Emergency Plumber Near Me: What to Do Before We Arrive

When you are searching for an emergency plumber near me, something is going wrong right now. Before you read any further, here is the most useful thing on this page.

Turn the water off at the stopcock. Turn it clockwise until it stops. It is usually under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs toilet, or near the front door.

Stopping the flow limits the damage far more than how quickly anyone arrives. Everything else here is secondary to that.

Step one: stop the water

For a leak at one fixture, such as a sink or toilet, look underneath for the small isolation valves on the pipes. Turn them clockwise to close, then check the flow has stopped.

For a burst pipe or a major leak, go to the main stopcock.

1. Turn it fully clockwise until it stops
2. Open all your cold taps to drain the pipes
3. Flush the toilets to empty the cisterns

Cannot find your stopcock? Check under sinks, in utility rooms, in the garage, or outside near the water meter. In a flat it may be in a communal cupboard. Once you find it, photograph it. You do not want to be hunting for it during the next emergency.

Step two: turn off the boiler

If the problem involves the heating system, or water is leaking anywhere near the boiler:

• Find the boiler power switch, usually a switched fused spur on the wall nearby, and turn it off
• Turn the thermostat down to its lowest setting
• On a gas boiler you can also close the gas isolation valve, a quarter-turn valve on the gas pipe

This stops the pump circulating water through the leak and removes the risk of water meeting live electrics. It also shuts off the gas to the heating system and protects the boiler itself from damage.

If you smell gas, stop and read this

Do not operate any switches. Do not use your phone inside the building. Leave the property immediately.

Once you are outside, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. They will attend and make the supply safe. It is a free twenty-four hour national service and it takes priority over calling us.

Call us afterwards and we will handle the repair and recommissioning as Gas Safe registered engineers.

Step three: limit the damage

Contain the water. Buckets under drips, towels on standing water, furniture and valuables moved clear, carpets rolled back.

Deal with electrics. If water is anywhere near electrical fittings, switch off at the consumer unit. Never touch electrical items with wet hands, and stay clear of ceiling light fittings if there is a leak above them. Unplug appliances in the affected area, but only if the plugs and your hands are dry and you are not standing in water.

Document it. Photograph and video everything before you start clearing up. Note the time it started and keep receipts for anything you buy. This is what makes an insurance claim straightforward rather than a fight.

Record how far the water has spread and how deep it got. Keep photographing during and after the repair too.

Step four: have this ready when you call

You will get a faster and more accurate answer if you can tell us:

• What is happening, as specifically as you can
• Where, which room, under a sink, in a ceiling, outside
• Property type, house or flat, how many floors, rough age, and any previous plumbing work
• Access, parking, entry codes, whether anyone is home
• Your system, combi or system boiler, mains pressure or tank fed, and where the stopcock is

Common emergencies we attend

Burst pipes. Common in cold weather and capable of releasing hundreds of litres in minutes. Water off, heating off, call. Our guide to preventing frozen pipes covers how to stop it happening again.

Major leaks. From pipes, radiators, tanks or appliances, and capable of serious structural damage if left. Isolate it if you can, contain the spread, and photograph the damage for your insurer. If you can see the damage but not where the water is coming from, leak detection traces it without opening up walls on guesswork.

Water through a ceiling. Contain it, move everything out from underneath, and switch off the circuit for that area. There is more detail in our guide to water leaking through a ceiling.

Complete boiler failure. Urgent in winter, especially with young children, elderly residents or anyone with a health condition. Check power, gas and pressure first, since a surprising number turn out to be a tripped switch or low system pressure.

Severe blockages and sewage backing up. Stop using all water and drains in the property, keep the area ventilated, and keep people away from it. Contain any overflow as best you can.

A broken stopcock. Discovered at the worst possible moment. Try the external stopcock near the water meter, and if that fails your water company can isolate at the mains.

What not to do

• Do not attempt a repair on a burst pipe or a gas appliance yourself
• Do not ignore it and hope it improves, because it will not
• Do not pour chemical drain cleaner into a severe blockage
• Do not switch electrics back on in a wet area until they have been checked
• Do not touch pipes you think are frozen, since thawing them wrongly can burst them
• Do not put off calling a professional, because early intervention almost always costs less
• Do not forget to tell tenants or anyone else in the building that the water is off
• Do not operate any switches if you smell gas

When you call us

• Our hours. Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 6pm, Friday 8am to 6pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 3pm, with no weekend premium.
• The price first. Emergency work is priced on the job, and you get the figure before any work starts.
• Parts on the van. Our vans carry the parts that fix the common failures, so most jobs finish on the first visit.
• Gas Safe registered, so heating and gas faults are dealt with properly rather than made safe and left.
• Local knowledge. We know the housing, the plumbing systems and the hard water across Crawley, Horsham and the surrounding towns.

There is more on how we handle call-outs on our emergency plumber page.

Preventing the next one

Once the immediate problem is fixed, a few things genuinely reduce the odds of a repeat.

• Get the boiler serviced annually, which prevents most breakdowns. A service is from £105.
• Check your stopcock turns easily, twice a year
• Insulate exposed pipework before winter
• Learn where your isolation valves and water meter are, and photograph them
• Deal with small leaks straight away, because they always get worse
• Test the heating in early autumn rather than waiting for the first cold night
• Consider a smart leak detector, which sends an alert to your phone when it senses water
• Save our number in your phone now, 07960 066300