Emergency Plumber in Upminster
A tank overflowing in a Corbets Tey loft, a cylinder that has stopped heating in Cranham, or a burst outside tap at the end of a long garden? Call 07861 933265. Phone us day or night; there is no charge for coming out, and RM14 is usually reached within 60 minutes.
Right now: Find the main stopcock (kitchen sink cupboard, under the stairs, or in an integral garage) and turn it clockwise until it stops. If the trouble is up in the loft, the little lever valve on the pipe into the cold tank cuts it off without stopping the whole house. Stay away from wet sockets. If you can smell gas, call 0800 111 999 first.
A garden suburb, then the semis
Upminster’s modern growth started with a garden suburb laid out beside the station in 1906, and most of the town was filled in between the wars with wide roads of semis and detached houses through Corbets Tey, Cranham and off Hall Lane. Most were built to the standard of the day, with the cold water stored up in the roof and hot water heated in a copper tank on the landing, and plenty of RM14 homes have never changed it.
What fails
A float valve that sticks in the loft tank, a cylinder weeping at a joint and an immersion heater burning out are the classic calls. Hard water, as most of the south-east has, speeds all of them up by coating the cylinder’s coil and element with scale. Where a combi replaced the tank and cylinder but the pipes stayed, weak flow upstairs is common.
Long gardens
Plots here are long, so the supply pipe from the boundary and the pipe to the outside tap run a long way. Those pipes freeze before anything indoors, and a leak underground can go unnoticed until the meter or a wet patch gives it away. Under the gardens the drains are often still clay, and roots from mature trees find the joints.
Rate and nearby
£110 for the first hour, then £45 per half hour, plus parts. Coming out is free. We also cover Cranham and Corbets Tey, and nearby Romford, Brentwood and Ilford.
Upminster at a glance
- Postcodes we cover
- RM14
- Streets we often visit
- Station Road
- St Mary's Lane
- Corbets Tey Road
- Hall Lane
- Gaynes Road
- Branfill Road
- Champion Road
- Highview Gardens
- Deyncourt Gardens
- Ingrebourne Gardens
- Waldegrave Gardens
- Ashburnham Gardens
- Little Gaynes Lane
- Moor Lane
- Cranham Gardens
- Local landmarks
- Upminster station
- Station Road
- Corbets Tey
- Cranham
- Upminster Windmill
- Hall Lane
Questions people ask
Since our combi was fitted, the upstairs shower barely runs. Why?
Upminster's interwar houses were plumbed for a loft tank and gravity hot water, often with narrow pipes. A combi needs the mains to deliver its flow, so if the old pipework was kept, the shower at the far end of the house gets what is left. A partly closed stopcock or a scaled valve makes it worse.
Our outside tap split last winter. How do we stop that happening again?
A tap at the end of a long Upminster garden sits on a pipe full of standing water, and that is what freezes. Shut the indoor valve that feeds it each autumn and leave the tap itself open so the pipe stays empty. A frost-proof outside tap is a cheap upgrade if yours has no indoor valve.
Water is coming out of a small pipe under the eaves. Is that serious?
It is the overflow from the loft tank or a toilet cistern, and it means a float valve is not shutting off. It will not stop on its own; turn off the water to the tank and call us before it gets worse or freezes.
What does an emergency plumber in Upminster cost?
Coming out costs nothing. Labour is £110 for the opening hour and £45 for every half hour beyond it, with parts charged on top, and nights and weekends are not dearer.
Sources
- Hard water, Thames Water