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Burst pipe emergency
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Turn off the water supply
Turn off the main stop tap – you should find this under your kitchen sink or where the service pipe enters your home. Drain the system – turn on all your cold taps If the pipe has been leaking for some time and the ceilings are bulging with water – be careful as rooms may not be safe to enter. If you notice the leak quickly, you can catch dripping water in buckets. Punch a hole in the ceiling to let water out if it starts to bulge.
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Turn off water heating systems
Switch off the central heating, immersion heater and any other water heating systems. If the central heating uses solid fuel, let this die out. Once the heating has shut down, turn on the hot taps to help drain the system
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Turn off the electrics
If water leaks near your electrics or electrical appliances, switch off at the mains immediately. If the mains switch is wet, don’t touch!
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Call a professional to repair the damage
Electrical wiring damaged by water can be very dangerous – you will need to call in a professional if this happens.
Frozen pipe emergency
A frozen pipe is also an emergency, because this may result in it bursting, causing thawed water to leak from the break. The following steps describe what you should do as soon as you discover a frozen pipe.
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Turn off the water supply
Turn off the main stop tap – you should find this under your kitchen sink or where the service pipe enters your home. Turn off the stopcock in your cold water tank if you have one. It is usually in the attic or loft.
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Beat the burst
Protect everything around the pipe that appears to be frozen to avoid damage if it bursts.
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Thawing out
Open the tap nearest to the part of the pipe you think is frozen, so the water can flow through when it has melted.
Thaw the ice in the pipe with a hot water bottle or hairdryer (taking care to keep it well away from any water), beginning from the tap end and working back toward the cold water tank. Never use a heat gun or blow torch.
Preventing burst pipes – winter care
If a burst pipe leaks and water comes gushing through the ceiling, it can wreak real damage on your home and its contents. Even worse, burst pipe and leaks can be complicated to fix, and repair work may also involve digging up your lawn, tarmac or paving.
You can avoid this kind of damage by preventing burst pipes and leaks in the first place. As frozen pipes often burst, winter care is crucial. Try the following care tips:
- Insulate your loft and the sides of your water tanks.
- Insulate all your pipes.
- Open the loft trap door on cold days to let heat in.
- If you’re away for a while, spending winter somewhere warmer perhaps, then have a friend or relative check on your home and make sure pipes haven’t burst or frozen.
- Re-washer dripping taps – if they freeze they’ll block the pipe. This will also save up to a litre of water a day,and your money if it’s a hot tap.
- Make sure you know where your stop tap is and check regularly that you can turn it off easily in an emergency. It’s handy to label it so you remember where it is in a panic.
- In very cold weather the heating will need to be on low, or set to come on a couple of times a day, particularly if you’re going away. Most modern boilers have a frost protection thermostat, which turns on automatically if the temperature drops to a level that will cause your pipes to freeze.
According to our Watertight Promise, under certain conditions, we will repair or replace, at our discretion, any leaking underground pipe within domestic properties as long as the property is more than two years’ old, the pipe is not covered by a building , is not greater than 32 millimetres in diameter or longer than 25 metres. Please see our Watertight Promise page for more information. For any further information please contact us.