Burst pipes can do considerable damage to your home and personal possessions as well as causing huge distress and upset. Please take time to read how you can reduce the risk of burst pipes; and what you should do – if a pipe does burst in your home.
How to avoid frozen pipes
To avoid water pipes from freezing:
- Keep your central heating on continuously between 12°C and 15°C (especially if the property is going to be unoccupied for a period of time)
- Leave kitchen cupboards and loft hatches open to allow warmer air to circulate around pipes and storage tanks
- Know where your mains water stopcock is (this is usually under your kitchen sink)
- Know where your electric fuse box is, keep spare fuses and a torch to hand
- Ensure you have home contents insurance
- Keep emergency repair contact details at hand
- Do not leave taps running and report any running overflows immediately
What to do if you have a burst pipe
In the event of a burst pipe:
- Turn off your electric supply
- Turn off the water mains stopcock. The mains stopcock is usually located underneath the kitchen sink or in the cupboard beneath the stairs.
- Turn off the heating
- Turn off the immersion/water heater
- Turn on all taps in order to drain the water from the system as quickly as possible
- Report the fault to the Property Services Department as soon as possible
- Call Apex – Monday to Friday on: 028 7130 4800 between 9am-5pm. Telecare on 0800 731 3081 (outside office hours).
- Inform your insurance company