Emergency plumbing in Cornwall
When water is coming through a ceiling the first job is yours, not ours: get the stopcock off. Everything you need to do that is set out below. Then send us the details and tick the urgent box, and we will ring you straight back to work out how quickly we can reach you.
- All 12 main Cornish towns and everywhere between
- Fixed price agreed before we start
If you can smell gas, stop and call 0800 111 999 first. That is the National Gas Emergency Service and it is free from any phone. Open the windows, do not touch any electrical switches, get everyone out, and contact us afterwards.
What we cover
- Burst and frozen pipes
- Major leaks and water coming through ceilings
- Complete loss of water or hot water
- No heating in cold weather, especially where there is a health need
- Overflowing or blocked toilets where there is only one in the property
- Leaking or failed hot water cylinders
- Suspected gas smell — though your first call must always be the National Gas Emergency Service
What to do before we arrive
Turn the water off first
Your internal stopcock is usually under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs cloakroom or by the front door. Turn it clockwise. If you cannot find it, the outside stop tap is generally under a small metal cover at the boundary.
Then open the taps
Once the stopcock is off, opening the cold taps drains the pipework down and stops it feeding the leak. It makes a real difference to how much damage you end up with.
Water near electrics
If water is anywhere near a consumer unit, lights or sockets, switch the electricity off at the main switch and do not touch anything wet. This is the one part of the job we would rather you did not wait for us on.
If you smell gas
Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 immediately, open the windows, do not touch switches and get everyone out. Call them first and us second — that order matters.
How it works
- 1
Get the water off first
Stopcock clockwise, then open the cold taps. Do this before you contact anyone — it is the single most useful thing that happens in the first ten minutes.
- 2
Send the form, tick urgent
Urgent enquiries are flagged and go to the top of the list rather than into a queue. Give us your number and as much detail as you can.
- 3
We ring you back and triage
We work out whether this needs someone tonight or whether it is safe until morning, and we tell you honestly which it is.
- 4
We give you a realistic arrival time
Cornwall is long and thin. A truthful hour beats an optimistic twenty minutes.
- 5
We make it safe, then fix it
The first job is stopping the damage. The permanent repair sometimes follows the next day, and we will be clear about which is happening.
What it costs
Emergency and out-of-hours work is charged differently from planned work, and you will be told exactly how when we ring you back, before anyone is dispatched. Nobody should discover the rate on the invoice.
Everything else we do
Plumbing
Leaks, taps, toilets, tanks, pipework and everything else that carries water around a house.
Read moreBoiler repair
Fault-finding and repair on gas, oil and LPG boilers — diagnosis first, parts second.
Read moreBoiler installation
New boilers and full replacements, sized properly to the house rather than to the old one.
Read moreBoiler servicing
Annual servicing and landlord gas safety certificates — the full check, not a five-minute glance.
Read moreBathrooms
Complete bathroom installations, managed start to finish by the people doing the plumbing.
Read moreCentral heating
Radiators, pipework, power flushing, controls and full system installations.
Read moreEmergency plumbing — your questions
If yours is not here, send us the form and ask. We would rather spend five minutes answering a question than have you book something you did not need.
How fast will you come back to me?
As fast as we can, and urgent enquiries are dealt with first. We will be straight with you: we do not currently run a staffed round-the-clock phone line, so if water is escaping right now the most valuable thing is to get your stopcock off yourself using the steps above — that stops the damage immediately, which no plumber arriving later can undo.
Where is my stopcock likely to be?
Under the kitchen sink is the most common, then a downstairs cloakroom, by the front door, or in an airing cupboard. It is genuinely worth finding it now, while nothing is wrong.
Is a leaking radiator an emergency?
Usually not. A radiator can normally be isolated at both valves and left until morning, which is cheaper for you. We will tell you that on the phone rather than sending someone out at night.
Will my insurance cover this?
Escape of water is covered by most home policies, but they generally want the cause fixed and documented. We photograph and write up emergency work so you have something to give your insurer.
Towns we cover
Need emergency plumbing in Cornwall?
Get the water off first — stopcock clockwise, then open the cold taps. Then send the form and tick urgent, and we will ring you back to work out how fast we can reach you.