Home › Burst pipes
A burst is not one problem, it is a short chain of decisions. Take them in order and the damage mostly stops at the first one.
The direct answer: close the main stopcock — usually under the kitchen sink — then open the cold taps to drain the pipework, and cut the electricity at the consumer unit if water is anywhere near it and you can reach it safely. Once the flow has stopped, call 020 4577 2888 to be connected with a local plumber, any hour.
Do not start with towels. Towels manage the symptom; the stopcock removes the cause. Everything below is easier once the pipe is no longer under mains pressure.
In a Forth valley cold snap the story is often written in two acts: a tap that slowed to a dribble while the pipe was frozen, then a leak that appeared as the thaw arrived. The diagnosis decides your next move.
Only as a holding measure, and only on a drained pipe. Repair tape or a slip-on clamp can steady a small split until help arrives, but repressurising the system against a taped joint is a bet you do not need to make. Be especially careful in older properties — Falkirk's Victorian terraces and post-war stock often carry pipework of several generations spliced together, and levering at one tired joint can open a second. Leave the water off; let the permanent fix be a plumber's.
One test settles most cases, and it costs nothing.
If you are unsure which side of the boundary the problem sits on — common where driveways and shared paths have been re-laid over the years — a plumber can help you establish it before anyone digs anything.
Close your stopcock and watch the leak. If it slows and stops, the fault is on your side and a plumber can repair it. If water keeps coming, or is surfacing in the street or outside your boundary, the fault may be on the public side — in Scotland that is Scottish Water's side — and it is worth reporting to them as well as calling a plumber.
If the burst is on the heating or hot water side, or you have drained the system through the cold taps, yes — switch the boiler off until it has been checked. Running a boiler on an empty or part-empty system can damage it.
Many UK buildings policies cover escape of water, but excesses and exclusions vary, and damage put down to gradual wear can be treated differently. Photograph everything before you tidy up, keep any failed part if you can, and tell your insurer promptly. Check your own policy rather than assuming.
Stopcock closed, electricity off at the consumer unit if you can reach it safely, and stay out from under any sagging plaster. If a small bulge has formed, piercing it with a bucket underneath releases the water in a controlled way instead of letting it spread.
The main page — how the line works and the areas covered.
Go to home →Gauge readings, lockouts, no hot water — and gas safety.
Read the guide →One fixture or the whole house — the test that tells you.
Read the guide →How pricing is structured and what to ask before work starts.
Read the guide →Pressure, clock, power — the checks that find most causes.
Read the guide →Gentle thawing from the tap end back — and prevention.
Read the guide →Damp patches, dropping pressure — the test that settles it.
Read the guide →Any hour, any day — be connected with a local plumber covering Falkirk and the surrounding towns.
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