A burst pipe can put hundreds of litres of water through your floors and ceilings in the time it takes to find the right person to call. The good news: stopping it takes less than a minute — if you know exactly what to do.
This is the order of operations our engineers use when we arrive at a burst-pipe emergency. Bookmark it now — or save the page to your phone — so you’re not Googling at 2am with water coming through the ceiling.
If water is anywhere near electrical sockets, your fuse box or a light fitting, turn off the electrics at the consumer unit first. Water and electricity together is the only thing more urgent than a burst pipe itself.
01 Find your stop tap
Your main stop tap (also called a stopcock) is the master switch for your home’s water supply. It’s usually in one of four places:
- Under the kitchen sink (most common in UK homes)
- In a downstairs cupboard or utility room
- Inside the front door, sometimes under floorboards
- In the basement, near where the supply pipe enters the house
If you don’t know where yours is, find it today, not in an emergency. Mark it with a sticker. Tell everyone in the house.
02 Turn it off — clockwise
Turn the tap fully clockwise (lefty-loosey, righty-tighty). It may be stiff, especially if it hasn’t been touched in years. Use both hands if you need to. Once it’s shut, the supply to the entire house is off.
03 Drain the system
There’s still a lot of water sitting in the pipes between the stop tap and your taps — gravity will keep that water flowing out of the burst until the pipes empty.
Speed it up by opening every cold tap in the house and flushing every toilet. Within a few minutes, the pipes drain down and the flow at the burst point stops.
04 Turn off the boiler and immersion heater
If the burst is on a hot pipe, you also need to shut off the heat source so you’re not heating empty pipes (which damages the system) and so any hot water remaining drains out safely.
- Turn the boiler off at its switch or controls
- Switch off any immersion heater at the wall
- Open hot taps so the cylinder drains down too
05 Contain the damage, then call
While the pipes drain, get buckets, towels and a mop under the burst. Move electronics, paperwork and furniture out of the way. Take photos of the damage — you’ll need them for the insurance claim.
Then call a plumber. We’re available 24/7 across Essex, London and the South East — 0203 336 7362.
The warning signs that come first
Bursts almost never happen out of nowhere. There are usually warning signs in the days or weeks beforehand:
- Knocking or banging in the pipes when taps are turned on or off
- Reduced water pressure with no obvious cause
- Discoloured water from the taps (rust suggests internal pipe corrosion)
- Damp patches on walls, floors or ceilings that come and go
- An unusually high water bill (a sign you may already have a hidden leak — see our guide to high water bills)
How to prevent the next one
The two biggest causes of burst pipes in UK homes are freezing in winter and old corroded pipework.
For freezing
- Lag exposed pipework in the loft and garage with proper foam insulation
- Leave the heating on a low setting (10°C minimum) when you’re away
- Open the loft hatch on very cold nights so warm air reaches the tank
For aged pipework
- If your home was built before 1970 and still has original pipes, get them surveyed
- Replace any lead pipework on the supply side as a priority
- Pay attention to where pipes pass through cold areas — these go first
Active burst pipe, recurring knocking, rapidly dropping water pressure, or a high bill you can’t explain — any of these are worth a call. Our plumbing division is on the road 24/7 and our PBD Leak Detection team can locate hidden leaks before they become bursts.