Over the past month, we’ve had a heap of call outs for flood damage due to hot water services bursting. These jobs are always a common occurrence in winter as it is not uncommon for pipes to burst after water freezes inside them. Having a pipe burst in your house or building can be a painful and frustrating exercise, and it’s important that you know how to deal with it so to best minimise damage, cost and stress.

Unfortunately, pipe bursts in the chilly winter weather are not an uncommon occurrence. Water in pipes can often freeze and expand, which places extreme pressure on the inner wall of the pipes, causing the pipes to expand or explode.

If a pipe bursts in your house, you need to act quickly. Water damage to carpets, upholstery and contents can be extensive and the best way to restore it is to make sure you minimise the damage in the first place.

If your pipes burst, you should immediately turn off the stop tap to stop water flowing through your pipes to remove the cause of the flood. There is no point in calling a restorer out to help you if the water is still running. After you have stopped the flow, you need to contact your water damage restorer to come out and evaluate the damage as soon as possible. Flood damage to carpets, upholstery and contents can be much more extensive than most people believe (if not dried out properly, water damage can even lead to mould growth – which is a lot more expensive to fix than the original water damage!)

While you are waiting for a restorer to get to the site, you should block the escaping water with a towel, open all the taps in your house to reduce flooding and the pressure on the system, Turn off the source of heat for the hot water and central heating to avoid electrical problems and call your plumber to come out and assess the pipe burst.

There are a number of ways that you can avoid your pipes bursting. Make sure to repair all dripping taps and faulty valves which drip, as these can often allow waste pipes to freeze. Keep your house warm and stop draughts into your house during winter to keep the pipe work warm. Most importantly, make sure your stop tap works, so that in the event of a burst you can turn off the water. If you don’t have one, get one fitted!