Polite Notice :
Outside working hours, London Plumbers Robuild offer emergency services only to our previous and existing clients.
EMERGENCY PIPE REPAIRS
TURNING OFF THE STOP TAP
Make sure the family knows where the mains stop tap is.
• do not force the handle if it has seized up — it could break it off.
• use hammer or wrench to tap the fitting while pouring penetrating oil down spindle.
• if you can’t free it call the water authority emergency service — they can turn the water off where your supply pipe leaves the mains.
• don’t reopen stop valve fully when turning on the supply until a permanent pipe repair is made. This reduces water pressure on a temporary seal.
TIP: MAKESHIFT REPAIRS If you don’t have the right materials to hand try this:
• bandage insulating tape round the pipe and hole
• cover with a 150mm (6in) piece of garden hosepipe slit along its length and tie with wire at each end, twisting ends of wire together with pliers
• wrap more tape tightly over this
Read this Old Central Heating, boilers,plumbing and drains systems
Leaks in domestic plumbing systems have a nasty habit of happening at the most inconvenient of times, often when it isn’t possible to carry out a proper permanent repair. What you need is a plumbing emergency first aid kit, and there are now several proprietary products available that will at least enable you to make a temporary repair and get the water flowing again. With any leak, the vital first step is to stop the flow of water. Even a small leak can create a surprisingly large pool of water in no time.
Stopping the flow in any pipe is relatively easy provided that you know the locations of the various stop-taps or valves that isolate parts of your water system, or cut it off completely from the mains supply. Water comes into the house through a pipe known as the rising main, and because water in this pipe(and others leading from it) is under mains pressure, leaks from it will be particularly serious.
It enters the house underground, and from there leads either to all the cold taps and a water heating system, or to just the cold tap in the kitchen and to a cold water storage tank. Leaks can result from a number of causes. Pipework may have been forced or strained at some point, resulting in a leak at one of the fittings connecting the lengths of pipe together, or in a fracture at a bend. Corrosion within pipes may lead to pinholes in pipe lengths, while frost damage can lead to bursts and splits in pipes and to leaks at fittings caused by ice forcing the fitting open. Whatever the cause, cutting off the water supply to the affected pipe is the first vital step.