Burst pipe: the first ten minutes

Most of the damage from a burst pipe happens while people are looking for the phone. Ten minutes of the right actions saves floors, ceilings and a lot of money.

In order

1. 1

   Stopcock off

   Turn it clockwise until it stops. It is usually under the kitchen sink, or in a downstairs cupboard, the utility, under the stairs, or near where the main comes into the house. This one action does more than everything else combined.

2. 2

   Open the cold taps

   Run the cold taps downstairs. That drains the water already sitting in the pipes rather than letting it find your ceiling.

3. 3

   Electrics

   If water is near a fuse board, a socket or a light fitting, do not touch them and do not stand in the water. If you can safely reach the board, switch the power off. If you cannot, stay out of the room.

4. 4

   Heating off

   If the leak is on the heating rather than the mains, turn the heating off too, and if you can find them, close the valves either side of the leaking part.

5. 5

   Photograph it

   Before anything gets mopped or moved, take photos of the leak and the damage. Insurers ask, and it is much easier now than reconstructing it later.

6. 6

   Then call

   Call us on 01952 370000 and say it is a burst. Tell us whether the water is off, because that changes how urgent it is and what we bring.

Two things people get wrong

The first is going straight for buckets and towels before turning the water off. The second is turning the water off and assuming it has stopped: water left in the pipes and the cylinder keeps coming for a while, which is exactly what the cold taps are for.

Why pipes burst

Mostly freezing in an uninsulated run, in a loft, a garage or an outside wall. Sometimes old pipework, corrosion, or a joint that was never quite right. If yours went in a cold spell, the repair should include lagging the run, or it will happen again next winter.