What counts as a plumbing emergency
Anything where water is escaping into the house needs attention now: a burst pipe, a leak coming through a ceiling, a failed valve that won't stop running. Losing all heating or hot water is the other common emergency, especially in colder months or where someone at home is vulnerable.
Around the city centre, Census 2021 recorded roughly 29% of homes as flats or maisonettes, and in a flat a leak rarely stays your own problem for long — it becomes the downstairs neighbour's ceiling. If that's your situation, tell us when you call, because it changes how quickly things need to happen.
First steps while you wait
If water is coming in, turn off the stopcock — usually under the kitchen sink or where the mains enters the house — and open a cold tap to drain the pipes down. If the leak is near electrics, keep clear and turn the power off at the consumer unit if it's safe to do so. Never climb under a sagging, wet ceiling to reach a valve.
Our burst pipe guide walks through the immediate steps in more detail, and the emergency plumber guide helps you judge what's urgent and what can wait for a planned visit.
Boiler breakdowns
Around the centre of St Albans, about 78% of homes heat with mains gas, so a boiler lockout is one of the most common emergency calls we get from the city. Note any error code on the display before you ring — with the make, model and code we can often narrow down the fault before we set off, which means a better chance of fixing it on the first visit.
If you smell gas, don't touch switches or try to find the leak yourself. Call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 first, open windows and leave the property if advised. Once the supply is made safe, we can look at the appliance or pipework fault.
When we can get to you
We're contactable Monday to Sunday, 8am to 8pm, including weekends. We're not a 24-hour service, and we won't pretend otherwise — but for urgent jobs in St Albans we aim to attend the same day where our schedule allows, and we're honest with you about timings on the phone.
Our Harpenden base is a short run down the A1081, so St Albans is one of the closest areas we serve. For planned work rather than emergencies, see our plumber in St Albans page.
Across the city
We attend emergencies across St Albans: the city centre and St Peter's Street, Bernards Heath, Clarence, Cunningham, Marshalswick, Sopwell, Verulam, Batchwood and Hill End, plus Jersey Farm, Chiswell Green, Park Street, Frogmore, London Colney and Sandridge.
Properties near the River Ver and River Colne can suffer water problems from outside as well as inside. If heavy rain has left water coming up through floors or gullies rather than down from a pipe, tell us — the fix is different, and we'll point you the right way even if it's not a job for us.
Areas we cover
Emergency call-outs across St Albans and the nearby villages, from our base at 3 Northfield Road in Harpenden. Our areas we cover page lists everywhere we work.