Plumbing Emergency Over Christmas

Can it wait until after Boxing Day?

Plenty of plumbing firms close between Christmas Eve and the new year, and the ones that stay open are busy. So the first question is whether this is an emergency or something you can manage for a few days.

• Cannot wait: water you cannot stop, water near electrics, a ceiling bulging with water, no water at all, a gas smell (call 0800 111 999 first), no heating with a baby, an elderly or unwell person in the house during a cold spell
• Can usually wait a day or two if you are comfortable: one radiator cold, a dripping tap, a toilet that runs on but still flushes, low pressure on one tap
• Somewhere in between: no hot water but heating working (a kettle, or the immersion heater if you have a cylinder, can get you through), a slow-draining sink, a boiler that needs resetting more than once a day

If you smell gas, open windows, turn the gas off at the meter if it is safe to reach, do not touch switches or light candles, then get out and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. They work every day of the year, Christmas Day included, and the call-out is free.

Boiler stopped on a cold morning? Check the condensate pipe

If a condensing boiler stops during a hard frost and shows a fault or a flashing light, the most likely cause is a frozen condensate pipe. This is the thin plastic pipe, usually white or grey, that runs from the boiler to a drain outside. The water in it freezes, the boiler cannot get rid of its condensate, and it locks out. Some boilers gurgle first.

Find where the pipe runs outside and pour warm water, not boiling, along its length, especially at bends and the open end. Boiling water can crack the plastic. A hot water bottle or a warm cloth held on the pipe also works. Then reset the boiler once, following the maker’s instructions. Full detail is in frozen pipes: what to do.

If it keeps freezing, the pipe is probably too narrow, too long outside or not lagged. That is a small job for after the holidays, and insulating that pipe belongs in the pre-winter checks for pipes and boilers next year. If the boiler still will not fire after thawing and one reset, stop there: anything inside the casing is gas work.

The sink after Christmas dinner

Roasting fat poured down the kitchen sink is liquid when it goes in and sets in the trap and the waste pipe as soon as it cools. Add potato peelings and gravy, and the kitchen sink is the most common Christmas blockage there is.

Pour cooled fat into a jar or tin and put it in the bin. If the sink is already slow, try very hot water from the kettle in stages, left a minute off the boil because boiling water can soften plastic waste pipes and joints, then a plunger with the overflow blocked with a damp cloth. If that fails, the trap under the sink usually unscrews by hand; put a bowl under it first. Avoid pouring caustic cleaner on standing water, because if it does not clear the block it sits there, and whoever opens the trap next gets it on their hands.

If the water comes back up in another sink or the bath when you run the kitchen tap, the block is further down the shared waste or in the drain, which is a different job.

More people, more pressure on the toilet and the hot water

A house that normally has two people using it now has eight, and the weak points show up.

Toilets block from wipes, cotton pads and too much paper at once. Keep a bin in the bathroom and tell guests plainly. A plunger with a flange on the bottom is the right tool; use it gently with the bowl half full. If the toilet overflows when flushed, stop flushing and see blocked toilet unblocking before the next person tries.

A combi boiler heats water as it flows, so it handles one shower well and two at once badly. Run one shower at a time and keep the dishwasher and washing machine off while it runs. If the water goes hot then cold during one shower with nothing else running, that is a fault rather than demand. A house with a cylinder can run out of stored hot water; switch on the immersion heater or put the water on boost and give it an hour or two.

Going away for Christmas

An empty house in a cold snap is how the worst burst pipes happen: a frost split in the loft that runs for days before anyone notices, which is why a plumbing checklist before you leave home matters more in December than in summer.

• Leave the heating on a low setting or on the boiler’s frost protection, rather than switching it off completely
• Open the loft hatch so some warmth reaches the tank and pipes up there
• Know where the stopcock is, and tell a neighbour or whoever has your key
• Fix any dripping tap or running cistern before you go; a drip is how an overflow freezes and backs up
• Check your home insurance for any conditions about leaving the house empty in winter

If you come home to water coming through a ceiling, turn the stopcock off first, then the electricity at the consumer unit if water is near lights or sockets, but only from a dry floor. See turning off water, electricity and gas.

Getting someone out over the holidays

Ask two questions before you book anyone between Christmas Eve and New Year: what the call-out costs on that day, and how the repair price is set. Some firms add a bank holiday premium, some charge by the hour from leaving their depot, and some only give the full price once the engineer is standing in your kitchen.

Our call-out is £60 at any hour, Christmas Day included, and the repair price is agreed with you on site before any work starts. See 24-hour plumber for how an out-of-hours visit works, or emergency boiler repair if the heating is off. Gas work is carried out by Gas Safe registered engineers.

Parts can be the sticking point over the holidays, because merchants close. Common parts such as a diverter valve, pump or toilet fill valve are widely stocked. A less common boiler PCB or fan may mean making the boiler safe, getting by on electric heaters or immersion hot water, and fitting the part when the merchants reopen.