VALVE

Angle Valves and Stop Valves

An angle valve is the small brass valve on the wall outlet under a basin, beside a water closet or behind a bidet spray, and it is the part that decides whether a leak is a five-minute job or a flooded floor. This category holds angle valves in the common finishes, stop valves and stop cocks in half-inch, three-quarter-inch and one-inch sizes for the supply lines, and bidet sets that include their angle valve. Cheap parts, and the ones you will be glad you fitted.

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Buying guide

Choosing Angle Valves and Stop Valves

An angle valve is the cheapest part of the bathroom and the one that decides whether a leak is a five-minute job or a flooded floor.

Angle Valves: One at Every Outlet

What it does. An angle valve screws onto the wall outlet and turns the flow to one fitting on or off: the basin tap, the cistern, the bidet spray, the washing machine, the heater. With it, you change a hose or a tap while the rest of the house keeps running. Without it, the whole bathroom or the whole house is shut for a washer.

Where they go. One under each basin, one at the water closet inlet, one for the bidet spray, one at the washing machine point and one at each heater. A two-way angle valve feeds two fittings from one outlet, which is how a bidet is added beside a cistern that has only one supply point.

Brass body, ceramic disc. A brass valve with a ceramic quarter-turn disc opens with a flick and does not seize. Zinc alloy valves are cheaper and corrode from inside in a humid bathroom, and a seized angle valve is worse than none because it snaps when you finally need it.

Finish where it shows. Under a basin cabinet nobody sees it and chrome is fine. Beside the water closet or below a wall-mounted basin tap it is on show, so match its finish to the tap and the spray.

Stop Valves, Stop Cocks and the Order of Work

A stop valve isolates a whole branch. Where an angle valve serves one fitting, a stop valve or stop cock sits on the pipe run itself and shuts off a bathroom, a floor or the incoming main. Sizes follow the pipe: half-inch for a branch to a bathroom, three-quarter or one inch for a riser or the main.

Full-turn or quarter-turn. A full-turn stop valve closes gradually and is kind to old pipework. A quarter-turn ball valve closes fast and is easier to operate in a hurry. Either is fine on a branch; on the incoming main a full-turn valve avoids hammer in the pipes.

Fit them before the wall closes. Stop valves on the supply and angle valves at each outlet go in at first fix, and they are tested under pressure before plastering. Adding a stop valve later means cutting into a pipe.

Operate them once a year. Hard water scales the spindle of a valve that never moves. Open and close every angle valve and stop valve once a year so they still turn when a hose fails. This applies equally to the kitchen faucet and the yard.

Buy them with the taps. Valves are the parts that get forgotten until the plumber asks for them on the day. Order them alongside the bathroom taps so the finishes match and nothing holds up the first fix.

Common questions

What is an angle valve?

An angle valve is a small shut-off valve fitted on a wall outlet, with the inlet from the wall and the outlet turned at a right angle to a flexible hose. It isolates one fitting, such as a basin tap, cistern or bidet spray, so that fitting can be repaired or replaced without shutting off the rest of the supply.

Where do angle valves go in a bathroom?

Under the basin, at the water closet inlet, at the bidet spray, at the washing machine point and at the water heater. Any fitting on a flexible hose should have its own angle valve, because hoses are the part of a bathroom that fails.

What is the difference between an angle valve and a stop valve?

An angle valve isolates one fitting at its outlet. A stop valve or stop cock sits in the pipe run and isolates a whole branch: a bathroom, a floor or the incoming main. A house needs both: stop valves on the runs, angle valves at the outlets.

Full-turn or quarter-turn valve?

Quarter-turn for angle valves and small branches, because it opens with a flick and does not seize. Full-turn for the incoming main and larger pipes, because it closes gradually and avoids water hammer. Both should have a brass body.

Why does my angle valve leak?

Either the seal inside has worn, usually on a cheap alloy valve, or the spindle has scaled and been forced. A leaking angle valve should be replaced rather than tightened, because it is the one part that has to hold when a hose fails. Close the stop valve on the branch first.

What size stop cock does a house need?

It follows the pipe size: half-inch on a branch feeding one bathroom, three-quarter-inch on a riser feeding a floor, and one inch on the incoming main in many landed homes. Match the valve to the pipe it sits in; your plumber will know the sizes from the first fix drawing.

Tell us how many outlets the bathroom has and the pipe sizes on the plan, and we can list the angle valves and stop valves the plumber will ask for.

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