Umber Notch & the river wards
Two plumbers, one van each, and a booked arrival window we actually keep. Leaks, hot water, heating and drains — priced before we start, tidied before we leave.
Before we arrive
Most of the damage in a plumbing emergency happens while someone waits for help. Do this much before the van turns up and you usually save the floor, the ceiling or the boiler.
Close the main stop tap — normally under the kitchen sink or in the downstairs cupboard — then open the cold kitchen tap to drain the pipework down. Move anything soft or electrical out from underneath, and put a bucket where it is dripping rather than mopping as you go.
Then tell us which rooms are affected and whether the ceiling is holding waterCheck whether it is both or only one, look for a fault code on the boiler display, and check the pressure gauge — under one bar is a known story and a quick one. Do not keep resetting a boiler that locks out again; each cycle can push the fault further in.
Then send us the fault code and the make on the front panelStop running water into it — including washing machines and dishwashers, which empty into the same stack. Skip the caustic crystals: they sit in the trap and have to be flushed out before anyone can work, which makes the visit longer. If an outside gully is standing full, lift the grate so we can see the level.
Then note whether other drains in the house are slow too
Scope
Four lanes of work, and we say so plainly when a job sits outside them. If your job is not on this list, send it over anyway — we would rather point you to the right trade than take a deposit and stall.
The calls that cannot wait for a diary slot. We carry the common parts, so most of these finish on the first visit.
First and second fix for refits, whether you are managing the trades yourself or we are working to a fitter's programme.
Wet systems and cylinders. Boiler work is carried out by our gas-registered partner, booked through us on the same job sheet.
Inside the boundary of the property. Anything in the shared sewer is the water authority's to clear, and we will tell you when that is the case.
No surprises
You get the figure before we lift a tool. If the job turns out to be bigger than the diagnosis, we stop, explain what changed, and you decide whether to carry on.
Quoting a booked job. Moving your arrival window when our day runs long. Returning inside twelve months because a repair we made has not held. Taking away the old unit, the packaging and the offcuts.
Diary
We book two-hour windows rather than a vague morning or afternoon, and we message you when the van leaves the job before yours.
| Day | Windows offered | How it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Monday – Thursday | 7:30–9:30am · 10am–12pm · 1–3pm · 3:30–5:30pm | Booked work and refits. The first window of the day is held back for overnight emergencies until 7am. |
| Friday | 7:30–9:30am · 10am–12pm · 1–3pm | Repairs and short jobs only, so nothing is left open over the weekend. |
| Saturday | 8–10am · 10:30am–12:30pm | Two slots, usually taken by tenanted properties and anyone who cannot be home midweek. |
| Sunday | Emergency cover | On call for water that will not stop and total hot-water loss. Out-of-hours rate applies. |
Wards we cover without a travel charge
Asked often
The things people actually ask on the phone, written down so you do not have to.
Not for repairs or call-outs — you pay once the work is done and you have seen it working. For refits where we are ordering sanitaryware on your behalf, we ask for the cost of those goods up front, with the merchant order attached, and the labour stays payable on completion.
For most repairs, under an hour, and we tell you before we close the stop tap so you can fill a kettle and a bucket. Swapping a cylinder or re-running a bathroom means a longer shut-off; on those jobs we agree a window with you first and, where the pipework allows, we isolate only the branch instead of the whole property.
Yes, and it is a good share of our week. We can hold your tenant's contact details and arrange access directly with them, then send the report and invoice to you. We will not change a tenancy-affecting fitting — a shower, a boiler, a toilet — without your written go-ahead, even if the tenant asks us to while we are there.
We make the situation safe, cap or isolate what is leaking, and give you a firm return time. If the merchant has it that day we usually come back the same afternoon and you are not charged a second call-out — only the extra time on site. Obsolete parts on older cisterns and showers can take a few days, and we will say so rather than guess.
Every visit ends with an itemised invoice listing labour, time on site and parts with their receipts. Booked installs also get a short written record of what was fitted, where the isolation points are, and any photographs we took behind a panel or under a floor before it was closed up — useful later, and useful for an insurer.
We are not gas registered and we will never open up a gas appliance. Boiler swaps and anything on the gas carcass are carried out by the registered engineer we work alongside, booked through our diary so you are not chasing two trades. All the wet side — pipework, radiators, cylinders, controls — stays with us.
Shared sewers beyond your boundary, mains supply pipes in the public highway, tiling and plastering, and anything needing scaffold. We also turn down jobs where the only fix is one we do not believe will hold. In each case we will tell you who to call instead, and there is no charge for the look.
One step
Tell us what is happening and when suits. We read these through the working day and reply with a window, a likely cause and what it should cost.