Emergency plumbing in Truro
We cover emergency work across Truro 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.
- TR1 · TR3 · TR4 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 Truro is its own job
Truro is the county's commercial centre and the place most of Cornwall passes through, so it is where we are based and where we can usually get to you quickest. The city packs an unusual amount of variety into a small area: Georgian merchant houses on Lemon Street, flats carved out of the floors above the shops on Boscawen Street, and sprawling modern estates out at Threemilestone and Highertown.
The property here
Central Truro is dominated by Georgian and Victorian townhouses, a great many of them listed or in the conservation area, and a large number since divided into flats and offices. Original pipework runs in awkward places and rarely where the drawings suggest. Out at Highertown, Threemilestone and Gloweth the stock flips to post-war and modern estate housing with conventional layouts and, increasingly, first-generation combis now old enough to need replacing.
What catches people out in Truro
The city-centre flat conversions are the ones that catch people out. A leak on a second-floor bathroom above a shop does not stay a second-floor problem — it becomes three businesses' problem within the hour, and access has to be arranged with people who are trading. We plan those jobs around the building rather than just the flat. Truro also sits where the Kenwyn and the Allen meet before the tidal Truro River, so the lower-lying parts of the city have a genuine history of water where it shouldn't be.
Emergency plumbing in Truro — what actually matters
When the flat above floods the shop below
In the centre a burst on an upper floor becomes several people's emergency at once, and the person who can actually reach the stopcock is often not the person who has noticed the water. Describe the building layout in the form and we will tell you who needs to do what first when we call.
Emergencies in listed property
The instinct in an emergency is to cut access wherever is quickest. In a listed building that can turn a repairable leak into a much more serious problem. We make it safe first, then take the least destructive route to the fault rather than the fastest one.
Terraces and shared services
In a terrace the leak is not always in the house that noticed it, and shared drains mean a blockage two doors down can surface in your kitchen. Worth mentioning on the phone if your neighbours have had trouble too — it changes where we look first.
The stopcock that will not turn
The most common problem we hit on estate housing is an original gate valve that has seized solid, so the water cannot be stopped at the moment it most needs stopping. If yours has not been turned in years, try it now while nothing is wrong — that is genuinely useful advice and it costs you nothing.
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 Truro
Truro is well served by mains gas across the city and the main suburbs, though outlying villages towards Chacewater and Shortlanesend can be a mixed picture.
Where we work around Truro
TR1, TR3, TR4 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 Truro Cathedral, Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske, Lemon Quay? That is well within our normal patch.
Everything else we do in Truro
Plumbers in Truro
Leaks, taps, toilets, tanks, pipework and everything else that carries water around a house.
Read moreBoiler repair in Truro
Fault-finding and repair on gas, oil and LPG boilers — diagnosis first, parts second.
Read moreBoiler installation in Truro
New boilers and full replacements, sized properly to the house rather than to the old one.
Read moreBoiler servicing in Truro
Annual servicing and landlord gas safety certificates — the full check, not a five-minute glance.
Read moreBathrooms in Truro
Complete bathroom installations, managed start to finish by the people doing the plumbing.
Read moreCentral heating in Truro
Radiators, pipework, power flushing, controls and full system installations.
Read moreEmergency plumbing in Truro — 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 Truro as well as the town?
Yes — Highertown, Threemilestone, Gloweth, Malpas, Kenwyn, Newbridge, Shortlanesend, Chacewater and Playing Place are all part of our normal Truro 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 Truro?
We are based on the Truro side of the county, so city callouts are typically the fastest response we offer.
Need emergency plumbing in Truro?
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.