Home › Burst pipes
The first few minutes decide whether this is a story you tell or a ceiling you replace. Here's the order of operations — and the folklore to ignore while you do it.
Burst pipe right now? Turn the water off at the main stopcock — usually under the kitchen sink — open the cold taps to drain the pipework, and switch off electrics near the water at the consumer unit if you can do so safely. Once the flow has stopped, call 020 4577 2888 to be connected with a local plumber, any hour.
Panic reaches for towels. Method reaches for the stopcock. Do it in this order and everything afterwards gets easier:
MythA small split is a small problem — catch the drips and sort it at the weekend.
FactA pinhole on a mains-pressure pipe can push out a surprising volume of water an hour, most of it into places you can't see — under floors, along joists, inside walls. The puddle you're catching is often the smallest part of the leak. Water off, then decide the timetable from a position of safety, not hope.
MythThe pipe burst when it froze — you'd know straight away.
FactOften the split happens in the freeze but the flood arrives in the thaw, when the ice plug that was politely sealing the crack melts. If a tap slowed to a dribble during a frost, treat the warm-up as the risky part: shut the stopcock before the thaw gets going, check lofts, garages and pipes on external walls, and thaw any frozen section gently — hairdryer on low, warm towels, never a flame.
If a pipe has already split, leave the water off entirely. Thawing a split pipe with the supply connected doesn't fix anything; it just books the flood in for later that morning.
MythPipe repair tape fixes a burst pipe.
FactTape and slip-on clamps are stopgaps for a drained pipe — useful for keeping a bad night from getting worse, not repairs. Repressurising a mains pipe against a taped split is a bet you're making with your floorboards. This matters doubly in Portadown's older red-brick terraces, where pipework from several different decades often meets at tired joints: disturbing one elderly fitting can spring a second leak two feet away. Keep the water off and let the permanent fix be made properly.
MythAny leak outside the house is the water company's problem.
FactThe boundary is what matters, not the back door. As a general rule, the supply pipe from the property boundary into your home is the owner's responsibility, while leaks on the public side of the boundary — the mains itself — are a matter for NI Water in Northern Ireland. Quick diagnostic: shut your stopcock. If the leak stops, it's on your side. If water keeps coming, or it's bubbling up in the street or verge, it's likely the public side, and NI Water is the right call. A plumber can help you work out which side of the line you're on.
Most often under the kitchen sink, or wherever the mains supply enters the house — a hall cupboard, utility room, garage or under the stairs. Some homes also have an outdoor stop valve under a small cover near the property boundary. If yours is seized, don't force it hard enough to snap the spindle; a plumber can free or replace it.
If the burst is on the heating or hot water side, or you've drained the system through the cold taps, switch the boiler off until someone has looked at it. A boiler running with little or no water in the system can damage itself — and that turns one repair into two.
Many UK buildings policies cover escape-of-water damage, but excesses, exclusions and wear-and-tear rules vary from policy to policy, so read your own rather than relying on a general rule. Tell your insurer promptly, and photograph the damage before you tidy anything away — the photos cost nothing and settle arguments later.
Stopcock off, then electricity off at the consumer unit if you can reach it without standing in water — and never touch wet switches or fittings. Stay from under any badly sagging plaster. If there's a slight bulge, piercing a small hole with a bucket underneath lets the water out in a controlled way instead of all at once.
The main page — how the line works, areas covered, and the big myths.
Go to home →Pressure, lockouts, noises — and the gas rule that has no exceptions.
Read the guide →What clears a blockage, what builds one, and whose drain it is.
Read the guide →Hedged national ballparks and the questions to ask before work starts.
Read the guide →Pressure, timers, tripped switches and the diverter-valve giveaway.
Read the guide →Gentle heat from the tap end, never a flame — and the lagging that prevents it all.
Read the guide →Damp patches, dropping pressure and the honest stopcock test.
Read the guide →Call any hour to be connected with a local plumber covering Portadown, Craigavon, Lurgan and the surrounding County Armagh area.
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