Your local plumber in Bristol: same-day service, no VAT
Leaks, blocked drains, toilets, taps, radiators and more. Qualified plumbers working across Bristol 7 days a week, with a free quote before we start.
Why Bristol calls us
- Open 7 days
- Service Same day
- Emergencies Within the hour
- Call-out fee None
- VAT None
Plumbing services across Bristol
From a dripping tap to a burst pipe, most jobs are sorted the same day. Pick a service to see what’s involved, or call and tell us what’s going on.
Emergency plumber
Burst pipes, leaks through ceilings, overflowing toilets. We aim to be with you within the hour.
Blocked drains
Sinks, baths, toilets, gullies and manholes cleared, with high-pressure jetting where it’s needed.
Leak repair
Leaking pipes, joints, radiator valves and appliance connections found and fixed.
Radiators & heating
Leaking or cold radiators, valves, heating pipework and system pressure. No gas work.
Taps & toilets
Dripping taps, running toilets, weak flushes, new taps and cisterns.
Bathroom plumbing
Showers, baths, basins, toilets and macerators fitted or replaced.
Kitchen plumbing
Sinks, taps, wastes and washing machine or dishwasher connections.
Commercial & landlords
Reactive repairs for offices, shops, restaurants, landlords and letting agents.
A Bristol plumber who quotes before starting
Most people calling a plumber want two things answered before anyone turns up: can you come today, and what will it cost? We try to answer both on the first call. You describe the problem, we ask a few questions, and in most cases we can give you a free quote over the phone, so you know where you stand before we arrive. There’s no call-out fee, and because we aren’t VAT registered, there’s no VAT added to your bill.
Plenty of plumbing jobs are finished quickly: a dripping tap, a running toilet, a leaking trap under the sink, a blocked basin. Bigger jobs, like replacing a section of pipework or fitting a new bathroom suite, we’ll talk through in more detail and give you a fixed quote where we can.
We’ve been working on Bristol homes for ten years. In that time we’ve seen most of what the city’s houses can throw at a plumber, from Georgian terraces in Clifton to Victorian streets off Gloucester Road and interwar semis in Horfield. Our plumbers are qualified, and they turn up with the tools and common parts to fix most problems on the first visit.
What Bristol homes have in common
Bristol’s housing is a patchwork. Large parts of Clifton, Cotham and Redland were built in the Georgian and Victorian eras, and many of those houses are now split into flats with plumbing that’s been extended and rerouted many times. Bedminster, Southville, Easton and Bishopston are full of Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Horfield, Fishponds and Henleaze have big runs of interwar and post-war semis, and new developments keep appearing around the edges of the city.
Three things come up again and again, whatever the age of the house.
Hard water and limescale
Bristol Water classes its supply as moderately hard to very hard. That means limescale builds up in taps, shower heads, toilet fill valves and appliance inlets. It’s behind many stiff taps, weak showers and cisterns that take forever to refill. Cleaning an aerator or shower head in diluted vinegar can help. Once the scale is inside a valve or cartridge, it’s usually a part replacement.
Old pipework
Bristol Water says homes built before the 1970s could have lead pipework somewhere between the stop tap and the kitchen tap. Many older Bristol homes also have a mix of copper, iron and plastic from decades of repairs. Joints between different materials are a common weak point. When we fix a leak, we’ll tell you if the pipe next to it looks like it’s on its way out too.
Drains and shared sewers
Since October 2011, shared sewers and lateral drains outside your property boundary have belonged to the sewerage company, which for Bristol is Wessex Water. The drain that serves only your home, within your boundary, is yours. If several neighbours are blocked at once, the problem may be in the shared sewer, and Wessex Water should deal with it. If it’s only your drain, that’s a job for us. We’ll tell you which it sounds like when you call.
How a job works
- You call us on 0117 239 1217, 7 days a week, or send a message through the contact page.
- We ask a few questions about what you can see, where it is and when it started, so we bring the right parts.
- You get a free quote, usually over the phone. Bigger jobs may need a free visit first.
- We arrive and fix it. Same-day service is standard for most jobs, and for emergencies we aim to be with you within the hour.
- You pay what was agreed, with no call-out fee and no VAT.
Heating as well as plumbing
Alongside plumbing and drains, we deal with the water side of your central heating. That includes leaking radiators and valves, cold spots, radiators that need bleeding or balancing, heating pipework, and re-pressurising a sealed system. We don’t work on gas appliances. If your boiler itself needs attention, you’ll need a Gas Safe registered engineer, and we’ll tell you if that’s what it sounds like. More about radiators and heating →
Landlords, letting agents and businesses
A lot of our work comes from landlords and letting agents with properties across the city, plus offices, shops and restaurants. Free quotes, same-day attendance and straightforward invoices without VAT make us easy to work with. Commercial plumbing →
Quick checks before you call
A couple of minutes’ checking can save time, and sometimes money:
- No water at all? Ask a neighbour whether theirs is off too, and check Bristol Water’s website for supply problems in your area. If the whole street is off, it isn’t your plumbing.
- Toilet running constantly? Turn the small isolation valve on the cistern feed a quarter-turn with a flat-head screwdriver. That stops the water while you wait for us.
- Radiator cold at the top? It probably needs bleeding. If it’s cold at the bottom, or several are cold, the system may need more attention.
- Low pressure on the boiler gauge? On a sealed system, a slow drop usually means a small leak somewhere on the heating side, often at a radiator valve.
- Sink slow in one room only? The blockage is usually in that sink’s trap or waste. If every drain in the house is slow, it’s further down.
Whatever you find, tell us when you call. It helps us bring the right parts first time.
Areas we cover in Bristol
We’re based at Hamilton House on Stokes Croft, right in the middle of the city, so we can reach most of Bristol quickly. Here are some of the areas we work in most often:
Looking after your plumbing through the year
Most of the plumbing problems we get called to in Bristol build up slowly before they turn into an emergency. A few minutes of checks each season can catch them early and save you a messy morning.
Autumn: heating and gutters
When the heating goes back on, a radiator that’s cold at the top usually has air trapped in it. Bleeding it with a radiator key, with a cloth underneath, often brings it back to life. If your system has a pressure gauge, check it afterwards, because bleeding radiators can drop the pressure. A radiator that’s cold at the bottom, or a room that never warms up, points to sludge or a valve problem, and that’s something we can look at for you. Autumn is also a good time to clear leaves from gutters and outside drains, because blocked gutters overflow onto walls and send debris into the drains below.
Winter: frozen and burst pipes
Pipes in lofts, garages, outbuildings and on outside walls are the most exposed in a cold snap. Lagging them is cheap and simple to do. Turn off and drain your outside tap before the first frost, and keep the heating on at a low setting if you’re going away. If a pipe does freeze, thaw it slowly with warm towels or a hairdryer on a low setting, never a naked flame, and know where your stop tap is in case the pipe splits as it thaws.
Spring and summer: outside taps and hidden leaks
When you turn the outside tap back on, check it doesn’t drip at the spindle or leak where the pipe goes through the wall. Summer is a good time to look under sinks, behind toilets and around the washing machine for slow leaks. Damp patches, swollen kitchen units and loose floor tiles are much easier to spot in dry weather. If you have a water meter and it keeps turning while every tap in the house is off, there may be a leak somewhere on your supply pipe.
All year: what goes down the drain
Most of the blocked drains we clear come down to the same few things: cooking fat, wet wipes, cotton buds and hair. Fat sets hard as it cools and catches everything that comes after it. Wipes don’t break down the way toilet paper does, even when the packet says they’re flushable. Let fat cool and put it in the bin, fit a strainer over the plug hole, and only flush the three Ps: pee, poo and paper.
Just moved in? Five first checks
If you’ve just bought or rented a home in Bristol, a few checks in the first week can save a lot of stress later. Find the internal stop tap, which is often under the kitchen sink or where the supply pipe comes up through the floor, and make sure it turns. Find the outside stop tap cover too. Look at any visible pipework for signs of old lead or past leaks. Run every tap and flush every toilet to check they fill and drain properly. And check under the sinks and around the bath for damp or soft spots. If anything looks off, it’s much easier to deal with now than after a leak.
Who’s responsible for what
When something goes wrong with the pipes or drains around your home, the first question is often whose problem it is. The answer decides who you call and who pays, so it’s worth knowing before you need it.
Your water supply pipe
Bristol Water looks after the pipe from the water main up to the stop tap at your boundary, which is usually under a small cover in the pavement. From that stop tap into your home, the pipe belongs to you. A leak on the pavement side gets reported to Bristol Water. A leak in your front garden, under your floor or inside the house is for you and your plumber to fix.
Lead pipes in older homes
Homes built before the 1970s could still have lead pipework, either in the supply pipe under the garden or inside the house. Bristol Water’s guidance on lead pipes and who owns them explains how to check and what help is available. Inside the house, lead pipe is usually dull grey and soft, and it shows a shiny mark if you scratch it gently with a coin. If you think you have lead pipes, we can talk you through replacing your section with modern pipework.
Drains and sewers
Since October 2011, shared sewers and lateral drains, meaning the pipes outside your boundary or the ones you share with neighbours, have been the responsibility of the sewerage company. In Bristol that’s Wessex Water. A drain that serves only your property and sits inside your boundary is yours. Citizens Advice has a clear guide to who is responsible for repairing drains and sewers. If a blockage is affecting your neighbours as well as you, or you can see the problem is in a shared section, call Wessex Water first. If it’s just your sink, your toilet or the drain between your house and the boundary, that’s a job for us.
Low water pressure
Low pressure has a few common causes. First, check whether it’s every tap or just one. If it’s one tap or shower, the cause is usually limescale in the aerator or shower head, or a part-closed isolation valve. If it’s the whole house, check that your internal stop tap is fully open, ask a neighbour whether they have the same problem, and look on Bristol Water’s website for any works or bursts in your street. If the problem is only in your home and the stop tap is fully open, there may be a leak or a restriction on your supply pipe, and we can trace it for you.
What we don’t do, and who to call instead
We’re plumbers, and we stick to the work we’re qualified to do. We don’t work on gas appliances, gas boilers or gas supply pipes. For anything involving gas, use a Gas Safe registered engineer, and you can check an engineer is Gas Safe registered before they start. If you smell gas, get everyone out, don’t touch any switches, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
We don’t do electrical connections either. For electric showers, macerators and similar jobs, we handle the water side and an electrician makes the electrical connection. We’ll be clear about which part is ours when you call.
Choosing a plumber in Bristol
Whoever you call, a few simple questions help you find the right person for the job:
- Will they give you a quote before they start, and is it clear what the quote includes?
- Do they charge a call-out fee, and will they add VAT on top?
- Do they cover your part of Bristol, and roughly when can they get to you?
- What happens if they find a bigger problem once the job is under way?
Our answers are simple. Quotes are free and agreed before any work starts. There’s no call-out fee and no VAT. If we find something unexpected, we stop and talk it through with you before going any further. Call 0117 239 1217 and tell us what’s going on.
Frequently asked questions
Do you offer a same-day plumbing service in Bristol?
Yes. Same-day service is standard for most jobs, and for emergencies we aim to be with you within the hour.
Do you charge VAT?
No. We aren’t VAT registered, so the price we quote is the price you pay.
How much does a plumber cost in Bristol?
It depends on the job. Call us and describe the problem, and for most jobs we’ll give you a free quote over the phone. There’s no call-out fee and no VAT.
What hours do you work?
7 days a week, including weekends and bank holidays.
Do you work on gas boilers?
No. We handle plumbing, drains, radiators and heating pipework, but not gas appliances. For those you need a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Which parts of Bristol do you cover?
All of Bristol and nearby areas such as Filton and Kingswood. See areas we cover.
Need a plumber in Bristol today?
Call us 7 days a week. Most jobs are quoted over the phone before we arrive.