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Emergency Plumber

Water where it should not be? Shut it off, then let us take it from there

A burst pipe, a ceiling dripping into the flat below, a tank overflowing, a toilet that will not stop, a boiler leaking onto the kitchen floor. Emergency plumbing across London, with clear pricing before anyone starts work, whatever the hour.

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ExcellentMany five-star reviews
Emergency Plumber

What people say once the water has stopped

Reviews

Excellent

Rated by London homeowners and landlords

  • Boiler repair, flat

    Boiler locked out on a Sunday evening and the flat was freezing by Monday. Explained the fault code over the phone, turned up when they said, had the part on the van. Heating back on the same visit.

    Sarah M.Reviewed on Google

  • New combi boiler

    Got a written quote with the boiler model, the flush and the filter all listed, nothing added later. Two days of work, tidy, and they talked me through the controls before leaving.

    Daniel O.Reviewed on Google

  • Landlord gas certificate

    Needed a CP12 quickly for a tenancy renewal. Booked for the next morning, the tenant said the engineer was polite and quick, and the certificate was in my inbox that afternoon.

    Priya K.Reviewed on Google

  • Blocked kitchen drain

    Kitchen sink had been slow for weeks and then stopped altogether. Cleared it, showed me the fat build-up on the camera, and gave honest advice on stopping it happening again.

    Tom R.Reviewed on Google

  • Radiators cold at the bottom

    Three radiators were cold at the bottom however much I bled them. Power flush took most of a day and the difference is obvious, the whole house heats up far faster now.

    Helen W.Reviewed on Google

  • Leak under the bathroom floor

    Water was coming through the kitchen ceiling and I feared the whole floor coming up. They traced it to one joint on the bath waste and only lifted two boards. Very relieved.

    Marcus L.Reviewed on Google

  • Bathroom refit

    Full bathroom, old one stripped out and a walk-in shower put in. Plumbing, tiling and electrics all handled by the same people, so nothing fell between the gaps. Really pleased.

    Aisha B.Reviewed on Google

  • Annual boiler service

    Straightforward service, no upselling. Checked everything, cleaned the condensate trap, adjusted the pressure and explained what the readings meant. Booked again for next year.

    George P.Reviewed on Google

What the work involves

Plumbing emergencies are about water going somewhere it should not, fast. The first thing that matters is stopping it, and the second is a plumber who arrives knowing what they are walking into. This page tells you what to do in the first few minutes, what counts as an emergency, and how an emergency call-out from Dependable Heating actually works, including what it costs and when.

The service covers the failures that cannot wait: burst and split pipes, failed joints, leaking cylinders and tanks, overflowing cisterns, blocked toilets in properties with only one, failed stopcocks, frozen pipes, water coming through ceilings and light fittings, and total loss of water or hot water. It is the same engineers who do the everyday plumbing work and the boiler breakdown repairs, so a heating emergency and a plumbing emergency are the same phone call.

Coverage spans the areas served across London, and the honest position on timing is this: you are told when someone can be there when you make contact, and that time is kept.

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01

Emergency plumbing callout: what to do first

Before anything else, find the stopcock and turn it clockwise until it stops. In most London homes it is under the kitchen sink; in flats it may be in a hallway cupboard, a utility cupboard on the landing or a boxed-in riser. If water is near electrics, switch the affected circuit off at the consumer unit, or the whole board if you are not sure which. Open the cold taps to drain the pipework down. Put something under the drip. Move what can be moved.

If the stopcock will not turn, do not fight it with a wrench. Look for an external stop valve under a small cover in the pavement or front garden, or ask the building manager for the riser valve. If the water is from the heating system rather than the mains (the boiler pressure gauge dropping is the tell), turn the boiler off so it stops trying to run with no water.

Then send the details: what is leaking, where, whether it has stopped with the stopcock, and whether it is affecting a neighbour. That is what decides what goes on the van.

02

Out-of-hours availability and response

Emergency cover runs outside normal hours for the failures that genuinely cannot wait until morning. When you make contact you get a straight answer about how soon someone can be with you and what the out-of-hours price is, before you commit. What you will not get is a promise of a time that cannot be kept; a realistic window that is honoured is worth more at eleven at night than an optimistic one that is not.

Not everything that feels urgent needs an out-of-hours visit, and you are told when it does not. A dripping tap, a slow drain or a radiator that is cold can wait until the morning at the daytime price, and if the stopcock has stopped the leak, so can many leaks. Water through a ceiling, sewage backing up, no water at all or a leak that cannot be isolated are the ones worth a night call.

03

Burst pipes, leaks and water shut-offs

Burst pipes in London are usually one of three things: a frozen and split pipe in an unheated loft or outside wall, a compression joint that has worked loose over years of expansion and contraction, or a plastic push-fit that was never fully inserted and finally let go. The emergency repair isolates the section, cuts out the damage and remakes it in copper or a properly inserted push-fit, then pressure tests it before the water goes back on.

Where the leak is hidden, under a floor or behind a tiled wall, the emergency visit isolates it and gets the rest of the property working again. Finding it without wrecking the room is a leak detection job for the daytime, with the right equipment.

Seized stopcocks are an emergency in themselves. If yours will not turn, having it replaced with a lever valve during a planned visit is one of the cheapest bits of insurance a property can have.

04

Boiler, heating and hot water emergencies

No heating in January with young children or an elderly relative in the house is an emergency. So is a boiler leaking water onto the floor, a cylinder that has split, or a boiler making a noise that sounds wrong. The engineer who attends is the same one who does boiler repairs, so the visit is diagnosis and repair where the part is carried, or a safe isolation and a quoted return where it is not. Heating that has failed because of a system fault, such as a pump, a zone valve or an airlock, is often fixed on the spot.

A smell of gas is not a plumbing emergency; it is a gas emergency. Turn the gas off at the meter, open windows, do not switch anything electrical on or off, and call the National Gas Emergency number, 0800 111 999. The repair follows once the supply is safe.

05

Common emergency repairs and temporary fixes

Sometimes the right answer at midnight is to make it safe and finish it in daylight. A cracked cistern is isolated and the flat gets its water back; the replacement cistern comes the next day. A leaking cylinder is drained and bypassed so the cold water works; the new cylinder is quoted properly. A split pipe in an awkward place gets a temporary repair clamp and a permanent joint when the wall can be opened. You are told which it is, what the permanent fix is and what it costs, before you agree to anything.

06

Pricing, charges and how emergency work is billed

Emergency work is priced before it starts, like everything else. Out-of-hours visits carry a higher call-out price than daytime ones, and that price is stated when you get in touch, so the decision to have someone out at night is yours with the number in front of you. The price covers attending and the first hour of work; if the repair needs more time or parts, that is agreed before it continues. The invoice lists what was done and what was fitted, which is what a landlord, an agent or an insurer needs.

07

Why customers choose this emergency plumbing service

Because the answer on the phone is honest. Because the price is known before the van moves. Because the plumber who turns up also does heating, so a boiler leak and a burst pipe are one visit, not two firms. And because the temporary fix is explained as a temporary fix, with the permanent one quoted, rather than dressed up as the job being done.

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How a job runs

How an emergency call runs

Four steps, and the first one is yours. The faster the water is off, the smaller the job.

  1. Reading the job through before the visit

    01

    Stop the water

    Stopcock off, electrics off if they are wet, taps open to drain down. If the stopcock is seized, find the external valve or the building riser.

  2. Checking the plans and paperwork

    02

    Tell us what is happening

    What is leaking, where, and whether it has stopped. You are given an arrival window and the price for the call-out before you commit.

  3. Engineer drilling a wall for a fixing

    03

    Make it safe and fix it

    Isolate, repair or temporarily cap, pressure test, and get the property working again. Anything needing parts is quoted before the return.

  4. A finished boiler and cylinder installation

    04

    The permanent fix

    Where a temporary repair was made, the proper repair is booked for daylight at the daytime price, with the drying-out advice you need.

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Leak stopped for now? Get the proper repair booked

Send the details through the form and an engineer calls back with a price and a time.

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Where we work

Emergency plumbing across London

Night calls come from everywhere: basement flats in Westminster with water coming in from the street, top-floor conversions in Islington dripping into three flats below, semis in Croydon with a frozen loft pipe. The towns below are covered.

  • London
  • City of Westminster
  • Islington
  • Chelsea
  • Battersea
  • Holloway
  • Brixton
  • Peckham
  • Fulham
  • Archway
  • Shepherds Bush
  • Canary Wharf
  • Stamford Hill
  • Willesden
  • Cricklewood
  • Putney
  • Streatham
  • Stratford
  • Catford
  • Canning Town
  • Acton
  • Wimbledon
  • Tottenham
  • Finchley
  • Leytonstone
  • Walthamstow
  • Mitcham
  • Wembley
  • Beckenham
  • Brent
  • Morden
  • Edmonton
  • Eltham
  • Croydon
  • Barking
  • Ilford
  • Carshalton
  • Enfield Town
  • Chingford
  • Greenford
  • Harrow
  • South Croydon
  • Hounslow
  • Welling
  • Southall
  • Heston
  • Surbiton
  • Sutton
  • Becontree
  • Purley
  • Borehamwood
  • Ewell
  • Bexley
  • Hayes
  • Dagenham
  • Feltham
  • Banstead
  • Cheshunt
  • Esher
  • Romford
  • Dartford
  • Watford
  • Uxbridge
  • Staines
  • Leatherhead
  • Hatfield
  • Redhill
  • St Albans
  • Grays

Jobs that often go with this one

  • Plumber

    Plumber

    Taps, toilets, ball valves, stopcocks, pipework and the small jobs that turn into big ones if they are left. A local plumber for London homes and flats.

  • Leak Detection

    Leak Detection

    Damp patches, pressure that keeps dropping, a water bill that has jumped. Hidden leaks traced under floors and behind walls, then repaired with minimal disruption.

  • Boiler Repair

    Boiler Repair

    Fault codes, lockouts, low pressure, leaks, no heating or no hot water. Diagnosed properly, priced before the repair starts, and fixed with the right parts.

Resources

Guides worth reading before the visit

FAQ

Emergency Plumber: the questions people ask first

What counts as a plumbing emergency?

Water you cannot stop, water coming through a ceiling or near electrics, sewage backing up, no water at all, no hot water or heating in a vulnerable household, or a leak affecting a neighbour. A drip that has stopped with the stopcock can usually wait for a daytime price, and you are told so.

How much does an emergency plumber cost?

You are given the call-out price for the time of day before anyone is sent. It covers attending and the first hour. Anything beyond that, or any parts, is agreed before the work continues.

My stopcock will not turn. What do I do?

Do not force it. Look for the external stop valve under a small cover near the front boundary, or ask the building manager for the riser valve. Turn the boiler off if the leak is on the heating. Then get in touch and say the stopcock is seized, so the engineer brings what is needed to replace it.

Do you cover water coming through the ceiling from the flat above?

Yes. The visit isolates what can be isolated, makes your flat safe and helps identify where the water is coming from. The repair itself may need to be done in the flat above, and the report from the visit is what you need for the neighbour, the managing agent or an insurer.

Can you fix a burst pipe permanently at night?

Often, where the pipe is accessible. Where it is behind tiles or under a floor, the emergency visit makes it safe and the permanent repair is done in daylight, which is cheaper and better for the building.

What if I smell gas?

That is a gas emergency, not a plumbing one. Turn the gas off at the meter, open windows, avoid switches, and call the National Gas Emergency number on 0800 111 999. Once the supply is made safe, the repair to the appliance or pipework can be booked.

Anything not covered here is answered on our contact page, and the longer reads on boilers, radiators and leaks live in our heating resources.

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ExcellentMany five-star reviews

Say what is leaking and whether it has stopped

Where the water is, whether the stopcock worked and whether anyone else is affected. The engineer calls back with a time and the price for the call-out.

  • A written price before any work starts
  • Boilers, gas, plumbing, drains and bathrooms under one roof
  • London and the towns around it

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