I've got an all-in-one toilet upstairs in the main bathroom that is taking aaaaages to fill up after flushing. As you can see from the photo, it's really hard to get to the valve to turn the water off. Also, the screws in the cistern (which would give easy access to the valve) are completely rusted. Despite all this, the repair should be simple as the parts are designed to be easy to replace (they're made by SIAMP, you just screw them in) and so I'd like to try and fix it myself before paying a fortune to a plumber.
I switched off the water at the mains and all the taps stopped etc as you'd expect. The taps in the bathroom continued to work, so they're clearly piped up to the cold water storage tank in the loft. The toilet's fill valve continued to dribble out water, suggesting that it's not connected to the mains. My father-in-law (who was a builder but has a track record of getting things very wrong) said the toilet must be connected to the cold water storage tank. A friend, who is a builder/tradesman/handyman, says that's unlikely and once I've turned the water off at the mains it should be ok to pull out the fill valve. He reckons it's most likely water already in the pipes. He says the worst that could happen is I get sprayed with water but my father-in-law reckons there's a strong chance I could flood the bathroom.
Can anyone advise on this? Is it likely connected to the mains and it's just water already in the pipes or is it the water storage tank? If it is the latter, how can I turn the water off? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know the obvious thing is to get a plumber but due to the hard economic times we find ourselves in, I'd rather try and fix it myself (the part costs £10!!!!)
