How bad a leak becomes is decided long before a plumber arrives. It is decided by whether anybody in the house knows where the water turns off, and whether the stop tap actually turns when it is asked to.
WS Gas Solutions covers plumbing across Blackpool. This is the short version worth knowing now, while everything is dry.
Find the isolation points today
There is a main stop tap, commonly under the kitchen sink or near where the supply enters the property, and an external one near the boundary. Most houses also have small isolation valves on the pipework feeding individual basins, toilets and appliances, which let one fitting be shut down without turning off the whole house.
Find them, turn them to confirm they move, and tell everyone in the household. A stop tap that has seized is a manageable problem on a dry afternoon and a serious one at midnight.
- Main stop tap located and confirmed to turn.
- External stop tap found near the boundary.
- Local isolation valves identified at each fitting.
The order of operations
Shut off the nearest isolation valve, or the main stop tap if there is not one. Open a low tap to drain the pressure so the leak slows. If water is anywhere near lighting or sockets, switch that circuit off and leave it off. Only then start containing what has already escaped.
That order matters because most people begin with towels, which does nothing to stop water still arriving. Stopping the supply first is what limits the damage; everything after that is tidying.
Capture the evidence before you clear up
Photograph where the water is before mopping. The pattern of where it went and where it did not is the most useful diagnostic information available, and it vanishes the moment the floor is dry. Note the time, and whether it started suddenly or built up.
If it is intermittent rather than constant, note what was running when it appeared: the shower, the washing machine, the heating firing up. Intermittent leaks are solved by the pattern, and only the household can see the pattern.
- Photograph the spread before mopping.
- Note whether it appeared suddenly or gradually.
- Record what was running when it appeared.
Clean water or waste, and why it changes the response
Say whether it is clean water from the supply or waste from a drain, because they are different jobs with different urgency and different equipment. Waste water escaping inside a property is a hygiene issue as well as a plumbing one and it should be described as such when calling.
WS Gas Solutions covers plumbing alongside central heating and bathrooms work, so where a leak turns out to be part of a wider problem, a failing shower tray, a bathroom that needs attention, it can be picked up as one piece of work instead of three separate visits.
Related pages
Questions customers ask
What should I do first when I find a leak?
Shut off the nearest isolation valve or the main stop tap, then open a low tap to drain the pressure. Turn off any electrical circuit near the water. Containing the spill comes after stopping the supply, not before.
Should I clean up before the plumber arrives?
Photograph it first. Where the water reached and where it did not is genuinely useful for diagnosis, and once the floor is dried that information is gone for good.
My leak only appears sometimes, what does that mean?
Intermittent leaks are usually tied to something that runs: a shower, an appliance, or the heating firing. Note what was in use when it appeared, because that pattern is what identifies the source.
Know where the water turns off, stop the supply before you reach for towels, and photograph it before you clear up. Those three habits decide how expensive a leak turns out to be.
WS Gas Solutions covers plumbing across Blackpool. The contact page reaches them.
