HERTFORDSHIRE, BEDFORDSHIRE & CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Emergency Plumber in Codicote
Water coming through a ceiling in Codicote? Turn the stopcock off and ring 01462 506 374. A person answers at any hour and tells you whether it needs someone tonight.
Ring now, or turn it off and wait
The deciding question is whether water is still doing damage once you have done what you can.
Ring now: water still flowing after the stopcock is shut
Ring now: water dripping towards a socket, a ceiling light or the fuse board
Can wait: a dripping tap or a cistern that keeps topping up
Can wait: a leak that stopped when you closed its valve
Anything in the second pair costs less on a weekday between 8am and 5pm, when there is no call-out fee. A home with no water at all, where someone vulnerable lives, is worth the night call.
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.
Turning the water off
The inside stopcock
Turn it clockwise until it stops. If it is an old brass valve that has not moved in years, go gently, because forcing it can shear the spindle.
The stop tap at the boundary
If the inside valve will not budge, the stop tap in the pavement or verge does the same job, though you may need a long key to reach down to it.
Just one appliance
A leaking toilet, basin or washing machine usually has its own isolation valve. A quarter turn with a flat screwdriver shuts it and leaves the rest of the house with water.
Where stopcocks sit around the village
Codicote has houses from about 1600 through to homes still going up, and each era put the valve somewhere different.
Older houses in the conservation area: under the sink, in a cellar or behind a later kitchen unit
New Street terraces: under the sink or inside the original back door
Tower Road and St Albans Road: the kitchen, sometimes hidden behind a newer unit
Hill Road, Meadow Way and The Birches: under the sink, then the airing cupboard
The Elms, The Chestnuts and Valley Road: usually the kitchen or a hall cupboard
Newer homes off Heath Lane and north of The Close: a utility or service cupboard
Find yours on a quiet afternoon and check it turns. A seized valve is far easier to replace on a weekday than at midnight.
Frost up on the high ground
Parts of the parish rise above 120 metres, and frost here bites harder than in the sheltered valleys below. The first hard freeze of winter is when garden taps, outbuilding feeds and pipes in cold lofts give way.
A properly fitted outside tap has its own valve inside the house so it can be shut and drained before winter. If yours does not, close what you can when frost is forecast, and ask us to add one on a weekday visit.
Heavy rain and overloaded drains
The village’s own neighbourhood plan says local sewers are already regularly overwhelmed, and surface water flooding is a real risk, especially along Valley Road and Cowards Lane. When a toilet or gully backs up in a downpour, the cause may be further down the line than your garden.
We carry high pressure jetting on the van. Since 2011 most shared drains and lateral pipes beyond your boundary belong to the sewerage company, so if the blockage is in their section we tell you who to ring.
What we deal with at any hour
Burst and leaking pipes, inside and out
No water, or pressure suddenly gone
Cisterns overflowing through the warning pipe
Leaking hot water cylinders
Blocked toilets
Drains backing up into gullies or the house
Shower and booster pumps that have stopped
The vans carry the common fittings for all of these, so the engineer comes equipped to put it right rather than to look and leave.
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.
What the phone call covers
The person who answers asks what is leaking, whether you have managed to stop it and whereabouts in the village you are. If it can safely wait, you will be told so.
If you want someone to come, you hear the call-out, the hourly rate and the deposit before anyone sets off, and nothing beyond the first hour is done without you knowing the cost.
Night and weekend charges
There is no call-out fee on weekdays between 8am and 5pm. Plumbing then is £140 + VAT (£168 including VAT) for the first hour, which is the minimum, and £60 + VAT per half hour after it.
At any other time, each Codicote attendance adds a call-out of £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) to the hourly rate, and the out of hours plumbing rate is given to you on the phone. We ask for half the first hour in advance.
Should the work turn out to be something other than you described, it is priced with you before the engineer goes further. Every figure is on our pricing page.
If it is gas, not water
Leave the house, touch no switches, strike no flame and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 before you ring us.
When they have made it safe, our Gas Safe engineers, registered under 956889, can trace and repair the fault.
Once the water is off
A hidden leak, such as a damp patch with no obvious source or a meter that never stops, is rarely a night job. A leak detection visit in Codicote finds the source first, so only the right bit of floor or wall is opened.
You get a written note of what failed and what we did, which is what an insurer will want to see. Our work carries a 12 month labour guarantee, and making good plaster or decoration is a separate job.
★★★★★
Rated 4.9 on Google by the people we work for
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 if my stopcock is an old brass valve that will not turn?
Leave it and use the stop tap at the boundary. We can fit a new inside valve once the leak is dealt with.
Is a split garden tap worth an out of hours call?
Usually not, if you can isolate it. Shut it off inside and have it fixed on a weekday with no call-out fee.
Do you charge more because Codicote is a village?
No. The same rates apply everywhere we cover.
Who deals with a leak in the road outside?
Affinity Water supplies Codicote and looks after the pipe up to your boundary. Everything from the boundary to your taps is your pipe.
My toilet backs up whenever it pours. Why?
It may be the shared sewer struggling rather than your own pipe. We can jet and check it, and tell you if the problem belongs to the sewerage company.
What will I be told when I ring?
How to stop the water, whether it can wait, and exactly what a visit costs before anyone leaves.
How much is the out of hours call-out?
It is £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) per attendance, added to the out of hours rate of £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.
What counts as an emergency in Codicote?
Water you cannot stop, water near electrics, a ceiling holding water, or no water where someone vulnerable lives.
Do you take a deposit?
We do: half the first hour, taken before the visit.
Areas we cover around Codicote
We cover the whole village, from the High Street, St Albans Road and Heath Lane to New Street, Tower Road, Bury Lane, Valley Road, Hill Road and Meadow Way.
The newer homes on the edge of the village are covered too, as is the lane out towards Codicote Bottom. Planned jobs are covered on our Codicote plumbers page.
Leak in Codicote right now
Close the stopcock and call 01462 506 374. You will speak to a person, day or night, and hear the cost before we set off.
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