life? I think our particular washing machine hoses (like garden hoses) have a construction like car radiator hoses ie with an embedded layer of strengthening fibre.

Everything fails eventually. The ones I'm referring to specifically are the ones that attach your toilet and taps to the mains water supply.