Emergency Plumbing: What to Do Before the Plumber Arrives

A plumbing emergency can happen at any time — a burst pipe in the middle of the night, a leaking radiator valve, an overflowing toilet, or a sudden loss of hot water in the dead of winter. Knowing what to do in the first few minutes can be the difference between a minor repair and thousands of pounds of water damage.

Here is your action plan for the most common plumbing emergencies.

The First Thing to Do: Turn Off the Water

Whatever the emergency, your first move should almost always be to turn off the water supply. This stops the flow and limits the damage while you wait for help.

Your internal stopcock is usually in one of these locations:

Under the kitchen sink
In a utility room or downstairs toilet
Under the stairs
In a garage attached to the house

Turn it **clockwise** to shut it off. If you have not used it in years, it may be stiff. A gentle tap with a spanner can help free it, but do not force it to the point of breaking.

Your external stopcock is under a small metal or plastic cover in the pavement outside your property. You may need a stopcock key to turn it. This is your backup if the internal one is seized or broken.

Burst Pipe

Turn off the water at the stopcock immediately

Turn off your central heating to stop the system pumping water through the split

Open all cold taps to drain the system faster and reduce pressure

If the burst is near any electrics, turn off the power at the consumer unit and do not touch anything wet near sockets or switches

Collect water with buckets, towels, and containers to limit floor and ceiling damage

If water is coming through a ceiling, place a bucket underneath and — if the ceiling is bulging — carefully pierce it with a screwdriver to release the water in a controlled way rather than letting it collapse

Leaking Radiator or Valve

If a radiator is leaking from the valve or a joint:

Turn off the heating

Turn the valve clockwise to close it (both the thermostatic valve and the lockshield valve at the other end)

Place towels and a container underneath

If the leak is from the body of the radiator itself, it likely needs replacing — turn off the heating and the valves, and call a plumber

Overflowing Toilet

If your toilet will not stop filling:

Lift the cistern lid and check the float valve — sometimes the float gets stuck and a gentle push frees it

If that does not work, turn off the isolation valve on the water supply pipe to the toilet. This is a small valve on the pipe coming out of the wall behind or beside the toilet. Turn it clockwise or use a flat screwdriver if it has a slot

If there is no isolation valve, turn off the mains at the stopcock

No Hot Water or Heating

If your boiler has stopped working:

**Check the pressure gauge** — if it is below 1.0 bar, repressurise using the filling loop

**Check the thermostat and timer** — make sure they have not been accidentally changed

**Check the power supply** — is the boiler switched on? Has a fuse tripped?

**Check for error codes** — most modern boilers display a fault code on their screen. Note it down for your engineer

**Check the condensate pipe** — in cold weather, the condensate pipe (a small plastic pipe that runs from the boiler to an outside drain) can freeze, causing the boiler to lock out. Pouring warm water over the pipe can thaw it

Protect Your Home All Year Round

Some simple habits reduce the risk of a plumbing emergency:

**Know where your stopcock is** and test it once a year
**Lag exposed pipes** before winter (see our guide on preventing frozen pipes)
**Service your boiler annually** to catch problems before they become emergencies
**Check under sinks regularly** for slow leaks — a damp patch under the kitchen sink is easier to fix now than a rotted floor later
**Do not ignore dripping taps** — the washer is cheap to replace, and constant dripping can waste over 5,000 litres of water a year

Call JF Plumbing and Heating

If you have a plumbing emergency in the Wirral or Merseyside, call JF Plumbing & Heating. We offer prompt response times and can talk you through immediate steps over the phone while we are on our way. Save our number so you have it when you need it.