If water is escaping and you cannot stop it, turn off the internal stopcock first, then call. Isolating the supply limits the damage far more than anything an engineer can do in the first twenty minutes. We will talk you through it on the phone if you are not sure where yours is.
What to do before you call anyone
- Turn the water off at the stopcockUsually under the kitchen sink. Turn it clockwise until it stops. If it will not move, do not force it – use the external stop tap in the path outside instead, or ask a neighbour with the same house type where theirs is.
- Open the cold taps downstairsThis drains the pipework and relieves the pressure, so anything still leaking runs out of the system rather than into the ceiling. Leave them open.
- Turn off the heating and hot waterAt the programmer or the boiler. If a cylinder or the heating system is involved, an immersion heater running on an emptying cylinder will burn out, and a boiler firing on a system losing water can damage itself.
- Deal with the electrics if water is anywhere near themWater through a ceiling means water in light fittings. If water is coming through near a light, a socket or a consumer unit, turn the circuit off at the fuse board. If you cannot do that safely, turn the main switch off and call an electrician.
- Contain and photographBuckets under the drips, towels along skirtings, furniture moved. Then photograph everything before you clear it up – the pictures are what your insurer will ask for.
- Then call usDescribe what you can see, what you have already isolated and whether the water has stopped. That determines how urgent it is and what we bring.
A leak that stops with the water off is a mains-side leak, and it is now contained. That turns a four-in-the-morning emergency into a job we can do properly in daylight. A leak that keeps running with the stopcock off is coming from stored water – a cylinder, a loft tank or the heating system – and needs the relevant part isolating too.
What counts as an emergency
Not everything that feels urgent at eleven at night actually needs an engineer at eleven at night, and it is better to be honest about that than to charge you for it.
| Situation | Our view |
|---|---|
| Water escaping that you cannot stop | Emergency. Call immediately |
| Water coming through a ceiling | Emergency. Isolate the supply and the electrics first |
| No water at all in the property | Urgent, especially with young children, elderly or vulnerable occupants. Check the neighbours first – it may be the water company |
| No heating and no hot water in cold weather | Urgent. Treated as same-day where we can |
| A leak you can catch in a bucket | Not an emergency. Book it properly and we will do a better job for less |
| Blocked toilet in a one-bathroom house | Urgent in practice, if not technically dangerous |
| Smell of gas | Do not call us first. Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, turn off at the meter, open windows, do not touch switches |
| Dripping tap, running toilet, slow drain | Book it. Genuinely – you will get better value |
We would rather tell you on the phone that something can wait than take an emergency fee for a job that would be cheaper on Tuesday. That is not generosity, it is how you end up with customers who call you again.
What we actually do when we get there
The order matters. A lot of emergency plumbing goes wrong because somebody starts repairing before they have properly established what is leaking.
- Make it safe. Water away from electrics, the supply confirmed isolated, and anything at risk of collapse – a bulging ceiling is genuinely dangerous – dealt with before anything else.
- Find the actual source. Water travels. The stain is not the leak. Where reasoning does not find it, we use leak detection equipment rather than opening the building up speculatively.
- Stop it properly. A temporary repair is sometimes the right answer at two in the morning, and if that is what we do, you will be told clearly that it is temporary and what needs to follow.
- Restore what we can. Getting the water back on to the rest of the house, even if one section stays isolated, makes an enormous difference to a family overnight.
- Tell you what happens next, including what to say to your insurer and what drying out is going to involve.
The Norfolk-specific bit
A lot of the emergencies we attend in this county have the same handful of causes, and most of them are seasonal and preventable.
- Frozen and burst pipes in uninsulated lofts, garages and outbuildings – particularly in older properties and second homes. See frozen pipes.
- Frozen condensate pipes shutting down a boiler in a cold snap. Not dangerous, very common, and often fixable in ten minutes.
- Failed flexible tap connectors under sinks. These fail without warning and at full mains pressure, and they are the single most common cause of serious internal water damage we see.
- Unvented cylinder discharge, where a pressure relief valve is dumping water because an expansion vessel has lost its charge. Alarming, not dangerous, and a known fault – see expansion vessel failure.
- Holiday lets and second homes discovered days after the event. If you have a property that stands empty, isolating the water when you leave is the cheapest insurance there is.
Water escaping now? Turn the stopcock off, then call. We can usually tell you what has failed from the description.
Questions we get asked about this
I cannot find my stopcock. What do I do?
Look under the kitchen sink first, then the downstairs cloakroom, utility, garage or under the stairs. If you cannot find it, use the external stop tap – a small metal or plastic cover in the path or pavement outside, usually needing a long key or a screwdriver to turn the tap inside. Call us and we will talk you through it. Then, once the emergency is over, find it and label it.
Do you charge more for emergency call-outs?
Out of hours work costs more than booked work – that is true of every trade and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. You will be told what the visit costs before we set off, not afterwards.
Will you come out at night?
For genuine emergencies, where we can. Availability depends on the night and where you are in the county. Call and ask rather than assuming – and if we cannot get to you, we will tell you straight away so you can call someone who can.
The water is off but I still have a leak. Why?
Because it is coming from stored water rather than the mains – a hot water cylinder, a cold water tank in the loft, or the heating system. Each has its own isolation. Tell us this on the phone, because it changes the diagnosis immediately.
Should I claim on my insurance?
Often yes, particularly for escape of water damage, which most home policies cover. Photograph everything before you clear up, keep the damaged parts, and get any invoice itemised. We can describe what failed in writing if your insurer needs it.
My ceiling is bulging with water. What now?
Stay out of the room, keep everyone out of it, and turn off the electrics to that area. A ceiling holding water can come down suddenly and with a lot of weight. Do not stand under it to put a bucket down.
Can you deal with the drying out and repairs afterwards?
We do the plumbing. Drying, plaster, decorating and flooring are specialist work and usually part of an insurance claim, and we will point you at people rather than pretending it is our trade.
What happens when you call
Call and describe it
You speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Most jobs can be narrowed down on the phone.
We look at it properly
A real diagnosis before a price, and a straight answer if it is not worth doing.
A written quote
Itemised, so you can see what you are paying for.
The job, and the paperwork
Certificates where the work needs them, and what will need attention next.
Where we do this work
Across Norwich and the whole of Norfolk. If you are on the edge of the county, call and ask — we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people.
- Norwich
- Wymondham
- Dereham
- Attleborough
- Aylsham
- North Walsham
- Cromer
- Diss
- Loddon
- Long Stratton
- Watton
- King's Lynn
Need this doing?
Call and describe the problem — you will speak to an engineer, not a call centre. Written quotes, no estimates over the phone.