Useful tips to prevent burst pipes
To avoid the misery and
damage caused by burst pipes during extreme cold weather:
- Keep your home warm
especially during the night.
- Run taps and flush toilets
to check that pipes are not frozen.
- Know where your stop tap is
and make sure that you can easily turn it off.
- Make sure that you can turn
off the gate values for hot and cold water tanks.
- If you are leaving your
home unoccupied for a long period of time consider draining the
whole water system down; and
- If you live in a flat or
maisonette, leave a spare key with a neighbour. A flood in an
upstairs flat can cause damage to your home.
What to do if you
suffer a frozen or burst pipe
Frozen
pipes
- Turn off the water at the
stop tap
- Switch off the central
heating
- Switch off the immersion or
gas water heating
- You can try to thaw the
frozen pipes gently with a hairdryer or fan heater etc.
Burst
pipes
- Turn off the water at the
stop tap.
- Turn off the immersion or
gas water heating.
- Turn on the sink, bathroom
or kitchen taps to drain water from the system.
- Do not touch any electrical
fittings.
- Turn off the electricity at
the mains fuse board.
Contact your repairs
contact centre on 01748 829100 and report the problem
immediately.
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