Plumbing in Hartcliffe

Hartcliffe was built on farmland that became part of Bristol in 1951, and work on the estate started the following year. It grew into a large post-war estate, mostly council housing, sitting at the foot of Dundry Hill with Withywood and Bishopsworth as neighbours. Imperial Tobacco once had a factory and offices here. Part of that site is now Imperial Retail Park, and the former headquarters building has been converted into the Lakeshore flats. Shops on Symes Avenue serve both Hartcliffe and Withywood. The estate’s streets spread up towards the hill, with green spaces running between many of the housing areas.

Houses on the estate were built in large numbers to a handful of designs, so many share the same layout, the same stop tap position and the same drain arrangement. That consistency helps when we’re tracing a fault. After seventy years, though, some original pipework and fittings are wearing out, and most homes have been refitted over time with a mix of materials. Hard water from Bristol Water leaves scale in heating systems, showers and toilet cisterns, which shortens the life of valves and washers. A cistern that keeps refilling, a radiator valve that weeps, or a tap that won’t quite turn off are all typical of fittings reaching the end of their working life.

Common Hartcliffe jobs

• Burst and leaking pipes
• Blocked drains and toilets
• Toilet cisterns that won’t stop filling
• Radiators that are cold at the top or bottom
• Mixer taps and shower valves

Council-built homes and shared drains

If your home is a council property, most repairs go through the council’s own repairs service. Some homes on the estate are now privately owned, though, and their owners are responsible for their own plumbing. Owners are sometimes surprised to find that drains on an estate layout are shared between several houses before they reach the public sewer. Since October 2011, those shared sections outside your boundary have generally been the responsibility of Wessex Water. If your drain is blocked, we can clear it and tell you which part of the system the blockage is in, so you know whether it’s yours to fix or theirs. Shared drains need clearing from the right point, so an accurate diagnosis saves time for everyone. It also means the right organisation pays for the work.

Plumbing services in Hartcliffe

• Emergency plumbing: burst pipes and serious leaks, aiming to arrive within the hour
• Blocked drains: sinks, toilets, gullies and manholes
• Leak repair: pipes, joints and appliance connections
• Radiators and heating: valves, cold spots and system pressure (no gas work)
• Taps and toilets: drips, running cisterns and replacements
• Bathroom and kitchen plumbing