How to handle burst or frozen pipe emergencies, plus preventative measures to keep your flat's water supply running smoothly.

Burst Pipe Emergency

A burst pipe is classed as a water emergency - it can cause serious damage to your flat's structure and electrical wiring. The following steps describe what you should do as soon as you discover a burst pipe:

1. Turn off the water supply

• Turn off the main stop tap
  

Turn off the main stop tap - you should find this under the kitchen sink or where the service pipe enters your flat.

• Drain the system - turn on all your cold taps.
• If water has been leaking through for some time and the ceilings are bulging - be careful, rooms may not be safe to enter.
• If you notice the leak quickly you can catch dripping water in buckets. Punch a hole in the ceiling to let water out if it starts to bulge.

2. Turn off water heating systems

• Switch off the central heating, immersion heater and any other water heating systems.
• If the central heating uses solid fuel, let this die out.
• Once water heating has shut down, turn on the hot taps to help drain the system.
  

3. Turn off the electrics

• If water leaks near your electrics or electrical appliances, switch off the mains immediately. If it is wet, don't touch them!
  

4. Call a professional to repair the damage

• Electrical wiring damaged by water can be very dangerous - you will need to call in a professional is this happens.

Finding a reliable plumber to repair the burst or frozen pipe(s) is simple – see http://www.flat-living.co.uk/services/plumbers.htm

See also How to handle frozen pipe emergencies

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DISCLAIMER

Any external products and services listed do not necessarily carry the endorsement of flat-living or imply a recommendation. flat-living.co.uk does not recommend any of the advertisers and cannot be held responsible for any work undertaken by or purchased from any advertiser on this site.

Whilst flat-living makes every effort to ensure that the articles included in the web site are accurate at the time of publication it is inevitable that, as time goes by and circumstances change, the articles may contain out of date information. Readers are strongly urged to check the content of these articles before taking any action that could have legal or financial consequences. flat-living shall not be liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising from inaccuracies.