What to do in a plumbing emergency
Posted by jason pinder on Saturday, November 19, 2011
What to do in a plumbing emergency
The most important thing in all emergency is to stay carm and not to panic.
Dealing with a Frozen pipe
1. Turn off your main water supply which can be found under the kitchen sink or at the bottem or your garden entrance ( pathways under a cover )
2. If the frozen pipe is not controlled by a valve and is running from a storage cistern, check that it hasn't split.
3. If the pipe has split, empty the cistern by turning on the cold water tap and flushing the toilet or by siphoning the water out of the cistern with a hose. 4. Then call your plumber.
5. If the pipe has not split, you will be able to try warm up the pipe by using hot water bottles or an electric hairdryer that if the wife will allow you to do so
Most Important rules to follow when dealing with frozen pipes
- all way be careful not to heat up the pipe to quickly as this might make the pipe split. It might also expose a split that you did not notice earlier and cause a heavy flow of water.
- When using the hairdryer it is very important to make sure the pipe as no splits as we all know electricity and water are very dangerous together.
- Never use a naked flame to unfreeze a frozen pipe.
Dealing with a brust pipe
1. Turn off the stop-cocks (stop Valves) one by one to isolate the leak.
2. If this does not work turn on all the cold water taps so that the pipe work and the water systerms can drain completely. Its very important that you do not turn on your hot water taps.
3. The last thing to do before calling your plumber in to turn off the system and electrical immersion heaters or if you use solid foul in your house turn off the heating system the fire die out.
4. Get a recommended plumber to call round ( A plumber you can turst )
5. If you have had wires exposed to the water make sure that you get a recommended electriction to fix it for you
Helpfull tips
- Sagging waste pipe work, resulting from loose or missing pipe clips, can create blockages over time. Refix clips or renew as necessary.
- Creaking pipe work can be caused by expansion during heat transfer. Ensure that hot and cols water pipes are clipped apart from one another and cut outs in joists are sufficiently sized.
- When undertaking simple DIY repairs to leaking compression fittings, always reseal with the use of PTFE tape. This is an elasticated and wafer thin tape which prevents against water from weeping through the thread of the fitting.
- When installing a new washing machine or tumble dryer, ALWAYS remove the transit bolts before placing through its first cycle.
- Protect against frozen pipe work from developing into burst joints in loft cavities by installing wrap around foam insulation.
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