Leak repair in Bristol

Signs you have a leak

• Damp patches or staining on ceilings and walls
• A water meter that moves when every tap is off
• Lifting floors, swollen skirting boards or a musty smell
• Lower water pressure than usual
• A boiler pressure gauge that keeps dropping on a sealed heating system
• A cistern that refills on its own

Try the meter test

If you’re on a water meter, turn off every tap and appliance, note the reading, and check again after half an hour without using any water. If the numbers have moved, water is going somewhere. The pipe from the water main to the pavement stop tap belongs to Bristol Water. The pipe from there into your home, and everything inside, is yours.

Leaks we fix

• Leaking copper, plastic and older pipework, including joints between different materials
• Radiator valves, radiator tails and heating pipework
• Compression and push-fit joints under sinks and baths
• Washing machine, dishwasher and fridge supply connections
• Toilet pan connectors, cistern seals and wastes
• Outside taps and garden supply pipes

Leaks that aren’t pipes

Plenty of “leaks” are actually seals. Silicone around a bath or shower tray, the seal under a toilet pan, or a waste connection under a basin can let water out only when that fitting is used. Water coming through a ceiling only after someone showers points that way. These are usually simpler fixes than a burst pipe, but the longer they’re left, the more of the floor underneath they spoil.

Older Bristol pipework

Bristol Water says homes built before the 1970s could have lead pipework. In many older Bristol houses and flats, the pipework is a patchwork of lead, iron, copper and plastic from decades of repairs. When we fix a leak, we’ll tell you if the pipe next to it looks likely to go the same way, so you can decide whether to deal with it now.