Burst pipes or leaking valves are the last thing you want to be dealing with, however if they are not rectified quickly, then water leaks can cause huge amount of damage in your home, even small drips can slowly cause considerable damage, sometimes affecting the integrity and stability of floors and walls.

On the first sign of a leak, the first thing any homeowner should do is try and identify the source of the leak and isolate.

Most toilets, taps and plumbed appliances have isolation valves fitted which allows you to isolate the water just to that particular outlet, this can be very handy if the leak is situated after the isolation valve.

Some isolation valves have a small handle, which can simply be turned 90 degrees to shut off the water, others have a slot in them which means you will need a small flat head screwdriver to close them by turning the slotted head 90 degrees.

If there is no isolation valve installed, or the leak is before the isolation valve, then you will need to shut off the water to the whole property.

Closing your Stop Cock will isolate the mains water entering your property and in most cases should isolate or slow down the leak. Stop Cocks can be located anywhere in your home, but will usually be found on the ground floor. The most common place for Stop Cocks to be located is beneath the kitchen sink, inside the cupboard, but can sometimes be below the cupboard and can only be accessed by removing the kickboard first.

Don’t wait for an emergency; find where your Stop Cock is within your home should you ever need to access it, and keep the telephone numbers of Emergency Plumbers in a prominent place in your home.

Unfortunately closing the Stop Cock may not stop your leak in all circumstances. Leaks that are coming from heating appliances like radiators that are connected to a water storage system such as a header tank or water cylinder will continue to leak until all the stored water is gone.

Place a bucket or similar container under the leak to catch as much water as you can and prevent further damage, switch off your boiler and heating system and open all cold water taps and flush toilets to speed up the process of safely removing as much stored water in pipes and header tanks as you can.

Important!

It is not recommended that all hot water taps are drained down unless you know exactly what type of heating/hot water system you have. In rare circumstances, a vacuum can form in unvented pressurised systems, and hot water cylinders can implode when the mains water inlet is isolated and hot water is drained from the cylinder.

The area around the leak should now be cleaned up as much as possible, using towels, rags and mops, remove as much water as you can to reduce the amount of damage that can be caused and to prevent mould and mildew from forming.

If the leak is substantial or has occurred in an area with electrical outlets, and you can see or suspect that water may have penetrated them, it’s advisable to switch off your electrics until the area has fully dried.

Now that you have the leak isolated and the area cleaned up, it’s time to identify the cause and fix the leak or replace the failed part. Unless you’re a confident and competent DIYer, it is recommended to contact a reputable professional plumber to complete the repairs and check for any further damage.

In the event of a more serious leak, contact an Emergency Plumber straight away after isolating your main water supply.