Emergency plumbing in Helston
We cover emergency work across Helston and the surrounding villages. Before anything else, get the water off — the steps are below, and those five minutes prevent more damage than anything we can do once we arrive. Then send the form marked urgent and we will call you back.
- TR12 · TR13 and surrounding villages
- 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.
Why emergency plumbing in Helston is its own job
Helston is a proper Cornish market town and the only way onto the Lizard peninsula, which makes it the base for a very large rural area with a distinctive heating profile. If there is one town on this list where the phrase ‘gas engineer’ undersells what the job actually needs, it is this one.
The property here
Georgian and Victorian property up Coinagehall Street and around the centre, post-war and service housing associated with RNAS Culdrose, and then a wide scatter of granite farmhouses, cottages and converted barns across the Lizard towards Mullion, St Keverne, Coverack and the Lizard itself.
What catches people out in Helston
Most of the Lizard has no mains gas. That means oil-fired boilers, bulk LPG tanks and a growing number of air source heat pumps, and it means an engineer who only holds a Gas Safe registration can genuinely only help a fraction of the households here. It also means tank siting, oil line runs, sludge and water contamination in oil tanks, and the kind of servicing regime that a gas-only firm never encounters. Access matters too: the peninsula runs on a small number of roads, and in summer that is a real factor in how quickly anyone reaches Coverack.
Emergency plumbing in Helston — what actually matters
Oil and LPG emergencies
Losing heat in an oil-fired property in midwinter is a genuine emergency, and it is one a gas-only firm cannot help you with. Oil leaks are also an environmental matter — if you have oil on the ground, contain it if you safely can and tell us straight away.
Out in the villages
Emergencies in the outlying villages take longer to reach and we will give you an honest number rather than a hopeful one. In the meantime the advice on the phone matters more the further out you are, so we take the time to give it properly.
Finding the leak in solid walls
With no cavity and no plasterboard void, water in a granite cottage tracks a long way from the actual fault before it appears. The damp patch is evidence, not a location, and we trace it properly rather than opening up the first likely spot.
Storm and exposure damage
An Atlantic gale takes out flue terminals, external pipework and vent covers. After a big blow we get a run of these, and we carry the common parts rather than ordering them in.
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.
Mains gas in Helston
Helston town has partial mains gas. The Lizard peninsula is largely without it — oil, bulk LPG and heat pumps are the norm rather than the exception, and we are straight with people about which of those we can help with.
Where we work around Helston
TR12, TR13 and the villages around them. These are the places we are in most weeks — if yours is not listed, it does not mean we do not cover it.
Near RNAS Culdrose, Flora Day, Loe Pool? That is well within our normal patch.
Everything else we do in Helston
Plumbers in Helston
Leaks, taps, toilets, tanks, pipework and everything else that carries water around a house.
Read moreBoiler repair in Helston
Fault-finding and repair on gas, oil and LPG boilers — diagnosis first, parts second.
Read moreBoiler installation in Helston
New boilers and full replacements, sized properly to the house rather than to the old one.
Read moreBoiler servicing in Helston
Annual servicing and landlord gas safety certificates — the full check, not a five-minute glance.
Read moreBathrooms in Helston
Complete bathroom installations, managed start to finish by the people doing the plumbing.
Read moreCentral heating in Helston
Radiators, pipework, power flushing, controls and full system installations.
Read moreEmergency plumbing in Helston — 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.
Do you cover the villages around Helston as well as the town?
Yes — Porthleven, Mullion, The Lizard, St Keverne, Coverack, Gunwalloe, Wendron, Cury and Manaccan are all part of our normal Helston patch, along with the smaller places between them. If you are not sure whether we reach you, send the form and ask.
How quickly can you get to Helston?
Down the A394 from Truro or across from Falmouth. Journeys onto the Lizard itself add real time, particularly in season.
Can you help if my property has no mains gas?
Helston town has partial mains gas. The Lizard peninsula is largely without it — oil, bulk LPG and heat pumps are the norm rather than the exception, and we are straight with people about which of those we can help with.
We also cover, close to Helston
Need emergency plumbing in Helston?
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.