John Kelly wrote:
My bath taps are extremely hard for my kids to turn off. I know I need
to replace the washers but I've resisted doing it as I can't seem to
find a way to turn off the water except at the mains - The hot water
continues to flow as does the cold from the tank in the loft. What are
the sizes of washer I'm likely to need to do this? If I'm going to
have to drain the hot and cold tanks I'd rather have what I need
available without having to go out in the middle of it all. The taps
are about 20 years old if that suggests anything.

Sounds like you have an indirect system..

The cold tank in the loft usually supplies the bathroom toilet cistern, bath
& basin cold taps. It also feeds the hot water cylinder.

You might find a valve in the pipe coming out of the tank (unlikely IME) if
not the simplest way is to drain it. If you have a valve on the inlet pipe
turn it off, or tie up the ball valve, or turn off the mains then turn on
the cold taps in the bathroom. Depending on the size of the tank this can
take 10-20 mins.

This should also stop the flow of hot water and you shouldn't have to drain
that (cold water from the tank pushes the hot water out of the cylinder).

Most bath taps are 3/4" washers, but they are cheap enough to buy a few
different sizes.


HTH


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257