We were delighted by the service we received. The plumber was very kind, courteous and true to his word. We would very happily recommend and happily use again.
Emergency Plumber in St Albans
Calling an emergency plumber in St Albans at 2am? A real person picks up, and a 24 hour plumber is normally at your door within 60 minutes, whether you are on Fishpool Street or in Marshalswick. The bill carries no call-out fee.
St Albans at a glance
- Postcodes
- AL1, AL3, AL4
- Arrival
- Usually within 60 minutes
- Homes
- Medieval and Georgian core, Victorian suburbs
- Most common
- Listed-building pipe routing and heavy scaling
- Also covering
- London Colney, Chiswell Green, Park Street
Shut the water off at source
In Victorian and interwar St Albans houses the stopcock sits under the kitchen sink or below the floor by the front door; listed homes may keep it in the cellar. Water near sockets? Switch the power off. Smell gas? 0800 111 999. Then 020 3674 8514.
Emergency plumbing problems we fix in St Albans
From cathedral-quarter macerators to lead mains under timber floors, here are the six urgent faults St Albans homes run into.
- 01
Blocked drain or sink in St Albans
Victorian terraces off Hatfield Road and around the City station often still drain through original clay pipes, and long back gardens with mature trees give roots plenty of joints to find.
St Albans: usually £140 – £240. Blocked drain or sink: first steps →
- 02
Blocked or overflowing toilet in St Albans
In the oldest houses near the Cathedral and Fishpool Street, extra toilets were often squeezed in later on macerators or long, shallow runs, and that is where most blockages start.
St Albans: usually £95 – £150. Blocked or overflowing toilet: first steps →
- 03
Water leak or leak through the ceiling in St Albans
Lead supply pipes and old joints under timber floors in pre-1970 St Albans houses can leak quietly for weeks before a stain appears on a ceiling or wall.
St Albans: usually £280 – £600. Water leak or leak through the ceiling: first steps →
- 04
Leaking radiator in St Albans
Big Victorian houses near Clarence Park run long heating circuits over three floors, and sludge built up over decades leaves radiators cold at the bottom or weeping at old valves.
St Albans: usually £110 – £170. Leaking radiator: first steps →
- 05
No hot water or no heating in St Albans
Affinity Water supplies very hard water here, so immersion heaters and combi heat exchangers in St Albans scale up quickly and hot water fades to lukewarm.
St Albans: usually £130 – £420. No hot water or no heating: first steps →
- 06
Burst or frozen pipe in St Albans
Pipes in unheated cellars, lofts and outside walls of older St Albans houses are the first to freeze, and the split often only shows once the thaw comes.
St Albans: usually £150 – £280. Burst or frozen pipe: first steps →
How fast we get to you in St Albans
Expect us within 60 minutes in most cases. Parking near St Peter's Street and the old centre can be tight, so mention any space on a drive or a nearby bay. If you live in a converted house, give the flat number and which bell to press.
Streets and places we cover in St Albans
St Peter's StreetHolywell HillFishpool StreetGeorge StreetVictoria StreetHatfield RoadCatherine StreetMarshalswick LaneSandpit LaneClarence RoadLemsford RoadVerulam RoadCamp RoadSopwell LaneUpper Marlborough Road
We also cover London Colney, Chiswell Green, Park Street, Bricket Wood, Harpenden, Wheathampstead, Colney Heath, Sandridge, Redbourn.
Emergency plumber prices in St Albans
The first hour costs £110; each half hour after that is £45, and night rates do not exist. No call-out fee either. You see the fixed price, written down, before work begins. A hidden leak under a St Albans floor, traced and repaired, is typically £280 to £600.
Plumbing in St Albans: what goes wrong and why
St Albans has a genuinely old core, and it matters. Around Fishpool Street, the Cathedral and the streets off St Peter's Street there are listed and conservation-area buildings where visible external pipework and flue positions need checking before anything is fixed to a wall. Some of those houses have cellars, and a cellar that relies on a sump pump stays dry only while the pump works. Pre-1970 properties can still have lead on the incoming main. The Victorian and interwar suburbs towards Marshalswick and the City station are more straightforward, but Affinity Water's chalk-fed supply is very hard across AL1, AL3 and AL4, so furred cylinders and scaled combi heat exchangers are the routine call. Older gardens near Verulamium Park keep clay drains.
Most common here: listed-building pipe routing and heavy scaling.
What customers near St Albans say
The plumber was very kind to suggest it may not require replacing. He kept to his word. He responded to messages. He was incredibly polite.
An excellent job, well done. Polite, punctual and professional throughout. Highly recommended.
Danny was great! end to end experience without fault. He provided a professional and courtious service. All options explained in advance as well as the costs associated. Job was finished with the problem resolved and area cleaned.
What follows is customer feedback quoted word for word from Checkatrade, with the wording left as written. Read all 147 reviews or our Google reviews.
Emergency plumber in St Albans: your questions
How fast can you get to me in St Albans?
Within 60 minutes is usual. In the old centre around Fishpool Street, tell us where a van can wait. For houses near Marshalswick or the City station, a house number and a note about the side gate is normally all we need.
Is there a call-out charge in St Albans?
No. You pay for time on the job: £110 covers the opening hour, with £45 for each half hour beyond it. A fixed price is settled in writing before anything starts, and no part is ordered until you have said yes. Every job is backed by a 12-month workmanship guarantee.
Do you work nights and bank holidays in St Albans?
Yes. The phone is answered by a person 24 hours a day, every day of the year, Christmas included. A burst at 2am on a Sunday costs exactly what it would at 2pm on a Tuesday, because there are no unsocial-hours surcharges on our rate.
What counts as a plumbing emergency in St Albans?
Anything causing damage now or leaving you without basic services. In St Albans that might be a sump pump that has stopped while the cellar fills, water coming through a ceiling from an old lead joint, no hot water in winter, or the only toilet in the house blocked.
Can pipework be changed on a listed house in St Albans?
Inside, yes, with routes kept out of sight wherever possible. Around Fishpool Street and the Cathedral, anything visible outside, such as new pipework on a wall or a flue position, should be checked with the council's conservation team before it goes up. In an emergency the priority is stopping the water; any permanent external change can wait for that check.
Where is the stopcock in a St Albans home?
In Victorian and interwar St Albans houses it is usually under the kitchen sink or below the floor near the front door. In older listed houses it can be in the cellar, and some have only the outside stop tap in the pavement.
Which streets in St Albans do you cover?
All of them. That includes St Peter's Street, Holywell Hill, Fishpool Street, George Street, Victoria Street and Hatfield Road, and nearby London Colney, Chiswell Green, Park Street, Bricket Wood and Harpenden.
What goes wrong most often in St Albans homes?
Listed-building pipe routing and heavy scaling. Most homes in St Albans are medieval and Georgian core, Victorian suburbs, and that is where it comes from.