HERTFORDSHIRE, BEDFORDSHIRE & CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Emergency Plumber in Sawston
Water coming through the ceiling in Sawston? Ring 01462 506 374 at any hour. A person answers, helps you stop the water and tells you the charges before anyone sets off.
Is this one for tonight
The line between a real emergency and an expensive night visit is whether the water can be stopped. If it can, and nothing electrical is wet, a weekday booking costs less.
Tonight: a split pipe still running after the stopcock is closed
Tonight: water tracking along cables or through a ceiling rose
Tonight: foul water coming back up into the house
Can wait: a slow drip from a tap or overflow
Can wait: a leak that stops when its valve is shut
Can wait: a shower that has lost its hot side
That last one is common in Sawston, and it is usually scale in the shower valve, which is a daytime job.
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
Find the internal stopcock and turn it clockwise. If it will not shift, stop, because an old spindle can shear. The stop tap at the boundary, under a small cover, is your fallback.
For a single toilet, tap or appliance, the slotted isolation valve on its pipe does the job with a screwdriver, leaving the rest of the house with water.
Anything electrical getting wet should be switched off at the consumer unit, but only if you can reach it without standing in water. Switch off the boiler or immersion heater if hot water is escaping.
Then open the cold taps to drain the pipes, lift rugs, move furniture and take photographs for your insurer before the clear up starts.
Stopcocks in Sawston houses
The historic core
Along the High Street, some timber-framed houses go back to the late fifteenth century. Supplies were added long after they were built, so the stopcock can be anywhere: a back kitchen, a cellar or under a floor.
Victorian terraces
On New Road and South Terrace, look under the kitchen sink first, then for a small recess in the floor just inside the front door.
The 1960s to 1980s estates
Sawston grew east and south in those decades. The stopcock is usually in the kitchen or tucked in the airing cupboard beside the cylinder.
Newer homes
On the recent estates to the north-west and south and along Babraham Road, look for a valve close to where the supply enters, often in a kitchen or utility cupboard.
Very hard water and stuck valves
Cambridge Water’s figure for the Cambridge Rural zone that serves Sawston is 317.9 mg/l as calcium carbonate for 2025 to 2026. Water that hard furs up stopcocks and isolation valves until they will not close when needed.
Turn your stopcock off and on again once or twice a year so it keeps moving. If it has already seized, a new one is a straightforward weekday job.
Where winter bursts happen
Most Sawston bursts come from the same few places: loft pipes run above the insulation instead of under it, pipes in unheated garages and outbuildings, and runs on outside walls that were never lagged.
A frozen pipe is the moment to act, before the thaw. Close the stopcock while it is frozen, keep naked flames away, and call. If you are going away in cold weather, leave the heating on low.
Whose pipe is it
Cambridge Water supplies the mains, and the pipe up to the boundary stop tap is theirs. From there into the house, the supply pipe is the homeowner’s, and that is where we come in.
Drains follow a similar rule. Since 2011, most shared drains and lateral pipes beyond your boundary belong to the sewerage company. Inside your boundary, a blocked drain is yours, and we clear it with jetting from the van.
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.
Damp by the Cam
Seasonal flooding on the low lying land along the Cam limits the village’s western edge. In a house near there, damp at ground level after wet weather is not always a pipe.
We will tell you which it is. When a leak is real but out of sight, we trace it before lifting floors, as explained on our leak detection in Sawston page.
Out of hours charges, plainly
Between 8am and 5pm on weekdays we charge no call-out fee. Plumbing then costs £140 + VAT for the first hour (£168 including VAT), the minimum charge, and £60 + VAT for each further half hour.
Evening, night and weekend attendances each carry a £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) call-out on top of the hourly rate, and the out of hours rate 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. On reactive call-outs, half the first hour is paid in advance.
Smelling gas in a Sawston home
Go outside. Do not touch switches, doorbells or anything that could spark, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 before anyone else.
Once the supply has been made safe, our Gas Safe engineers can find and fix the cause. Out of hours, gas work costs £225 + VAT for the first hour and then £75 + VAT for each half hour.
After the emergency
The emergency visit stops the water and leaves the pipework sound. Ceilings and floors need to dry before anyone makes good, and your insurer will want photographs and a description of what happened.
Before the engineer leaves, ask for a written line on what failed and how it was fixed. We are Vantage Plumbing and Heating Limited, Gas Safe registered under 956889, with our own engineers and a 12 month labour guarantee.
★★★★★
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
Who do I call about a leak in the road outside?
Cambridge Water, who supply the mains. Leaks on your side of the boundary stop tap are the homeowner’s to fix.
What does a night visit cost?
A £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) call-out on each out of hours attendance, plus the out of hours rate, which we quote before setting off.
My hot shower has gone cold. Is that urgent?
Usually not. In Sawston it is most often scale in the shower valve, which is a weekday repair.
What if I cannot find the stopcock in a new build?
Look near where the supply pipe enters, often in a kitchen or utility cupboard. There is also a stop tap at the boundary.
Do you take a deposit before coming out?
Yes, on reactive call-outs 50% of the first hour is paid up front.
Is the blocked drain outside my house my responsibility?
Inside your boundary, usually yes. Since 2011, most shared drains and laterals beyond it belong to the sewerage company.
Why do stopcocks seize so often here?
The water is very hard, at 317.9 mg/l on Cambridge Water’s figures, and scale builds up inside valves that are never turned.
What should I do if I smell gas?
Leave the house, avoid switches and ring 0800 111 999 first. Once they have made it safe, we deal with the fault.
Areas we cover around Sawston
The whole of Sawston in CB22, from the High Street, Church Lane, Mill Lane and Common Lane through New Road and South Terrace to the estates and the Babraham Road developments.
For planned work in the village, see our Sawston page.
Leak in Sawston right now
Ring 01462 506 374 at any hour. A person answers, guides you to the stopcock and tells you what it will cost before an engineer is sent.
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