HERTFORDSHIRE, BEDFORDSHIRE & CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Emergency Plumber in Baldock
A leak in a listed High Street townhouse and one on Clothall Common start the same way: water off first. Ring 01462 506 374 at any hour and a person will help, then tell you the cost before we set off.
Stop the water before anything else
Most flooded ceilings get worse in the minutes spent hunting for the valve. Work through these in order.
Turn the internal stopcock clockwise until it will not go further
Open the cold taps downstairs so the pipes empty
Give the isolation valve on the leaking toilet, tap or appliance a quarter turn if it has one
Stay away from any socket, light or switch that water has reached
Trip the consumer unit only if you can stand somewhere dry to do it
Lift rugs, move furniture and catch the drips
Then call 01462 506 374. Whoever answers can talk you through a stiff valve.
Get a fixed price before we start
Call and talk to an engineer, or send us the details and we will come back to you with a price.
Tonight, or a weekday morning
Some things cannot wait: water you are unable to stop, water running near electrics, a ceiling that is bowing, or a household with no water where someone elderly, unwell or very young lives.
Plenty of calls can. A tap that drips, a toilet cistern that keeps refilling, a leak that stopped when you shut its valve or a slow waste pipe are all fixed just as well on a weekday.
The difference is money. Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm there is no call-out fee at all, so a job that is safely contained overnight costs you less in the morning.
Where Baldock stopcocks tend to hide
Around the High Street and Whitehorse Street
The council says the vast majority of buildings in the Baldock Conservation Area are listed. Behind the 18th century brick fronts, and in the older timber-framed houses among them, the mains usually came in long after the house was built. Try the cellar head and behind boxed panelling.
Victorian houses
Under the kitchen sink or in a low cupboard by the front door. An old valve may be seized, so turn it steadily.
Clothall Common
This large estate east of the town went up in several phases, and in houses of that kind the stopcock is normally under the kitchen sink or in a utility room, where it was fitted from the start.
The southern streets
Houses to the south have large gardens, so the supply pipe from the boundary can be a long run. Water appearing in the lawn may be a leak on the pipe you own.
What we deal with out of hours
Burst and leaking pipes, including pipes split by frost
No water at all in the house
Toilet cisterns overflowing through the warning pipe
Hot water cylinders leaking from a joint or the tank
Blocked toilets and drains backing up
Central heating or shower pumps that have failed
Leaks from appliance hoses and valves under kitchen units
Our engineers are employed by us, not subcontracted, and the vans are fully stocked.
Surface water, drains and who owns them
North Hertfordshire Council’s evidence for the neighbourhood plan names Icknield Way, Pond Lane, Weston Way and Whitehorse Street as places with a surface water flooding risk. In heavy rain, drains there can struggle.
Since 2011 most shared drains and lateral pipes beyond your boundary belong to the sewerage company, not you. Inside the boundary, the van carries high pressure jetting, and a CCTV drain survey gives you a recording and written report that insurers accept.
Answered by a person, day or night
A genuine 24 hour line, the charges explained before anyone sets off, and the common parts on the van.
The phone call, step by step
A person answers, day or night, and asks where the water is, whether it has stopped and what sort of house it is.
Before anyone sets off you hear the call-out charge, the rate for that time of night and the deposit, which is half of the first hour. You decide whether to go ahead. If the water is off and nothing is unsafe, we may suggest it waits for a weekday.
How out of hours work is charged
Outside Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, every attendance carries a £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) call-out on top of the hourly rate. Out of hours plumbing is £198 + VAT for the first hour on weekday evenings until 8pm and weekends from 8am to 8pm, or £250 + VAT overnight from 8pm to 8am.
In weekday hours there is no call-out, and plumbing costs £140 + VAT for the first hour (£168 including VAT), then £60 + VAT for each half hour after. That first hour is the minimum charge whenever we attend.
Nothing past the first hour happens without you knowing the price. If the job is not what was described, the engineer stops and prices it before carrying on. Every rate is on our pricing page.
After the water has stopped
Where a leak is hidden under a floor or inside a wall, the aim is to pin down the source before anything is lifted, and to agree with you what has to be opened. Leak detection in Baldock covers that in more detail.
Ask the engineer for a written note of what was found, which is what an insurer will want. In homes built before 1970 a lead supply pipe is possible, as the Drinking Water Inspectorate points out, and if we find one we will tell you and price renewing it separately.
If it is gas, not water
A smell of gas comes first. Get everyone outside, leave light switches and appliances alone, and ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 before you ring anyone else.
Once the supply is made safe, our Gas Safe engineers, registration 956889, can find and repair the fault on the boiler or pipework.
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Why choose Vantage
Rated 4.9 on Google from more than 700 reviews across Google, Checkatrade and Trustatrader. Qualified, accredited engineers, a fixed price before any work begins and a labour guarantee on every job, from an established local company with an office team you can actually reach. No job too small.
Gas Safe registered
Company registration 956889. Every gas engineer carries their own Gas Safe ID card, and you can ask to see it.
Refcom F-Gas certified
REF1024550. Legally required for air conditioning installation and servicing, and we hold it.
CHAS Elite accredited
Veriforce CHAS assessed for health and safety, which is why commercial clients and landlords use us.
City & Guilds and BPEC qualified
Qualified, insured engineers on every job. No subcontracted strangers.
700+ reviews, 4.9 on Google
Across Google, Checkatrade and Trustatrader. Read them before you book.
Labour guarantee on every job
12 months on repairs, installations and everything else. Two years on a full bathroom refit. If anything we did develops a fault, we come back and put it right.
Fixed price before we start
The price is agreed with you before any work begins. No hidden extras on the invoice.
24/7, answered by a person
The emergency line is answered every day of the year by someone who can send an engineer, not a call centre.
Fully stocked vans
Five vans carrying the parts that fail most often, so most jobs are fixed on the first visit.
An office team behind every job
An established local business with multiple engineers and a dedicated office team to keep you informed.
Vaillant myREWARDS and Ideal Max accredited
Accredited installer status means extended manufacturer warranties on the boilers we fit.
Emergency response within the hour
Our average response to an emergency call is under an hour across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Trusted & Accredited Professionals
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an emergency for a Baldock household?
Water you cannot stop, water near electrics, a ceiling holding water or no water for a vulnerable person. Most other problems are cheaper fixed on a weekday with no call-out fee.
My house is in the conservation area. Where is the stopcock likely to be?
Anywhere the mains first entered, often at the cellar head, under old floorboards or behind panelling. Find it on a quiet day so you are not searching in the dark.
How much is the out of hours call-out?
It is £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) for each attendance outside weekday working hours, added to the hourly rate. You hear it on the phone before we set off.
Do I pay anything up front?
Yes, on reactive call-outs we take 50% of the first hour in advance. The first hour is the minimum charge.
Water is coming up in my garden. Whose problem is that?
Affinity Water looks after the pipe to your boundary. From there to the house the supply pipe is yours, so a leak on that section is the owner’s to repair.
Can you clear a blocked drain at night?
Yes, the van carries high pressure jetting.
Will I get anything in writing for my insurer?
Ask the engineer for a written note of what was found and done. For drains, a CCTV survey comes with a recording and a written report.
Who will turn up?
One of our own employed engineers, never a subcontractor.
Areas we cover around Baldock
We cover the whole of SG7 from our Stevenage base: the conservation area along the High Street, Hitchin Street, Park Street and Church Street, the Victorian streets, Clothall Common to the east and the quieter residential roads to the south.
As the Growing Baldock sites are built out, those homes are covered too. For planned plumbing jobs rather than urgent ones, see our Baldock page. Our work carries a 12 month labour guarantee.
Water you cannot stop in Baldock
Call 01462 506 374. A person answers day and night, helps you isolate the leak and tells you the charges before an engineer leaves.
Related services
Repairs, leaks and installations
Found without the digging
Kitchen, bathroom and outside
Cleared the same day
All makes, Gas Safe engineers
Every rate, published