Leaking Pipes & Burst Pipes
Finding water that's going where it shouldn't, and stopping it before the ceiling comes down.
Stop the water first, diagnose second
Every leaking pipe follows the same first three steps regardless of cause: close the stopcock, open the cold taps to drain the pressure out of the system, and kill the electrics if water is anywhere near them. Do that before you try to work out what has failed. A pipe you have isolated is a repair booking; a pipe still under mains pressure is a ceiling coming down.
Where a leaking pipe usually is
Almost never where the damp appears. Water runs along joists, down the outside of pipework and along the underside of floorboards before it finds a gap to come through, so the wet patch marks the lowest point it reached, not the failure. This is exactly why speculative holes are the expensive part of a leak, and why detection equipment pays for itself the moment the alternative is opening three wrong places.
The four things that actually fail
Compression joints that were never fully tightened, or were disturbed later. Corroded copper, mid-century pipework perforates from the inside out, which is why the leak arrives with no warning. Freeze damage, which splits the pipe at the freeze but only leaks at the thaw. And push-fit used somewhere it should not have been, most often buried under a floor where nobody can inspect it.
How to tell a leak from condensation
Condensation forms evenly along a cold surface and is worst in humid weather. A leak has a source, gets worse when water is used, and leaves a mineral or rust mark as it dries. If you dry the pipe completely and wrap kitchen roll around it, an hour later the paper tells you which one you have, and where along the run it started.
When it is genuinely an emergency
Water you cannot stop, water near electrics, water coming through a ceiling, or water entering a neighbouring property. Those four warrant a callout at any hour. A slow weep into a bucket, with the stopcock accessible, can safely wait for a booked appointment, and we will tell you honestly on the phone which one you have rather than sending an emergency van you do not need.
The cheap jobs in October that prevent the expensive ones in January.
Higher bills, warm floor patches, a meter that ticks overnight, how leaks announce themselves.
A spitting, coughing tap after plumbing work is usually trapped air. Two fixes cost nothing.
Banging, humming and whistling pipes each point at a different fault. A guide to the noises.
How do I stop a leaking pipe temporarily?
Is a leaking pipe covered by home insurance?
How much does it cost to fix a leaking pipe?
Can I use a leak sealant additive?
Water where it
shouldn't be? Call.
A person answers, not a menu. You'll have an arrival time and a price range before you hang up.
020 3674 8514Or WhatsApp 07865 292684, photos help us bring the right parts
