24/7 Emergency Plumbers
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What an emergency call-out costs, and what affects it

People search for what an emergency plumber costs before they call, and they deserve a proper answer. We do not publish prices, because an honest number depends on things we cannot know until you tell us. What we can do is explain what the charge is built from.

Time of day. A call attended in normal working hours is charged differently from one attended at midnight or on a Sunday. Out of hours work costs more because it costs more to provide.

Whether it genuinely needs to be out of hours. If your problem can safely wait until the next working day, waiting costs less, and we will tell you when that is the case rather than sending someone at a premium.

How long the job takes, and access. Labour is the main component of most emergency jobs. A burst pipe reached easily under a sink is a different job from one buried in a solid floor or boxed in behind tiling.

Parts. Some jobs are made safe on the first visit and completed later once a part is available. Where a part is needed, that is separate from the labour and we tell you what it is.

When you call, we explain the charging structure that applies at that time of day, before anyone gets in a van, so you decide with the information in front of you. We do not attend and then present a number you have not heard.

What counts as a plumbing emergency

These need someone now.

• A burst pipe or uncontrolled leak. Water escaping that you cannot stop, or water coming through a ceiling. Turn off the stopcock immediately and call.
• Water near electrics. Water running onto light fittings, near sockets or near a consumer unit. Keep out of the area.
• A leaking boiler. Water inside the case is both a water and an electrical risk. Turn it off and call.
• No heating or hot water in genuinely cold weather, particularly with young children, elderly residents or anyone unwell in the property.
• A drain backing up into the house, or sewage surcharging from a manhole or gully.
• No water at all, where the water company has not turned the supply off.

What can honestly wait until morning

We would rather you kept your money than paid out of hours rates unnecessarily.

• A dripping tap. Annoying, wasteful, not urgent. Put a bowl under it.
• A running toilet, if you have another one or can close its isolation valve.
• A slow draining sink or bath that still drains eventually, or one cold radiator while the rest of the heating works.
• A small leak you have managed to isolate, with an isolation valve or the stopcock.
• No hot water in mild weather where the heating still works and nobody in the house is vulnerable.
• A boiler fault code with the heating still running. Note the code down and book a normal appointment.
• A boiler that has simply lost pressure. If the gauge reads below roughly 1 bar, the boiler has shut down to protect itself, and repressurising through the filling loop takes most householders a few minutes. That is not an emergency and you should not be paying anyone at night for it.

If you are unsure which category you are in, ring us and describe it. We will tell you honestly.

Find your stopcock now, before you need it

How much damage a burst pipe does depends almost entirely on how quickly the water goes off, and that depends on whether you already know where your stopcock is.

Where to look. Under the kitchen sink is by far the most common location. Also check a downstairs cloakroom, under the stairs, an airing cupboard, a garage, or wherever the water main enters. In flats it may be in a communal riser. There is usually a second stopcock outside under a small cover at the boundary, operated with a stopcock key.

Test it. Turn it clockwise until it closes, open a cold tap to confirm the flow stops, then open it fully again. If it is stiff, seized or weeping, get it replaced now. A stopcock that will not turn in an emergency is the same as having no stopcock. Make sure everyone in the household knows where it is.

Isolating the water in an emergency

1. Turn the internal stopcock off, clockwise.
2. Open all the cold taps downstairs to drain the pipework down.
3. If the leak is on the hot side or from a cylinder, turn the boiler or immersion heater off too.
4. Look for local isolation valves. Most modern installations have small in-line valves under sinks, behind toilets and at appliances, closed with a screwdriver turn across the flow. That may isolate one fitting without shutting the house down.
5. Move belongings clear and photograph the damage before you clean up.

Water and electricity

Be careful, and when in doubt do nothing. Do not touch electrical equipment, sockets, switches or appliances that are wet or that water is running near, and do not stand in water to reach anything electrical. If water is coming through a ceiling into light fittings, do not switch those lights on or off, and keep out of the room below.

Do not attempt to operate, dry out or investigate a consumer unit yourself. If you believe the electrics have been affected, that is a job for a qualified electrician, and if the situation feels dangerous, leave the area and call your electricity network operator on 105.

Gas emergencies

If you smell gas or suspect a gas escape:

• Do not use light switches, doorbells or any electrical switch.
• Do not use a phone inside the building, and do not smoke or light anything.
• Open doors and windows.
• Turn the gas off at the emergency control valve by the meter if you can reach it safely.
• Leave the property, then call us on 01462 506 374.

We are Gas Safe registered and we answer the phone 24 hours a day.

Realistic response times

We will not print a guaranteed response time, because nobody can honestly guarantee one. How quickly we reach you depends on where our engineers are, what else is in hand, and how far you are from where we are working. Proximity matters. We give you a realistic time on the phone rather than an optimistic one, and if we cannot get to you quickly enough we say so straight away.

Frequently asked questions

How much is an emergency plumber?

It depends on the time of day, whether the visit is out of hours, how long the job takes and whether parts are needed. We explain the charging structure that applies to your call on the phone, before we attend.

Is it cheaper to wait until morning?

Usually, yes, if the problem can safely wait. If you can isolate the water and nothing is being damaged, a normal appointment costs less than an out of hours one, and we will tell you honestly when that is the sensible choice.

Are you Gas Safe registered?

Yes. Anyone working on gas appliances in your home must be, and you are entitled to ask to see the card.

My boiler has lost pressure in the middle of the night. Do I need you now?

Probably not. If the gauge is below roughly 1 bar, repressurising through the filling loop usually restarts it, and most people can do that themselves. If it drops again quickly there is a leak, and that is a normal appointment, not a midnight one.

Where we cover: Our emergency plumbers cover Hertfordshire and the surrounding counties, including Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth, Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Ware, St Albans, Harpenden.